knotology (Very pic heavy)

[AmirMortal]

What are your top 5 favorite knots/rope work. If you had to say one is the MOST important knot to know, what would you say?

I dunno about my top 5 or the most important. My favorite (although not sexy and very easy to do) is the Double Becket bend. I find it super reliable and for some reason I really love it.

My own personal faves are (and the task associated):

1) Bowline (fixed loop)
2) Clove hitch with two half hitches (self tightening)
3) Grapevine/ Fisherman's bend (connecting two ropes together)
4) Highwayman's hitch (temporary tie off)
5) Trucker's hitch (my own variant) (mechanical advantage)
6) Alpine Butterfly or Bowline on a bight (mid-line loops)


It's hard to narrow down my choices, you're killing me Lenny! I love so many, and for so many different reasons.

As for only one, I'd vote for the Bowline family, you can do so much with just a little variation.

[ninja-elbow]

Well, I'll quantify by going off of what I use most:

1) clove-hitch and some half-hitches
2) bowline
3) trucker's
4) long-splice
5) square-lashing

[elkhills]

In Rescue:

1. Figure 8- the second strongest @ 80%
2. Bowline- the fastest to tie, and still strong @ 60%
3. Clove Hitch- mostly in Patient Packaging
4. Butterfly- I already told ya why
5. Tensionless Wrap- The strongest Anchor Knot there is, but it only works with the right anchor

At home/real life:

1. Bowline- the go-to knot, fast, strong, easy to untie
2. Clove Hitch- does everyone know what this knot is for? It's for pulling a cylinder on end, ie. pulling a log through the forest
3. Truckers Hitch- mechanical advantage, baby!
4. Butterfly- it's got it's uses
5. Sheet Bend- for joining two ropes together, it's really just a Bowline using two ropes.

[AmirMortal]

2. Clove Hitch- does everyone know what this knot is for? It's for pulling a cylinder on end, ie. pulling a log through the forest

That's one good use for it, I like to use it as a start for a marlin hitch/timber hitch for that type of application. I do this when I need to hoist a pipe or bundle of pipes or even a bundle of 1x or 2x4s aloft. I also use a clove a lot for attaching to a fixed pipe, especially if I need it to not slide, whereas a bowline might slide side to side under load-which can be disastrous. You can also use it as a way to cinch down a bunch of cables or cloth to a pipe/bar/spar/etc.

I kind of consider the bowline and clove hitch in the same magnitude of awesomeness! They just have different specialties. If someone could only learn two knots those are the ones I recommend. Between those you can do most tasks at least passably well. Even connecting two ropes using the bowline bend. And if you modify the clove, you can get to things like the taughtline hitch easily enough.

[Lenny]

I (that's me personally) have never used a clove hitch to haul anything. I usually use a timber hitch or some modification of it. I do have a extensive experience in the timber hitch. I have used it to clear logs from 10' to 120' logs out the main shipping channels. When I was on the Aircraft carrier we would tie a timber hitch on the swabs and lower them over the side of the ship (90') to give them a saltwater cleaning.


I wish I knew more rescue knots. I gotta learn some.

[Lenny]

^^^^^^^^

[EricinVirginia]

Cool thread. Looking for knots and saw this. Practiced bowlines last night. For such a simple knot, I can see it's usefulness but it's irritating that, how simple it is, it's so freaking hard to get it right! However, this knot alone would have saved me many a piece of cord that I knotted up and later had to cut off because the knot had pulled to tightly or was irrecoverably gnarled.

This thread needs to stay up in the actives list.

[ninja-elbow]

^^^^^^^^

Greatest use of posted pics to explain something on the internetz evar!!

[AmirMortal]

Greatest use of posted pics to explain something on the internetz evar!!

Seconded!

[Lenny]

And to think I was gonna delete it too, after I posted I thought that was stupid to do. LOL

[jamoni]

What are your top 5 favorite knots/rope work. If you had to say one is the MOST important knot to know, what would you say?

I dunno about my top 5 or the most important. My favorite (although not sexy and very easy to do) is the Double Becket bend. I find it super reliable and for some reason I really love it.

1: Figure Eight on a bight. I use it 20 times a day.
2: Prusik. For ascending, rappelling safety, rigging blocks, securing tools, etc.
3: Butterfly. For pulling loads up on the middle of the rope.
4: Double fisherman's. Great for improvising slings out of short rope.
5: Munter Hitch. Used to tag out loads away from the tower. Can be used as improvised belay or rappel.

[Blackdog]

Since learning this Knot I have used the snot out of it.

