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In reply to Post #29
That doesn't surprise me in the slightest. I used the heavier Quicksilver as a snag leader and never once had it fail. You could even tease open the end and tie a needle knot.
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In reply to Post #27
Damn, I'm going to have to buy some now. 
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In reply to Post #28
I remember someone fishing a lake I was on using Quicksilver as a shock leader.
He had a take near some pads and obviously the fish made a beeline for them. As he tightened up to the fish the line just sliced through the pads and 4 of 5 of them drifted off down the lake. 
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In reply to Post #23
I caught loads of fish on 25lb Quicksilver back in 90's, absolutely bulletproof.
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In reply to Post #26
No, only ever as the braided section on a multi-combi rig.
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In reply to Post #25
That's an interesting observation.
I'm going to have to have a look at the 3 Arma Kord leaders now and the Slip-D braid.
Have you ever made a rig up with just the Slip-D Braid?
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In reply to Post #23
I’m sure the Korda slip D braid is just 30lb Armakord shockleader in a slightly different colour lol.
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In reply to Post #23
Yes it is. I have some in 35lb too, must be 20 + years old.
It was used for catfish hooklinks too (not by me).
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In reply to Post #22
I think Quicksilver is a shock leader material in 25lb, 35lb and 45lb but it'll certainly do the job.
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In reply to Post #19
I needed a bit of thicker braid for a combi rig a few weeks ago. I ended up with a bit of 25lb Quicksilver - a strange pale brown colour.
I can’t stop catching fish on it - big barbel on the river(s) and carp to 29.
I’m sure it’s a coincidence, but…..
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In reply to Post #20
I must look at the ESP Anchor Rig Braid again and the ESP Sink Link.
I played around with them a while back but still stuck with the Korda Dark Matter Braid in 20lb. It's outperformed everything else I've used.
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In reply to Post #18
If you don't find any give me a shout, I can let a spool go to a good home 
@MrGreen, I know what you mean. I've been using ESP Anchor Rig Braid as a alternative for a while now, before that I liked the Korum Power Braid as its also a bit thicker.
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In reply to Post #9
Silk Worm and Merlin? Now that's brought back some memories.
Loved Silk Worm but the colour never sat right with me so I used to stain it.
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In reply to Post #11
@silverfish, what breaking strain Merlin was it you were after?
I was thinking 15lbs but reading through the posts regarding changes I'll start digging though the crap in the loft.
There may some more of the old green stuff, I'll use a marker pen..
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In reply to Post #16
Think you are right, I believe on the back it recommended a tucked half grinner or summat similar 
I never got on with blood knots and grinners with braid, especially uncoated. Ex sinklink user for years, loved the stuff!
Only one person you need to suit, yourself pal, as you know
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In reply to Post #15
You know I can't remember what those knot are, maybe a tucked half bloodknot. I know as of the last few years I've been using a grinner/uni knot for braid & nylon, haven't tied a coated braid for a long time as been using braid & method, and residual coated as I tie them in bulk.
I probably used knots from the Kryston website as that's the only hooklink I used for decades.
Getting to the age now where I'm forgetting why I do stuff the way I do, and frankly I don't care as it's worked for me for so long it'll see me out, even if according to modernists it's wrong. I play with the new stuff and have a tackle box of stuff I'll probably never use to prove it
I went out for a short day session yesterday, 5-6 hours, after 4 I was getting bored. The old tackle box came out and my mind started to wonder 
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In reply to Post #14
Just purely untidy, and a risk, see me
Slipping paranoia. I tried the super glue with normal braid lol, figure of 8 for me, faultless, sometimes a Palomar, strangulation knots, super reliable.
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In reply to Post #12
Blobbing is 4 people who have no confidence in their knots not slipping  (...no....tag ends aren't for the same reason...lol)
Even worse, for about the 1st 10 years I used to superglue all my knots 
You leave tag ends alone, you should see my surface rigs I tied up the other day, 1/2" tag pointing back upwards at 45 degree away from the hook...noddy anti eject
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In reply to Post #11
It's snake bite gold yeah will have to have a look
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In reply to Post #11
Those knot tags are all different lengths, don’t you burn them off and blob them. I wouldn’t sleep on a night
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Sorry for the delay replying to this thread...strewth.
@essdee, 2 of the spools I have to try are ESP Tungsten loaded, also have a Atomic JellyWire, Korda N Trap is it, and something else.
