Xception-3 & -4
Super Tri- & Quad-polymer Multi-braids
— Exclusive Reviews —
by Duncan Mulholland & Martin Smith
© 2002 KeyChem Products/Nick Caine

Single polymer braids based on gel-spun HPPE micro-filaments have been around for several years now and have won the hearts of many a lure angler — that said, they do suffer from some disadvantages compared with 4th and 5th generation high tech monofils based on nylon and co-polymers and so it was only a matter of time before dual-polymer filament braids such as Masons Tiger Braid and Western Filaments TUF-Line, dual braids of HPPE and polyester, became available.

But even dual-polymer filament braids don't have all the virtues (and none of the vices) needed by anglers and so it was with very great excitement that we learned of some triple- and even quad-polymer multi-braids that were being developed, albeit for another type of application .......... read on !!!!

FIRST IN THE UK
We were determined to be the first in the UK to get our hands on some spools of these tri- and quad-polymer super-braids and to give them a good going-over on the river bank and in our sponsor's Test Laboratories.

Finally, after several months of negotiations between our main Sponsor, KeyChem Products and the manufacturer, and as no other UK Importer or Agent has yet been appointed, we managed to obtain half a dozen development sample spools of Xception-3 tri-polymer and Xception-4 quad-polymer super multi-braids.

Although it's very early days yet, and the samples are still going through the Labs, us Guys 'n' Gals in Nick's Tackle Testing Team have been let loose with some spools to do some practical, on-the-river-bank, empirical testing, and what fun it's been!

Apparently the manufacturers UZHP Kiev, who are based in the Ukraine (www.uzhp.kiev.ua), plan to have the product launched across Europe/UK on 1st April 2002 if possible, and so we have rushed things a bit in order to be first in the UK with our exclusive reviews of these two (?Xceptional?) super multi-braids !

XCEPTION-3 tri-polymer Super multi-braid
I have to say that as our Russian is non-existent we've had quite a bit of trouble translating what little literature etc has been supplied with the spools, so "Many Thanks" to Brian Barwell's Russian-speaking lecturer colleague Pete Middleton who translated most of the text for us - cheers, Pete !

It seems that this tri-polymer braid Exception-3 is a triple braid of gel-spun HPPE (? Spectra or Dyneema perhaps?), polyester and nylon micro-filaments and this is designed to at least partly overcome some of the poor abraision resistance of bog-standard HPPE braids.

The spool that I was given to test was 10 kg BS which is about 22 lb. You hardly can see the colours of the different polymers (except under the microscope) and the result is a sort of wishy-washy grey/brown/green coloured braid. It is very smooth to the touch though, and I suspect that it's been coated with some lubricant or other.

Strength
With only a weigh spring balance to hand, it's difficult for me to get any accurate figures for its knottted and wet Breaking Strain without using some pukka testing equipment, and so we'll just have to wait and see what comes out of the Labs ...... but I have to admit to having had a sneaky preview of the results that that they've got so far !

Firstly I should say that these multi-braids seem to be even more ultra-sensitive to which knot you use than are normal HPPE braids, maybe due, among other factors, to the line lubricant that I think they're using on this new tri-polymer Xception-3 braid. Anyway, at first the Lab Techies had quite a bit of trouble getting any sort of consistent results for the "Knotted, Wet Breaking Stress" figures — by the way, apparently what we call Breaking Strain should really be called Breaking Stress .... so there you go, you learn something every day, don't you?!

Finally they seem to have cracked the problem by using a Grinner Knot instead of the normal Palomar and have got preliminary results showing that the knotted, wet-strength of one BS of Xception-3 is around 80% of the claim, which isn't bad for kick off — Top Techie Stevie "Brain Box" Adams is going to publish the full results later on, when they're all done and double checked — patience !

Braid and Profile
Xception-3 is a fairly tightly woven braid and its profile is pretty round although it does flatten a bit under load.

Tenacity (Strength/Diameter Ratio)
I borrowed a very accurate (and expensive!) electronic digital micrometer gauge from the Labs to check the diameter of the 22 lb BS Xception-3 tri-polymer braid that I've been using and I have to say that the average of my figures puts its tenacity (i.e. strength to diameter ratio) slightly less than that of my normal HPPE braid of the same BS — in fact its diameter is about the same as the 30 lb braid that I normally use i.e. 0.40 to 0.42 mm .

Suppleness
I have to say that Xception-3 feels a bit stiffer than my normal braid of nearly the same BS but it seems to cast really very well. I have tried it out with some quite light lures down to 5 gm as well as with some heavy ones of 50 gm (2 oz) which obviously cast very easily.

Stretch
As for stretch, I felt that it has a bit more stretch than my normal braid but not too much so as to be of a worry — in fact, first time out with it, I had a pike of about 5 lb almost immediately and the sensitivity and hook-up was electric, so I'm very hard put to tell the difference between this amazing new tri-polymer super-braid and my normal gel spun HPPE mono-polymer braid — but we'll have to wait to see what Stevie and his Lab Techies come up with for some pukka results on stretch — " elongation under load "  they call it !

