I have been practicing my line splicing technique making double spliced loops (insert a section of line inside another then splice a loop. Sort of like sleeving with the sleeve on the inside).

It is really, really easy. Much easier than sleeving and sewing loops.

Some questions:
- Does splicing have any adverse impacts on line strength?
- Why don't kite manufacturers splice the lines? (I'm guessing in a production context it's faster to sew when you have a dedicated line sewing machine and it's easier to color code the ends with sleeving.)

This is the splicing technique I use:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9UmQTUbVLA

You need to finish off with a few hand stitches to lock the line in place when it is not under load. Some people use a dab of glue.

You get somewhere between 90 and 100 percent line strength (it depends a little bit on what kind of splice you use) so no adverse impacts compared to sleeving.

Kite manufacturers definitely splice lines, usually both of the power lines are spliced at the end near the safety system, some other lines are spliced too, for instance the elasticized flag out line is usually spliced, and if a line ends in a stainless steel o-ring they'll often splice instead of sleeving.

A sewn line is nicer than a spliced line because for people with big fingers (or snowkiting) it's easier to undo the lark's head and like you said easier to color code and kook proof it, sleeved lines are just a bit nicer than a spliced line for making a lark's head.

This is a pretty cool video:

http://www.samsonrope.com/12-strand-cla ... splice.cfm

http://www.kiteboarding.com/proddetail. ... =microhook

I have seen the splicing technique in the video posted by Ozbunny fail when there is no stitching added. A much more reliable splice technique is the Brummel splice (just google it for instructions).

A proper splice can be very strong and maintain over 90 % of the lines strength. The reason kite manufacturers just use sleeving and stitching to splice lines is that is is quick and effective. If you don't have a zig zag sewing machine, a Brummel splice works well (but takes time).

CG

I like the zacher knot best