@ Onslow, interesting, I wonder how it compares to the old Jackal, I'll post a pic at some point.
@ Kells, I think so but who knows, Germany Ebay's got loads of Kryston stuff I've never even heard of!
@karmh, is it the old square paper packet & gold (not asking for much am I...lol) Doesn't sound good re the ESP :-(
@silverfish, what breaking strain Merlin was it you were after?
What really annoys me about present Kryston is they're selling stuff that bears no resemblance to the original product, they're not even trying, it's pee poor :-( and some of the colours are awful.
Ill take a pic later.
EDIT, this pic shows rigs from 2016 which I still have, I wonder how the new stuff compares.
Top 2 Snakebite Gold, then Mantis super or gold can't rem, have the spools somewhere, then all synx
And this one, I think a synx has migrated upwards as the 6th down looks suspiciously pink, the big brown one is ton up for Cats. Couple of Mantis in there too.
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In reply to Post #8
I know what you mean, too many promised but fell short either braid, coating or both.
15 years ago everyone was bringing out new gear and I have a biscuit tin with close to a couple of hundred quids worth of hooklink materials that just didn't make the runs water trial to syndicate use.
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In reply to Post #8
I think the old uncoated braid was also sold as Drennan either gravel braid or carp silk..now I'm going back
Was worth paying the extra for Kryston silk worm or merlin
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In reply to Post #6
The problem I had was the braid inside the esp tungsten. It just splaid all over the place and I was never confident on its strength. Think in the old days we might have called it multistrand braid which I always hated too because it was such a faff to work with.
One point on all coated braids is that they all seem to have stretchy outers these days making it difficult to strip back 1 or 2mm to create small hinges. Anyone got a knack for doing this?
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Was in the market for some new links, I'm a good 12-13 years out on new stuff but swore by Kryston.
Didn't like the ESP links of the day and for what it's worth I have a longstanding aversion to Korda apart from Mouthtrap. Definitely a game changer.
Just had a look at the German? site is Merlin dark/silt availble here? I'm down to the last few feet of original green. Might be worth a shot?
I may have spools of pre-2012 Snakebite gold and weed in the loft, they were spot on, preferred it to Mantis. At least I hope its SB weed..only had a quick look and I'm already hoping it's not Snake-Skin..too much hassle
Bought some Mantis dark back then and for some reason I'd put it in the tin of crap..
That was until a couple of weeks ago and then I found out why..it was crap, awful to strip, frayed and snapped.
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In reply to Post #1
I've got a couple spoils of old snake bite one still in packaging if you want to buy?
Also the esp Tungsten loaded is nothing like the snake bite, it's soft and the coating break really easily??
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Are Kryston still about then. I now Dave chiltern sold up to Taska.Then they went through a few owners. And then seemed to disappear of the Radar. Great if there still about.
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In reply to Post #1
I've tested at least a dozen different coated braids over the last year and I have settled on Jackal, imho it is by far the best on the market.
it isn't loaded with tungsten (don't see the point in that),
It doesn't split at the knot,
It is lovely and supple, not like the stiff ones that have a habit of sticking up off the lake bed.
It pulls out nice and straight
Is very easy to strip.
The braid behaves when it is stripped back
I will keep an eye out for snakebite because the gold was one of the very first coated braids I used as well as Korda's first one.
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I use the ESP stuff, cracking 
The Snakebite was unique at the time, and very good for me, can’t comment on the new stuff, not seen it. The original was not nice when you got fibreglass splinters though and the puss went green 
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In reply to Post #1
I was in a similar position to you, in that back in the day I used kryston products exclusively, until they became a shadow of their former selves.
Now I use ESP Tungsten Loaded, and it does literally everything that you could possible want it to do.
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Has anyone used the 'new' Kryston Snake-Bite who can compare it to the older stuff ?
It was my 'go to' hooklink since originally launched, then the EU messed with the coating hardeners and it went rubbish (coating breaking on knotting), then Dave sold Kryston and everything went quiet for a while.
He did give me some Synx and Jackal to try at a early Northern Angling Show but I'm wondering if these are the same now as they were then. I did like Mantis and Super Mantis too.
I've been searching for a new coated hook link for some years so just wondering how the Kryston stuff is doing...if anyone knows?
It gets very expensive buying spools of this and that to try at home 
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