A Precision Line Cutter: Looking somewhat like a medical syringe the Tauten Pro Elite cutter features a plunger design and finger T-grips for leverage. This precision tool is designed to cut through braid cleanly and quickly, minimizing any fraying.

A slotted tip isolates and secures the line position while the cutter slices through the line very efficiently. At the show we made multiple cuts quickly and found the tool to be very easy to use. The tool looks very dependable and feels very solid in hand. As you might expect this level of quality comes at a price, and the Tauten Precision Lien Cutter - pro Elite model retails for $119 dollars. This is a lot to pay for a cutter but it also might just be worth the money if you constantly fish with braided superline.

The line cutter is available now and the company is already working on a follow-up product. At the show they showed us a prototype of their upcoming "Line Welder." 

Goodbye knots? The Tauten Line Welder is a handheld, battery operated tool that is designed to securely join either mono and fluorocarbon lines, forming a strong loop in less than a minute. Though the remaining weld may look large it is strong and also flexible, and there is reduced drag or weed pickup because there is no tag end.

To create a weld simply insert your line looped through your hook and the line welder and press the button. The welder will connect the lines with a welded loop that  is designed to stand up to abuse much better than traditional knots. 

We must have looked skeptical at the booth because the team at Tauten invited us to tie our best knots to a 4lb weight. One the other side with the same line a welded hook was also attached to another matching weight. The machine dropped both weights and the shock immediately broke our knot while the Tauten weld sucessfully held onto the weight.

The Tauten Line Welder is still under development and currently it takes about 40 seconds to make a weld, the final product is supposed to make the same weld in a fraction of that time. The welder is charged via USB and is good for approximately 50 welds on a single charge.

Concept wise the Line Welder looks very interesting. Will fish be affected by the mass of the weld on top of the hook? Are there other applications like using a weld for a punch rig stop? Guess we will have to wait and see. If the final version of the Line Welder is anything close to as refined as the Tauten line cutter is we might have a pretty exciting product to look forward to.