beading -- fiber materials for high-tension piece

[shatterspect]

I'm making a lariat at the moment, though it's still in the late design stages. By that, I mean that it's threaded in a trial run, but not on its final material yet.

Because of the way the piece is designed; being very heavy, and having a necessarily high thread tension *and* with the bead edges pressing against the thread, it's possible that the edges of my (glass) beads' holes will saw through any fiber I put through them, except for metal. Maybe it wouldn't be the case if I threaded it differently, but I didn't want all the weight of the necklace (which may be around a quarter of a pound now) to fall on one little thread.

I was going to string this on a nylon thread I found which complements the color of some of the transparent beads -- but I really don't trust that thread to hold up, after having seen the jagged exit holes of some of the beads. I have Fireline, but as this isn't a heavily woven piece (where the full weight might not fall on any one knot in particular), I don't trust knots to hold in it. (I read a thread offsite which referred to difficulties in knotting Fireline [at the Bead & Button forums], though I can't find it anymore, or recall any solution other than cementing [or burning] the knots.)

So, I'm torn between Soft Flex and Beadalon. Can anyone here tell me if there's any difference between their working properties (for 21 strands and up)? Particularly I'm thinking of stiffness of the wire, kink resistance, and drape. I know I don't have enough Soft Flex to make this lariat, at the moment, so I'm curious about others' experiences.

P.S. I'm sure some would not know why I'm posting this here, if I have access to better forums -- I just thought I might give this forum a kick. wink