[Seldom Seen]

Heres a nice little site that shows many different styles of knots and how to tie them. I often practice while on-line.Knot guide (http://www.korpegard.nu/knot/index.php).

[SmartAZ]

Yawn!

I learned all the usual knots when I was in Boy Scouts and never found a use for most of them. In my entire life I have never found a situation that couldn't be handled with a square knot, bowline, or clove hitch, and I only used the clove hitch for tying electronic cables together. The sheepshank and the fisherman's knot are especially worthless. I'm pretty sure they only live on in books because nobody ever actually uses them.

The only knot I have wanted but couldn't find til recently was the trucker's knot. This knot allows you to tie on a load and then tighten the rope with the knot still tied. I have found a superior way to tie this knot (http://www.volkerschatz.com/knots/knots.html), and it's still simple enough to memorize and never forget. This knot will wear out your rope quickly. Find a piece of leather or even heavy paper to put in the loop to reduce the wear.

A sailor might need more than those four, but I don't think anybody else ever does.

[Libertarian]

I've had to use several knots in my life. The "trucker's knot" is a bowline with a cinch. I used it a lot to tie down loads when I drove a truck. I've used a couple of rigger's knots when I worked on towers. I used a really cool no slip knot when tying hooks/flies to my line while fishing. Knowing how to ties a good knot has saved my butt on more than one occasion. I am grateful for my Boy Scout experiance.

[Seldom Seen]

Sorry it bored you SmartAz. I didn't have the luxury of belonging to the boy scouts when I was a youngster,so I found the site useful. No one taught me these things as a boy,so I had to teach myself. Furthering various skills and learning how to do useful things is something I enjoy. I tie things up quite often while working and playing and found several knots there that work better than "compound grannies".

[hughmanity]

Thanks for the thread seldom. Having been in both the BoyScouts and Navy I am quite familiar with knots and use them all the time. They are quite usefull when camping and climbing.

Here are a few more knot pages:
http://www.mistral.co.uk/42brghtn/knots/42ktmenu.html

http://www.blacklakeny.com/boatknots.html

http://www.netknots.com/html/outdoor_knots.html

The new Boy Scout handbook has the knots spread out throughout the text. If you can find an older version the knots were all together in one chapter. Also if you can get ahold of the Navy's Blue Jackets Manual it has some pretty good articles on knots.

There are also several organizations on climbing, trees, clifts, buildings, etc. just google climbing.

[Pepper]

Thanks Seldom! This is something I would like to learn.

Pepper

[CanadaSue]

One of my most beloved possessions is my dad's Manual of Seamanship - Volume 1 from when he did his basic naval training as a young weed of 17. It's fun & fascinating & I recall spenging many hours practicing the knots as I sat in splendid solitude in my faborite treehouse - oka so I WAS weird - that still comes as a surprise to some?

Want to learn to splice, now that I have dicing & spicing pretty much worked out.

[SmartAZ]

Sorry it bored you SmartAz.
Well, it wasn't really so bad. It's just that I have a reputation to uphold!

[CanadaSue]

& I hereby & forwith command you to get ye forth & find some obscure esoterica on corgage & knottage.

You know the scary part?

The bugger will manage just that within 24 hours.

[Seldom Seen]

Well, it wasn't really so bad. It's just that I have a reputation to uphold!


I can live with that. Consider your reputation unspoiled. :cheers:

[Ought Six]

Here is a handy knot card (front & back sides). Print it out on some card stock, cut it out and have it laminated.

Also, here is a page with some common nautical knots. The diagrams are animated, which makes it easier to see how it is done.

http://www.naciente.com/sail3.htm

[Delta Lady]

Nice animated site...06

[RobT20]

Bumping this thread.

I was trying to remember how to tie a Trucker's Hitch knot and ran across this site which is very nicely done with animated knots (http://www.animatedknots.com/)..

[RobT20]

...
The only knot I have wanted but couldn't find til recently was the trucker's knot. This knot allows you to tie on a load and then tighten the rope with the knot still tied. I have found a superior way to tie this knot (http://www.volkerschatz.com/knots/knots.html), and it's still simple enough to memorize and never forget.
...
SmartAZ, oh I agree, this is definitely much better and easier than the other descriptions I've seen for a Trucker's Hitch.

[rc]

The sheepshank and the fisherman's knot are especially worthless. I'm pretty sure they only live on in books because nobody ever actually uses them.

