String Breakage (Reply)

[Clyde Hollinger]

Friends:

	Before I took my technical test I worked at splicing until I was quite
sure I had the technique down pat.  But alas, during the test I got both
tails pointing the same direction and didn't have time to do it over, so
I left it the way it was and pulled it tight, hoping for the best.
	My examiners said they had never seen such an odd knot, and it was both
humbling and embarrassing for me.  But they applied tension until the
string tore -- somewhere else!  And I received credit for that segment
of the test.  (sigh of relief!)  

I am still wary of splicing strings and will normally do so only as a
last resort.

Clyde Hollinger, RPT
Lititz, PA

Newton Hunt wrote:

> Not getting the loop tails pointed in opposite directions will cause a
> splice failure.