To clear things up for people about Amsteel Blue/ Dyneema:
Amsteel blue, Marlow D12, and English braids Dynamic line are made from pure, braided Dyneema fibres. The type of dyneema these are made from is called SK75. SK78, SK70, SK80 are also available but are not useful for our puproses.
Dyneema is a brand name for Ultra High Molecular Weight PolyEthylene, licensed for manufacture by DSM in Holland. Spectra is alomost identical to Dyneema, being made from UHMWPE too and is licensed by Honeywell in the states. It comes in fibre form or solid material, and can be machined
The awesome strength comes from the length of the polymer chains which number in the millions of molecules long, as opposed to thousands in PolyEthylene bottles. UHMWPE is much stronger than carbon steel and also much more abrasion resistant but is much less dense. Its used in hip replacements, Arboriculture, marine racing, Hammock suspension, bullet-proof vests, industry and is used to line the bottom of aggregate trucks to stop the steel wearing away.
Marlow D12 and Amsteel blue are almost identical, Amsteel being slightly stronger.
English Braids in 2mm is a bit different though (the other sizes of Dymaic line are equal to Amsteel blue). The 2mm size starts life as around 3mm and is then pre-stretched in the factory to bring it down to 2mm diameter. This process keeps the breaking strength of the 3mm line, but reduces stretch further and creep is reduced too. As it starts life as 3mm line, the braid opens up wider and its easier to pull splices through the hollow centre.
I've got whoopies made from all 3 types, the EB dynamic line is the best by far and also much stronger than Amsteel blue in the smallest size, rated at 920kg for 2mm. The extra strength is not usually needed for stringing hammocks up (But liked)and all these lines are great for whoopie slings etc.
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