Your fishing line is possibly your most important item of tackle,
but what is it and how is it made.

Raw Materials

Today there are many different types of polymer and co-polymers that can form the basic make up of any nylon line. The quality and blending of different polymers are what gives a line its characteristics and it here where experience counts because there can be chemical incompatibility between even the best materials. This is particularly the case with the dye element because different colours from different sources can be made from completely different chemical substances and these can react with the polymer to weaken or breakdown the line even over quite a long period after manufacture. Other elements are also sometimes added, for example silicone to improve abrasion resistance or titanium dioxide to make a line opaque.

Origins

Nylon monofilament (a monofilament is a single thread composed of a single strand rather than twisted fibres) is a fully synthetic product made from nylon 6 or 66 polymers.

Nylon was invented in the USA by Wallace Corruthers in the 1930's while working for Dupont. first used commercially in a nylon toothbrush in 1938, followed more famously by women's stockings in1940.

There is no truth in the common myth that the name 'Nylon' was thought of because it was invented in New York and London at the same time. Various other names like Nulon and Nilon were considered and discarded before Nylon was decided on.

Nylon was the first commercially successful polymer and the first synthetic fibre to be made entirely from coal, water and air. These are formed into monomer of intermediate molecular weight, which are then reacted to form long polymer chains. It is made of repeating units linked by peptide bonds (another name for amide bonds) and is frequently referred to as polyamide (PA).

Nylon was intended to be a synthetic replacement for silk and substituted for it in many different products after silk became scarce during World War II. It replaced silk in military applications such as parachutes, flak vests, and was used in many types of vehicle tires.

Nylon fibers are now used in a great many applications, including fabrics, bridal veils, carpets, musical strings and rope.

Solid nylon is used for mechanical parts such as gears and other low- to medium-stress components previously cast in metal. Engineering grade nylon is processed by extrusion, casting, and injection molding. Type 6/6 Nylon 101 is the most common commercial grade of nylon, and Nylon 6 is the most common commercial grade of cast nylon. Nylon is available in glass-filled and molybdenum sulfide-filled variants which increase structural and impact strength and rigidity or lubricity.