Line Review: Dyneema Blended Single Braids

By Matthew Fafoutis, Annapolis Performance Sailing
As the category title would indicate, all of these lines are Dyneema blended single braids. Constructionally none of these lines have covers (as would be expected from double braids). They are all a mix of Dyneema and another fiber, be it the most popular polyester, nylon or Cordura. They’re offered in a variety of sizes between 1/8” and ½” diameter. All of these lines are malleable, easy to handle, 12-strand (or similar), low water absorption and low stretch.

So what are they used for? Dyneema Blended single braids are made for hand-adjusted sheets (mainsheet, jib sheet, spin sheet) and various control lines for dinghies and keelboats.

This is probably also a good time to mention that although the manufacturers might say you can use their Dyneema blended single braid in a winched application, I personally would discourage doing that. I think you would be better served using a double braid with a polyester cover, but we’ll have to talk about that another day.

How do they all compare? All lines are soft and easy to handle. By feel: The Ph.D is the fuzziest. The DPX and Racing Sheet are the smoothest. The Swiftcord is the nubbiest. Salsa, Swiftcord and Ph.D all have a fairly loose weave. This means they’ll all shrink a little in diameter as the line loads up. Strength-wise the DPX is the strongest in terms of tensile strength but is also among the heaviest options. Second strongest is Ph.D. Swiftcord is the lightest off the spool followed by the Ph.D and Racing Sheet.

Because of their 12 strand construction all of these lines will ‘shrink’ a little when they are put under load. This means they’ll all shrink a little in diameter as the line loads up. This is also to blame for why these lines might flatten out when they’re cleated in the same spot over time.

You probably would see this most often in mainsheet applications where you’re cleating it in the same approximate range all the time. The easiest solution to this problem is just to end-for-end the sheet so you are just cleating the sheet in different location.

Long story short: If you’re looking for a hand-adjusted, non-winched sheet or control line for any size boat this is the go to category. Great for mainsheets on boats up to 35’, dinghy and small keelboat jib sheets and spin sheets and for all manner of control lines and purchase systems.

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