Teen--after doing it a few times, it shouldn't take ya more than a minute to make the whole setup from scratch. I have lead, pliers, and leader in my pocket, and do it right in the middle of the river. The tough part is making sure you don't squeeze the hole in the hollow core shut when you're cutting the lead. I scribe a cut around the outside diameter of the lead with my pliers, then wiggle the piece back and forth with my fingers till it breaks off. If your hollow core ain't hollow, the rest of the operation is going to be rather difficult! :p

Hohwaiian--Yes, the gap between the lead and swivel is a good idea. Although I've had no problems with the lead hanging up on the swivel without a gap, the gap does keep your corky a little higher off the bottom (in theory). But I'm not following your reason for doubling up the lead leader. You certainly DON'T want your lead leader stronger than your main line..if you encounter some strange situation where your whole lead setup is snagged, you want the lead leader to break before your main line does. Please explain.