The Siberian Hitch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiBbktmCGXo

[KnightoftheRoc]

ETA: I'm still working on an eye-splice in 3 strand tutorial but things have been busy for me. Got a marlin spike from 1984CJ though and it oughta' make that tutorial much easier. I made the Hell out of them eye-splices on the St. Louis and Shasta on mooring lines and then later made some money off of them in the SCA when people wanted nice tent pole stays that were period.

I've been reading the thread, and I'm probably going to find this later on in postings, but- there's a tent line knot for cinching tent wall lines, that I think ZS'ers would find handy. Is this the same knot you meant? I've only ever seen the one form used, but that doesn't mean there can't be others.

And, since I'm posting, I won't wait till I get to the end- Is there a knot anyone can recommend for a cinch-tight tourny? I've seen illustrations of native fighters wearing cords around upper arms and thighs that were used as tourniquets with a pull on the loose end, but the pictures don't ever show the knot used. This isn't the type of thing you want to need, and find out your knot idea is a no-go. Would the tentline knot work dependably for this? At $40.00 a clip for tournequets, I'm thinking I could see a 150 of that 160 dollar investment go back into equipment, if I was going to use the tournys as a worn item (saving space and time).

[KnightoftheRoc]

Since learning this Knot I have used the snot out of it.

The Siberian Hitch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiBbktmCGXo

Never knew the name of it, but I've used this one for securing a bent sapling for snares- the trip wire is just the loose end, extended down to the trail and secured. Nice thing is, you can use the same knot in about the same amount of time and effort, with any size cord. Now you know how Rambo managed all those boobytraps in 15 minutes, lol

[AmirMortal]

And, since I'm posting, I won't wait till I get to the end- Is there a knot anyone can recommend for a cinch-tight tourny? I've seen illustrations of native fighters wearing cords around upper arms and thighs that were used as tourniquets with a pull on the loose end, but the pictures don't ever show the knot used. This isn't the type of thing you want to need, and find out your knot idea is a no-go. Would the tentline knot work dependably for this? At $40.00 a clip for tournequets, I'm thinking I could see a 150 of that 160 dollar investment go back into equipment, if I was going to use the tournys as a worn item (saving space and time).

My understanding of tourniquets is that they are NEVER to be used unless you think that you may bleed to death soon without it, and then it is NOT to be removed except by trained professionals in a hospital setting. If you must use one, plan on losing the limb forever, as in amputation.

A clove hitch may accomplish the task, though a choker hitch would likely work better.

Pass a bight around the object to be tied to, then pass the ends through the bight around the object. Cinch extremely tight, you will get some mechanical advantage from the knot. From this point, once tension is applied you may separate the ends and make a few passes in opposing directions around the object, and finish with a surgeons knot.

DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS A LIFE IS IN IMMEDIATE JEOPARDY. The above is speculation and hearsay, I am NOT a medical professional, nor do I play one on T.V.

[E]

5) Trucker's hitch (my own variant) (mechanical advantage)

ahhh truckers hitch

remember helping a buddy move, and him bemoaning he didn't have rachet straps for the pickup bed. grabbed some rope and tied this, and he laughed saying it would never hold. after tightening it down i played the rope like a guitar string in front of him

needless to say, he shut up quick and asked me to teach him

[zombicide_x]

5) Trucker's hitch (my own variant) (mechanical advantage)

ahhh truckers hitch

remember helping a buddy move, and him bemoaning he didn't have rachet straps for the pickup bed. grabbed some rope and tied this, and he laughed saying it would never hold. after tightening it down i played the rope like a guitar string in front of him

needless to say, he shut up quick and asked me to teach him

Knowing 8 or 10 good knots and when to use them, puts you in a better position than probably 97% of people who know only 2 or 3. You'll be a guru in their eyes, a mysterious knower of arcane tie-down magic.

Here are my favorites:

1. The Butterfly Loop, a most versatile knot, can be used as a loop, bend, sheepshank and to isolate a damaged section of line.

2. The Zeppelin Bend, far superior to the Sheet Bend, nonjamming and as it's mirror symetrical it's easy to check that it's tied correctly just by looking at it.

3. The Bowline and its variations, well-known, I usually use it with the "Yosemite finish"-a better, less jamable knot that gets the tail of the knot away from the loop.

4 The Buntline Hitch, just a clove hitch tied around the standing end of the rope, adding a half hitch converts it to a Corned Beef Hitch constriction knot.

5. The Double Half Hitch, not a very secure binding knot, but is so quick and simple, everybody uses it.

6. The Trucker's Hitch

7. The Midshipman's Hitch, this cousin of the Prusik knot is good for stakeing out trees and pitching tents.




BTW, Shrapnel's avatar is creeping me out.

