My most recent halyard project, I used the Yale. cover only, product. On previous projects I have simply purchased a less expensive double braid, such as Samson LS, and used it's polyester core to fish the new dyneema core into place. Cost wise... it comes out pretty close either way... unless there's a specific cover you might prefer.
Anyhow.... the cover advertised a built in messenger for inserting the core... but the product I received did not have it... so.. I fabricated a "fid" out of a piece of coat hanger wire, bending the leading point over for pushing smoothly through the cover's interior.
For each halyard I purchased 80ft of 3/16" Samson Amsteel II, and 40ft. of 5/16" Yale cover only. The difference between cover and core is 1/4" for all sizes. Pay attention to the chart and not the comments on the video...
You'll have to determine the length of cover based on your boat's rigging layout....you might give yourself a few extra feet of total length so you can position the taper point in a position to avoid the cover going too high or the core coming back too far... get it set then perhaps trim the ends of unneeded length.
To create the taper, or bury splice, follow the
"Double Braid Class II Stripping Cover" instructions from the Samson splice guide.
For the shackle end, I prefer
the "luggage tag" eye splice.. the dyneema doesn't really hold a knot too well and the big loop splice allows you to remove the shackle without cutting.
I spent about $100 apiece for the halyards and they look and perform exceptionally. Plus... it was fun!
