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View Full Version : One Good-to-Know Knot for All Occasions (and a Few Others for Good Measure)



Justin Case
06-11-2010, 01:32 PM
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2010/06/500x_custom_1276210879871_bowline_02.jpg
Tugboat bowlines, fisherman's knots, sheet bends. The best knots are named for their jobs on the ocean, but they have numerous, practical uses on land as well. Here's how to tie the versatile bowline (and more properly tie any knot).

There are dozens of knots with hundreds of uses. Tied properly and with suitable material, they are extremely reliable—the very reason that sailors have been relying on tried and true methods of knot tying for centuries.

Sailors, rock climbers, boy scouts—anyone schooled in the practical art of knot tying—will tell you that tying a knot is one thing, but tying it properly is another. You can improve your knots by dressing them properly and, of course, with practice.
CONTINUED @ http://lifehacker.com/5560510/one-good+to+know-knot-for-all-occasions-and-a-few-others-for-good-measure

trax
06-11-2010, 02:19 PM
good point JIC, I found a link and posted it here a long time ago that showed how to tie different knots, it was pretty good. Can't remember what it was now though.

Rick
06-11-2010, 02:28 PM
Knots by Grog, Trax. I think that's what you posted.

http://www.animatedknots.com/

Also for the newer members. If you are into knot tying or really want to learn knots then the bible for knots is The Ashley Book of Knots. It's rather expensive, around $50, but there are 3854 knots along with illustrations and advice on when and where to use them. Great book.

DOGMAN
06-11-2010, 03:25 PM
i think I posted about knots and mechanical advantage systems a couple of years back also...good stuff though. the bowline, the truckers hitch, the figure-8 family, and the double fishermans can get a person through alot of situations

here it is....

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?t=3087&highlight=mechanical+advantage

somebody should post the truckers hitch on here (how to tie and when to use) its great

Sarge47
06-11-2010, 04:21 PM
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2010/06/500x_custom_1276210879871_bowline_02.jpg
Tugboat bowlines, fisherman's knots, sheet bends. The best knots are named for their jobs on the ocean, but they have numerous, practical uses on land as well. Here's how to tie the versatile bowline (and more properly tie any knot).

There are dozens of knots with hundreds of uses. Tied properly and with suitable material, they are extremely reliable—the very reason that sailors have been relying on tried and true methods of knot tying for centuries.

Sailors, rock climbers, boy scouts—anyone schooled in the practical art of knot tying—will tell you that tying a knot is one thing, but tying it properly is another. You can improve your knots by dressing them properly and, of course, with practice.
CONTINUED @ http://lifehacker.com/5560510/one-good+to+know-knot-for-all-occasions-and-a-few-others-for-good-measureThe Bowline, & Sheet Bend are just two of the seven knots that every Scout has to learn to earn his Tenderfoot Badge! I would add the Prussik knot to that as it has many uses also! :cool2:

Justin Case
06-11-2010, 04:34 PM
And, Everybody should know how to Turn Paracord into Emergency Handcuffs
http://lifehacker.com/5519332/turn-paracord-into-emergency-handcuffs

pete lynch
06-11-2010, 04:41 PM
The way I was taught the bowline was like this:
The rabbit comes out of the hole
Goes around the tree
Then back down the hole.

(The hole being the loop
the tree being the standing end of the rope
the rabbit being the working end of the rope.)

Rick
06-11-2010, 05:41 PM
If you can't tie a knot then tie a lot.

Trucker's Hitch:

http://www.animatedknots.com/truckers/index.php

Rolling Hitch (Tautline Hitch): I use this one for tying my tent stake lines. It's easy to make and easy to untie and holds very well.

http://www.animatedknots.com/rollinghitchboating/index.php

If you have loose lines that you want to roll up but don't want them to tangle wrap them around your pinky finger and thumb using a figure eight. The line will fall loose and never get tangled. About 10 feet is the most I can wrap this way.

finallyME
06-11-2010, 05:52 PM
The Bowline, & Sheet Bend are just two of the seven knots that every Scout has to learn to earn his Tenderfoot Badge! I would add the Prussik knot to that as it has many uses also! :cool2:

Actually a Tenderfoot only needs to know the taught line hitch, double half hitch, and square knot. The Bowline comes in for First Class. :) Teaching kids how to tie knots, and remember them the next time is quite a feat.

