Originally Posted by JR SPEY
I think what Smolt was saying is that the X designation is archaic, and I tend to agree. If the manufacturer puts both the actual diameter and an accurate strength designation on the spool I don't see how they can be accused of "shoddy labeling." My guess is that there are a large number of flyfishers today who don't even really understand (or even need to understand) the X designation. Most of us who've been around awhile have come to depend upon it, but with so many types of materials today the X doesn't tell you anything you can't determine by knowing the other two pieces of information.
OK, so maybe its mainly us old guys who still think in terms of "X". And sorry if I offended anyone. And maybe I'm not getting my point across. On a typical spool of tippet you will find the X designation, diameter in thousanths of an inch, and strength written on the label. The X designation matches the diameter so there's nothing shoddy so far. Lets say for an example of what actually happened that on the label a diameter of 0.010" is shown with a designation of 1X. Where the shoddy comes in is if you then take and measure the diameter of the tippet and find it to be significantly greater than 0.010", and especially if the measurement goes up to the next X designation of 0.011" or 0X or even more as I have seen in some cases. Since a diameter of 0.011 will obviously be stronger in strength than a diameter of 0.010, a user of this material could be led to believe they have stronger tippet at the desired diameter if they just go by what they read on the label.