[KnightoftheRoc]

And, since I'm posting, I won't wait till I get to the end- Is there a knot anyone can recommend for a cinch-tight tourny? I've seen illustrations of native fighters wearing cords around upper arms and thighs that were used as tourniquets with a pull on the loose end, but the pictures don't ever show the knot used. This isn't the type of thing you want to need, and find out your knot idea is a no-go. Would the tentline knot work dependably for this? At $40.00 a clip for tournequets, I'm thinking I could see a 150 of that 160 dollar investment go back into equipment, if I was going to use the tournys as a worn item (saving space and time).

My understanding of tourniquets is that they are NEVER to be used unless you think that you may bleed to death soon without it, and then it is NOT to be removed except by trained professionals in a hospital setting. If you must use one, plan on losing the limb forever, as in amputation.

Yeah- the approach here is pretty much "the (limb) is a write off- it shouldn't dangle and be all stringy like that, so, lets try not to die, too". The other advantages to a cord would be, besides the aforementioned costs (how much is YOUR life worth?) if that's gonna be an issue, but also the availability of some handy length cord for a repair or a snare, etc, and it can still be put back on as first intended. Also, there's the whole time factor- you can only use a tourny on four parts of the body, and if it's already ON it, all you need to do is slide it down and tighten it up. Time saved is blood saved.

A clove hitch may accomplish the task, though a choker hitch would likely work better.

Pass a bight around the object to be tied to, then pass the ends through the bight around the object. Cinch extremely tight, you will get some mechanical advantage from the knot. From this point, once tension is applied you may separate the ends and make a few passes in opposing directions around the object, and finish with a surgeons knot.
I'm definitely gonna have to get that Asherton book- I read all of that, and still don't know what you said, lol. But I do appreciate the point in the right direction- excellent thread!

DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS A LIFE IS IN IMMEDIATE JEOPARDY. The above is speculation and hearsay, I am NOT a medical professional, nor do I play one on T.V.

Can't be stressed enough!

[zombicide_x]

Is there a knot anyone can recommend for a cinch-tight tourny? I've seen illustrations of native fighters wearing cords around upper arms and thighs that were used as tourniquets with a pull on the loose end, but the pictures don't ever show the knot used.

If you subscribe to the put-it-on-keep-it-on school of tourniquets, I'd think a Constrictor Knot with the two tails continued around the limb and joined with an Overhand Bend would serve. You could just pull on the Overhand and the constrictor will tighten until you cut it off.

[E]

Knowing 8 or 10 good knots and when to use them, puts you in a better position than probably 97% of people who know only 2 or 3. You'll be a guru in their eyes, a mysterious knower of arcane tie-down magic.

this is true. Everyone's impressed almost every time i tie something down. but it usually ends up with me educating them, so it works out well

[AmirMortal]

Knowing 8 or 10 good knots and when to use them, puts you in a better position than probably 97% of people who know only 2 or 3. You'll be a guru in their eyes, a mysterious knower of arcane tie-down magic.

this is true. Everyone's impressed almost every time i tie something down. but it usually ends up with me educating them, so it works out well

Agreed! I'll take just about any excuse to teach someone a knot or two.

[E]

Knowing 8 or 10 good knots and when to use them, puts you in a better position than probably 97% of people who know only 2 or 3. You'll be a guru in their eyes, a mysterious knower of arcane tie-down magic.

this is true. Everyone's impressed almost every time i tie something down. but it usually ends up with me educating them, so it works out well

Agreed! I'll take just about any excuse to teach someone a knot or two.

my favorite is teaching the handcuff knot to people who are oblivious. Then letting them try to wriggle out of it while i drink the rest of their beer

[jamoni]

Jamoni was sad that he doesn't have a decent marlinspike and fixed blade rigging knife. Jamoni was also sad that rent is due and there's no $$$ for toys.
Jamoni is not emo, so instead of staying sad, he went out to the shop and went to work:

The blade is from a $3 kitchen knife, the handle is some scrap wood, the spike is just some scrap steel I got from work. I'll end up bluing the spike, I think. I need to make some brass rivets for the blade, epoxy it all in place, and stain and seal the handle. I also want to inset some brass tubing in the butt for a lanyard ring. I also need to make a sheath, of course.
I was pleasantly surprised at how hard the steel is in the blade. I think it will hold up well to cutting rope.

[AmirMortal]

Jamoni speaks in third person, but makes cool knife and spike. Amir likes Jamoni's work. Amir can't tell, is that an Icicle Hitch on his spike?