How to carry fishing line in small survival kit?

R

Return of the J.D.

Joined
Nov 29, 2005
Messages
887
A while back, forum member MRostov clued me in that there exists such a thing as braided fishing line. Makers of this include Berkley and Spiderwire (and Wal-Mart carries both). I'd had trouble, before, with ordinary monofilament fishing line ending up permanently kinked when I'd wound it around anything in a kit, and monofilament is also hard to use. This braided stuff, however, is awesome. It also comes in test strengths in the 50-80 pounds range--which makes it really useful as a way of carrying a lot of really-tough cordage in a small package.

I'm still trying to find a way of optimizing it, however, space-wise. I often wrap it around knife scabbards; in some cases I've wound it onto sewing-machine spools. But I still have the feeling that there's some better, more space-saving way of keeping 100 feet or so of the stuff in a small kit, in a way that makes it easily accessible, but keeps it from turning into a massive snarl of tangled string.

Ideas, anyone?
 
Try a sewing bobbin, like they sell at the sewing stores or swipe one from your wife. It's the little metal spool type thing.
 
i wrap it around 2 fingers and make a small choil of some sort and then tie it oss... very similar to how you would choil a rope or extension chords...:D
 
hnschwartz said:
Try a sewing bobbin, like they sell at the sewing stores or swipe one from your wife. It's the little metal spool type thing.
Click to expand...

+1, you can get an amazing amount of line on them, and they take up little space. Get the plastic ones and they virtually weigh nothing also. :thumbup:
 
I have some in my glove box wrapped around a piece of hour glass shaped cardboard.
 
buy a small spool and pick up a eye bolt that fits the center hole in the factory spool and a wingnut, electrical junction box cover ,drill hole in center of cover,flip spool over to store weights & hooks place cover over, slide the eye bolt thru and secure with wing nut,open side of spool houses ,hooks /weights ETC and eye bolt can be carabinered to pack. no distorted fishing line. simple but flawless
 
You can also get an amazing amount of the stuff around a card (like a AAA card, or some other card you want to carry but don't really use much) in your wallet. You can secure it lightly with a layer of masking tape, which is just about enough to keep it from coming off when you don't want it to.

I've tried the sewing-machine-bobbin thing. It works, but I've found those a bit limited in how much they can hold. That said, I do have a few small kits where I've done exactly that. I've also used the piece-of-cardboard thing. That works okay, but the cardboard is a bit flimsy. Maybe if you waxed the cardboard, it would do double duty as firestarting material. (I'm always on the lookout for double-duty possibilities in a small survival kit.) I've also tried thin plastic cut from a soda bottle--which holds up better than cardboard. Another thing I've done is to take wine bottle corks, leaving the ends intact but cutting around the middle to narrow the middle to maybe a third of an inch, and using that as a spool. When you wrap cord around something, it tends to want to give you a round roll of cord after enough wraps, no matter what the shape of the original spooling item is--so the rounded ends of the cork sort of work well for that. I sometimes stick a couple of fishhooks into the center part of the cork before wrapping with the line, so that the points are harmlessly stuck into the cork, and the line covers them completely and holds them in place.

Any more ideas? Keep 'em coming! Thanks!
 
I have a couple of older (5+) years old Epi-Pen tubes and sewing bobbins fit them perfectly with zero rattle. I'm going to probably cut one of them down for use in a kit or two.

Epi-Pens now come in a fancier case...that's still has some uses when the Pen goes out of date.
 
I use a plain bic pen cap. The top has a series of slits on top, I thread it through and out the other open end where the pen goes in and tie a knot. I then proceed to just wrap the fishing line around the outside of the pen cap. It holds enough for a small altoid psk.
 
I use a finish nail, or a sewing needle.

1. Chuck up your finish nail or sewing needle in your electric drill (cordless works best)
2. Tape the line onto the finish nail or sewing needle
3. run the drill motor while guiding the line with your other hand to make a good spool
4. cut the string and tape it all together
 
Go to a real sewing machine store where they have commercial machines. Ask to look at all their bobbins and find one that fits your needs. There are many different types to choose from.

I bought bobbins that look just like the silver ones you get at WalMart, but they are 1.1'' in diameter, not .8'' like the smaller ones we all have seen. They are the same thickness, and the same hole diameter as the standard silver bobbins. These will hold about 175 feet of 35lbs. test braided line.

Then inside the hole I can fit 4 small BB split shot sinkers. Then I tape two fish hooks per side to the bobbin. I now have five hooks as one is always tied already to the line, and four sinkers all ready to go in a very small kit that is 1.1'' x .5'' in size. I am not sure how much smaller you can get.

I bet you could even put this on a survival necklace if you wanted. Just slide the necklace or something to attach to the necklace through the hole with the split shot before taping it up. Just a thought.
 
Sewing machine bobbins for me as well, also great for holding snare wire.

Used to whittle my own "H" shaped wood spindles, have also used a piece of tongue depressor wood.
 
Ron Hood had an excellent idea of placing hooks on the sticky portion of tape and then placing that on paper in a very trim and compact package. You then just push/punch the hooks through the paper like some vitamin pill strips used to be.

I really like the idea of the much larger steel bobbins, I'll have to check them out, see if I can find some, etc.
 
Don Rearic said:
Ron Hood had an excellent idea of placing hooks on the sticky portion of tape and then placing that on paper in a very trim and compact package. You then just push/punch the hooks through the paper like some vitamin pill strips used to be.

I really like the idea of the much larger steel bobbins, I'll have to check them out, see if I can find some, etc.
Click to expand...



Here are the ones I use, and at a much better price than I paid at the store.

http://cgi.ebay.com/20-LARGE-SIZE-INDUSTRIAL-SEWING-BOBBINS-JUKI-LU-563_W0QQitemZ150235409021QQihZ005QQcategoryZ41243QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262
 
When you you wrap line around anything by hand, you automatically put a twist on the line. That is why it snarls when it comes off. Use the reel or spool it originally came on, and rotate the object you are wrapping it around. Same as putting line onto your fishing reel.
 
This may not be anything like you have in mind, or need. However, this is what I carry in many of my kits. I made several of these primitive fishing reels in the woodshop, kept several for my own use, gave several away to friends and they are still using them.

Not only can you handle fish easily with these (within reason), they provide a great way to store your braided fishing line.

The little primitive fishing reel measures 3-3/4" long, 3/8" thick, made of maple or oak. These little things weigh nothing and do a fine job of keeping your line or cordage rolled tightly and easy to get at. I have big hands, so wrapping cordage or line on anything small doesn't work for my needs. I'm happy with these.
primitivefishingreel1dw9.jpg
 
Hmm--interesting. Certainly simple. I've made some vaguely like that myself.

Interesting to make one out of fatwood--or a magnesium bar . . . .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top