One for the splicing guru's......I've decided it is time to learn. Beth got me a set of fids and an instruction book, so the last couple nights, I have been sitting on the couch practicing with pieces of scrap line. The one issue I can't figure out is when making a tapered halyard (stripping the cover off the core), how do you extract the core from the cover without tearing up the core? The instructions simply say to first pry to core out of the cover and then pull the core out. Much easier said than done! The only way I have been able to do this is to cut the cover a couple feet from the place I am making the splice so there is only a foot or two of cover to remve. However, I cannot do this without cutting some of the core. Help!