Bill Tuthill wrote:
In rec.boats.paddle Brian Nystrom wrote:

In case anyone actually cares, Spectra is the name of product Allied
Signal manufactures in the US under licence from Hoescht-Celanese in
Germany, the manufacturer of Dyneema. They are identical fibers, though
they can be made into a variety of products that may differ widely.

According to the Dyneema website, they are a Dutch company.

http://www.dsm.com/en_US/html/hpf/home_dyneema.htm

Spectra and Dyneema are both made of polyethylene, but is that evidence
to indicate they are really "the same thing"?

I've always consedered Dynema and Spectra to be essentially the same
thing and look at other properties of a line when deciding what to buy.
Does it float? Can I splice it? How much does it cost? Is it grippy
or smooth? How much does it stretch or creep? There may be slight
differences between Dynema and Spectra (or not) but whatever they may be
they're overshadowed by other considerations.


Specs indicate Dyneema-core ropes have slightly higher tensile strength
than Spectra and some marketing blurbs indicate they have a softer feel.

Remember that two lines of the same diameter may have quite different
core diameters - a thick cover vs a thin cover. Look at non-blended
single braids for a better apples-to-apples comparrison.



//Walt