Tying/splicing your own lines and handles

I know I’ve seen some of you mention making your own lines before, but this is a topic that seems to be surprisingly difficult to find much info about. Anyways, I’m interesting in making some ski and wakeboard lines (and trying some handles for fun while I’m at it), mostly for fun and to be able to dial in line length a little more (like to be able to ride a short line behind our 89 SN2001 with no weight in the boat for wakeboarding), partly to be able to use different colors and partly (as a bonus) to save a bit on cost of lines and repairing/replacing when they wear out. Not trying to do anything fancy, not making competition slalom ropes or anything, just some basic low-stretch lines with poly-e/TAK. My question is, what kind of splices are those of you who have done this using? The Brummel splice seems like a good choice, but the very few videos on the subject I’ve seen, and almost all commercially-made poly lines I’ve seen seem to do something like a simple long-bury splice with a knot tied in the line at the base of the loop, seemingly to lock it in place. I’m not sure why this is, I think the knot would reduce the breaking strength of the line, and should be unnecessary with a proper splice, or am I missing something? Maybe the preference to knot is to help a slip knot loop stay on a pylon better before load is applied to tighten the line around the pylon?

Anyways, looking for suggestions and experiences. How are those of you who are tying your own lines doing this?

Side note: I found a VERY old thread on this topic, but without any description on the process, and I wasn’t sure of the etiquette of reviving very old posts. A lot of forums I’ve noticed seem to hate that practice…so posting a new topic.

A simple google search - "How to splice a water ski rope" turned up several decent videos. Get yourself some rope, a fid (splice tool), and follow along.....

I think the reason is simple, the ropes are pulled on which makes the splice tight and then loose when you enter a turn before pulling hard again, when loose the slip spice can slip right out, that could lead to some really uncomfortable falls on the water.

Google "McDonald brummel" if you want no knots.