Beadalon, available at Abeada Corp., and its competitor, Softflex, are trade names for the new 49 stranded twisted wire cables. Like Tigertail and Acculon (I use the latter; I think it's better quality) they're plastic sheathed, and the Softflex comes in colors. Both are limper than the traditional cable; other stringers (Fae ? of Chimera Glassworks) have told me the Softflex has a softer hand. As it happens I prefer stiffness, which I use to get effects like loops though I've been using the beadalon brand simply because that's what my local vendor carries. I plan to try the other. Beadalon is stronger than the traditional cable, so I use the .015 instead of the .018; it's more resistant to kinking. All those ends fuzz more, and since it's less stiff, it is slower to string. And it costs lots more. On the up side, I can ram it back through beads tightly enough to dispense with crimps, as I did with this necklace.
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