The only knot I have wanted but couldn't find til recently was the trucker's knot. This knot allows you to tie on a load and then tighten the rope with the knot still tied. I have found a superior way to tie this knot, and it's still simple enough to memorize and never forget. This knot will wear out your rope quickly.

Very interesting observations, akin to "the emperor has no clothes". But I think your final comment sheds some light on the situation.

Until now, I've never heard the term "trucker's knot". I'm glad it has a name, since it's what I always use to tie things to the top of the car. It works well, but I've always labored under the misaprehension that it's not a "real knot". Whenever I've used it, I've always felt a tinge of guilt thinking that it was a variation of the dreaded "granny knot". Boy Scouts, after all, use "real knots" when working with rope. Anything else (no matter how well it holds), is a "granny knot". Whenever I've tied anything to the car, I've always lived in fear, thinking that some Boy Scout would take one look at it and accuse me of tying a "granny knot". You don't know how relieved I am to know that I'm actually tying a bona-fide "trucker's knot" rather than a "granny knot". As long as the knot has a name, I'm safe. In fact, I'm superior to the Boy Scouts who only know five knots. I'm advanced in working with ropes--I know the "trucker's knot". (This is almost as good as knowing the "bowline on a bight". I never learned that knot, but I was assured that if I ever had to rescue someone, this is the only knot that would do.)

But regarding why these knots keep getting promoted, your final remark is the reason why: "this knot will wear out your rope quickly". Herein lies the reason why knot tying is such a valued skill by those who promote it. I was told (by my Senior Patrol Leader, who was right about everything) that a correctly tied knot will not weaken the rope and will not wear out the rope. As long as you stick with the five knots you learned as a Tenderfoot, the rope will last forever. The use of unapproved knots will weaken the rope, and will wear it out prematurely.

I suspect this dates back to when you had to make the rope yourself. If you had fifty feet of rope (made out of hemp twine, of course), you probably didn't want to wear it out before its time. And if you stuck with the approved knots, you wouldn't wear it out.

Interestingly, I also have never in my life, had use for a sheepshank. This, of course, is because if the rope is too long, I simply cut it. Every couple of years, I go to the hardware store and buy a hundred feet of rope. Before long, I have two fifty foot pieces of rope. And eventually, I'm left with a bunch of much smaller pieces of rope. Had I religiously used the sheepshank to shorten the rope, I would never have to buy rope again.

But all of my ropes are cut up, and tied back together with square knots. And, of course, once there are too many square knots in a rope, you can't use it for a "trucker's knot" any more, because the square knot won't slide through the loop.

When I was in Scouts, we occasionally made our own rope using a contraption similar to this one:

http://www.mkdrafting.com/Rope_maker.htm

(Although ours wasn't nearly as well made as this one.) You wound up with good rope consisting of six strands of twine. IMHO, the fine art of knot-tying is tied in closely with actually making the rope yourself. These days, you don't have to worry about your knots, because you just go to the hardware store and buy some polypropylene rope.

I should point out that even when I tie "granny knots", I still consider myself infinitely more enlightened than those who rely upon bungee cords--which of course, are the bane of fastening technology. The next time you're driving along the freeway, keep your eye on the shoulder. You'll see bungee cords every hundred yards or so. People use bungee cords because they don't know how to tie knots.

[rc]

Good heavens. I just looked at 06's knot card, and it actually shows a granny knot. The knot shown is the most common version of the "granny knot"--a square knot gone bad.

I hope anyone who laminates that card realizes this.

[SmartAZ]

I had to tie a couch to the roof a while back and I went right out and got a ratchet tie-down thingie. So even the trucker's knot is out of style for me now!

[SmartAZ]

Oh, and HERE (http://www.shoelaceknot.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm) is a cute way to tie shoelaces!

[north runner]

A prussik knot is nice to know.

[SmartAZ]

Are we supposed to google "prussic knot" to find out what it is and why we should care? You're talking to people who get along just fine with nothing more than duct tape and WD-40.

[north runner]

Are we supposed to google "prussic knot" to find out what it is and why we should care? You're talking to people who get along just fine with nothing more than duct tape and WD-40.

its a schlip knot for schleppers :)

No idea which is the correct spelling.... prusik, prussik, prussic.

[Appleman IV]

Anyone know of a site that explains how to terminate three plaited leather laces on a ring?

[BuilderBob]

Duct tape? :D