I hear ya Dave. I never gave braid a chance except this past year on my tip-ups where I found the stuff freezes solid, into a glob of string, when exposed to water and 0 C temps.
I hear ya on the "cheap" too, heck that's my middle name when it comes to buying fishing line... 'BTDT El'Cheapo' is what they call me, when they ain't mad at me!!
Hope all is going well and I am looking forward to seeing more of those grand pictures from 'rsquared outdoors' real soon.
Good times and tight lines to you and your boys.