Abrasion resistance
Apparently the idea of co-braiding these three polymers (i.e. HPPE, nylon and polystester) is to make a super-braid that's got a whole load more abrasion resistance than standard braids which generally have pretty poor abrasion resistance — so far though, I can't really say that I've noticed a great deal of difference between Exception-3 and my normal braid but, once again, I guess I'll have to wait for the Lab Results for some definitive answers to go with our practical, empirical findings.

Cost
It'll be no surprise that the indicated cost of these super multi-braids isn't going to be cheap — we don't have exact figures because they will depend on sales and manufacturing quantities, so no doubt they'll be seriously expensive at first, and as they catch on when people find out how good they are, the price will drop, hopefully.

SUMMARY of XCEPTION-3 (by Duncan Mulholland)
All in all I have been using Xception-3 tri-polymer super multi-braid for for about two months now without any problems at all. I know it's early days but it's looking good so far; in fact, together with my usual braid, since I got the spools of Exception-3 and -4 in Dec 2001, they're the only lines I have been using.

My mate Martin "The Lure-Nut" Smith (another of Nick's Tenacious Tackle Testing Team) also had some spools of Xception-4 , quad-polymer super multi-braid for testing, so I'll hand over to him now for him to give his findings and comments about it ............

XCEPTION-4 quad-polymer Super-braid
(by Martin Smith)
First off I used this Xception-4 quad-polymer super-braid for one of my most favourite kinds of lure-fishing .. for bass. This form of lure fishing is very tough on any sort of line, and this new multi-polymer braid came through with flying colours.

I don't speak or read any Russian so thanks very much to Pete Middleton who sent me a translation of the words on the spool etc. As its name implies, this quad-polymer super braid goes one stage further than Xception-3 and, if the text and translation is correct is made from braided micro-filaments of gel-spun polyethylene (Spectra or Dyneema to you and me!), some virgin nylon polymer (pretty rare these days?!), some polyester and finally some of that "invisible" PVDF fluorocarbon polymer (see Nick and Steve's separate review of fluorocarbons) . The idea is, apparently, to add a bit of weight and perhaps some " less visibility" (unquote), by adding some fluorocarbon filaments to Xception-3, but I'm only guessing !

Comparisions
Duncan gave me a spool of 10 kg BS Xception-3 to compare it with my 10 kg BS spool of Xception-4 and with my usual braid, Berkley Whiplash.

I must say that I quickly got used to this fancy new multi-polymer braid .... OK. so it's a tad stiffer than Whiplash and maybe a bit thicker too, but nothing that worried me — I did notice that it sinks a bit quicker than Xception-3 and Whiplash though, which is an advantage for me most of the time, except when I'm fishing surface lures.

Re: abrasion resistance, I don't really know what all the fuss is about because personally I never seem to have any problems with lack of abrasion resistance with my normal braids but perhaps that's just the way I fish and the venues I use. Perhaps it would be better for someone who fishes venue with lots of snags and other underwater abrasive things to test this line long-term, I think.

Nor could I put my hand on my heart and say that, to underwater predatory fish, this Xception-4 is "less visible" than Xception-3 or Whiplash or any other line for that matter, really. Perhaps in heavily fished venues with very wary fish, it may pay dividends to shell out the extra cost for something like Xception-4, but I have to say that of the two, like Duncan, I preferred the Xception-3.

Credit where credit's due, though, and so I should say that I caught my first New Year's Upper-Double-Figure pike while I was using Xception-4, a lovely pike of 19 lb 2 oz, but who's to say that it wouldn't have taken the same lure fished with my usual Whiplash braid? There you go, you'll never know unless you try them for yourself! The smart thing to do, surely, is to give them a go as soon as they're on the market in the UK. Have fun. Duncan Mulholland and Martin Smith.

WIN A SPOOL OF XCEPTION SUPER MULTI-BRAID !
Many thanks to KeyChem for getting hold of preview samples of these very interesting braids and to UZHP Kiev for supplying them. I haven't had the chance to try them out yet so, many thanks to Duncan and Martin for their reviews of these new lines which have nicely whetted my appetite ! — we all await with abated breath the pukka Lab Results from Stevie Adams and his Team !

In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments about this ace article about these Xceptional multi-polymer super-braids, please contact us via the Questions Link on the left-hand side Menu.

The very good news is that the manufacturers of XCEPTION Multi-polymer Super Braids , together with our main sponsor KeyChem Products, have generously donated three 100 metre spools of these fantastic new Super-braids as PRIZES in our On-line Competitions, so check them out via the Live Link in the left-hand Menu if you want to be one of the first to try out these brilliant braids for FREE !!!! Tight Lines ! Nick Caine.

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