Incidentally, I was going to make a short list of must know knots, but Dogman beat me to it. To me, the figure 8 is #1 and bowline #2.

Sarge47
06-11-2010, 06:18 PM
Actually a Tenderfoot only needs to know the taught line hitch, double half hitch, and square knot. The Bowline comes in for First Class. :) Teaching kids how to tie knots, and remember them the next time is quite a feat.

Incidentally, I was going to make a short list of must know knots, but Dogman beat me to it. To me, the figure 8 is #1 and bowline #2.They must have "dumbed it down;" when I was an Assistant S.M. back in '69 I taught the new Scouts all of the knots so that they could get their Tenderfoot badge. :cool2:

Rick
06-11-2010, 07:34 PM
Practice, practice, practice, sjj.

nell67
06-11-2010, 08:38 PM
Original knot thread,with several good links

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?t=171&highlight=knots

your_comforting_company
06-12-2010, 09:10 AM
I would add the Prussik knot to that as it has many uses also! :cool2:

The Prussik is a very useful knot. I use it for lashing skins to frames. The advantage is that the knot locks onto the standing end of the rope more tightly the more pressure you put on it. If a lashing gets loose, I can take up the slack and tighten the skin in the frame in mere seconds. I saw it used on a tarp-shelter ridgeline and liked the way it could be tightened using the modified prussik. I'm sure it has many more uses, but I probably use this one most.

Rick
06-12-2010, 09:53 AM
YCC - I use the Prussik as a hand hold on my walking stick. The knot makes it adjustable in height and locks onto the stick. I just slip my hand through the loop and grab onto the stick. It gives you a bit more balance than the stick alone.

Sarge47
06-12-2010, 12:49 PM
I learned about the Prussick knot on a Ron Hood vid. & was very impressed with it's simplicity! It's also used by mountain climbers to help them climb up a rope. Dr. Hood used it to keep his Tube Tent from sliding down the rope to bunch up in the middle. :cool2:

crashdive123
06-12-2010, 01:57 PM
A very useful knot that I learned from one of Pict's videos is the artillery hitch. the first video he shows the application for using it and in the second video he shows how to tie it.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Colhane#p/u/4/KZu2RV1_uSQ

http://www.youtube.com/user/Colhane#p/u/3/GwRpnJrSljI

Batch
06-13-2010, 01:49 PM
I first learned the Prusik knot as a climber knot. The guy who showed me it was a tree service tech. He would make a knot of rope and toss it into the crook of a tree. He then would tie in to his harness and leave a bit of line to tie a prusik to the other end of the rope. Then he would take up the slack and sit down on the line. He'd bend his legs and snap upward taking up the slack with prusik. This way he could pull himself up fairly easily. Then just a little pressure on the knot and you could slide back down.

I used it instead of tying off when working from a boatswains chair. Great and useful knot.

The figure 8 is the only knot we are supposed to tie in our life lines. I tie a figure 8 and wrap the line at least three times around the structure I am tying into and then follow the figure 8 back through the rope to end the knot.

I use the bowline when I have to load the knot and want to be able to get it out easy. I have tied off to my hitch and a post and snapped the rope trying to pull out a post. The knot was still easy to untie on both ends.

Batch
06-13-2010, 02:02 PM
I was trying to remember what the wraps were called. I thought it was frictionless. I was going through Grog's site and it is the tensionless hitch.

http://www.animatedknots.com/tensionless/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com

finallyME
06-16-2010, 02:08 PM
The Prussik is a very useful knot. I use it for lashing skins to frames. The advantage is that the knot locks onto the standing end of the rope more tightly the more pressure you put on it. If a lashing gets loose, I can take up the slack and tighten the skin in the frame in mere seconds. I saw it used on a tarp-shelter ridgeline and liked the way it could be tightened using the modified prussik. I'm sure it has many more uses, but I probably use this one most.

Here is a video of a guy who uses a prussiks on a continual ridge line for his tarp. I use the same system that I copied from him.

http://www.youtube.com/user/shugemery#p/u/19/dz4H0ewbevI