So my objective was to build my own set of pliers that would accomplish the following: Have exact tolerances to have consistent results and be versatile for a variety of sizes.

What followed was the beginning of a long journey, too long to go into here. But what I finally ended up with was what some say is as good as it gets. The pliers are cast from hardened chrome steel. Machined 8 times for the shapes and tolerances. Laser etched, with dipped handles, and then personally hand inspected for 13 different measurements. The tolerances are held to .005" for consistency. I designed the pliers so that one could not over crimp the sleeves, which would result in cracking & failure of the connection. That is why the tight tolerances are so important.

With the help and oversight of Stas Velonkanis, I started manufacturing sleeves that are matched to the pliers. The tolerances are held to .005", so consistency is assured. Each sleeve is individually machined in a multi step process then specially heat treated to prevent cracking.

The system (pliers & crimps) was put on the market in December of 2003. The first big public test was the Taka's Charter on the Royal Polaris of that winter. Since then it has proved to be a viable option for making mono to spectra connections. Since the roll out, there have been no reported failures when done properly.

By popular demand, the kit was developed. The kit contains all the state of the art, tricks, gadgets, illustrated instructions, and products to make the connections easy and quick. One could gather all the items themselves but not without some time and experience. The kit has everything one would need to get right on the boat and fish.