OK OK - I was experimenting with using fishing line instead of FO strands. It works but the length of the strand is limited to about 1 ft. Decent for very small stuff ...
Oh ok, seems like a similar material when you look at it. Its cool that you get as much as a foot. Its amazing that they can control the polymer or glass structure to do what FO does. Now they have the side glowing stuff. Amazing science ;-)
Its actually an effect that you might want to take advantage of in some cases. the light dims as it travels... so if you're looking to avoid the Christmas tree effect it might be something for you to try. it may go more than 1 foot but there is definitely a limit that probably depends ont he line you're using and the intensity of the light source.
I too tried fishing line. It just is not as optically clear as fiber optic. Short lengths O.K, but yeah, that's about it. Not worth messing with in my opinion.