You are not logged in. Would you like to login or register?

11/17/2019 8:07 am  #1


Knots

Always try to learn a little more over the winter and feel like my arsenal of knots I’m proficient at could use some work.

So interested to know what knots everybody finds the most useful out there and for what purposes.

Going to create a short list to learn before next spring.

Cheers

Shawn


We do not go to the green woods and crystal waters to rough it, we go to smooth it.
 - George Washington Sears
 

11/17/2019 8:37 am  #2


Re: Knots

My arsenal is pretty limited in that I use two half hitches for soooo much.  I use it for just about everything but tying my shoes, whether the situation calls for it or not. 

For hanging the food bag, I'll generally use a clove hitch, but frequently it is a pretty sorry example, where I've walked rope around the tree a few times with the rope (which pretty much holds the bag by friction), and finish with a clove hitch or two around the nub of a branch (because that's frequently all there is remaining to tie to).  

I tie a mean bowline and can do it in just a few seconds, but I very seldom have to rescue my fellow campers from the bottom of a cliff, so I just use that one to show off to kids that I can do it.    

In the past, before the little tab things on tent lines, I used a taut line hitch, which is a really fun knot to know in general.  They can loosen up, so maybe not the greatest knot in the world, but I could see using it on one end of a clothesline.

 

11/17/2019 8:49 am  #3


Re: Knots

For tarp and tent, I do one end bowline and one end double half hitch, that way everything is adjustable/can be tightened. For food hang I'm less specific I just use a long rope and wrap it around the barrel several times then finish off with a couple overhand knots, and like Dave I just wrap around the tree trunk several times and it holds itself (I'll tuck in the excess rope to one of the loops just to keep it clean/out of the way)


Trip Reports & Campsite Pictures
algonquinbeyond.com
 

11/17/2019 3:27 pm  #4


Re: Knots

For tarp ridge line I use a truckers hitch at one end  for tightening the line and prusiks for tarp attachment points (combined with S-biners). Taut-line hitches for tightening guy lines and side ropes. Slip knot is perfect for keeping a rope safely attached to whatever it's attached to under a pull (like both ends of a painter rope). Double Fisherman's knot for joining 2 lines. That covers 90% of my needs.
Oh, also Monkey Braid for keeping ends of rack straps from flapping in the wind.

 

11/17/2019 4:43 pm  #5


Re: Knots

EddyTurn wrote:

For tarp ridge line I use a truckers hitch at one end  for tightening the line and prusiks for tarp attachment points (combined with S-biners). Taut-line hitches for tightening guy lines and side ropes. Slip knot is perfect for keeping a rope safely attached to whatever it's attached to under a pull (like both ends of a painter rope). Double Fisherman's knot for joining 2 lines. That covers 90% of my needs.
Oh, also Monkey Braid for keeping ends of rack straps from flapping in the wind.

 
Ok good.  This confirms what I was thinking of moving to.

Truckers hitch for ridgeline with prusiks to tighten tarp.  Likely add a small carabiner to the end of each prusik to easily clip to the tarp. I never knew how easy the prusik knot was until recently.
I was thinking taut line hitches for guy lines too.

Cool

Thx everybody.


We do not go to the green woods and crystal waters to rough it, we go to smooth it.
 - George Washington Sears
     Thread Starter
 

11/17/2019 9:10 pm  #6


Re: Knots

I recently ,at 45 yrs old, decided to tryout for out local Volunteer Fire Department. Last April they hired 7 recruits, of which I'm the oldest by 5 or 6 years. Its been a great experience so far and challenging at times. Knot tying has been an important part of our training. Ive learned a few new ones and been able to hone my skills further on the ones I knew. Growing up in scouting I thought I knew enough knots. Until now. Figure 8, sheet bend, clove hitch, half hitch, bowline , truckers hitch, alpine butterfly, double fisherman, prusiks are all in my arsenal now. The figure 8 on a bight and alpine butterfly mid line loop have become my new favourites around camp. Ive also added prusiks on all guy lines . So handy for tensioning and easy to make adjustments.  Not sure how I made it this far without these in my tool box LOL!

Last edited by Shayne74 (11/17/2019 9:11 pm)

 

11/18/2019 12:57 am  #7


Re: Knots

Most of the above mentioned knots sum up my knowledge of knots except I haven’t seen a mention of the Buntline Hitch. It’s my favourite for securing one end of a rope, for attaching to tarps or painters on the canoe.

I’d also like to add that more often then not a couple of half hitches does the job well enough. Until several years ago I really didn’t know any other knots but over the last few winters I pass the time sitting on the couch with a meter long 8 mm rope and watch animatedknots.com. The rope is stored in my 2 year old daughter’s toy box and occasionally she pulls it out and wants to wear it as a belt. So I teach her how to tie two half hitches.

Last edited by solos (11/18/2019 1:11 am)

 

11/18/2019 5:03 pm  #8


Re: Knots

Here's my favorite, I call it the Arrghh, f****n, son of a &^$%, Mother ^&*$#!!!! Use it every trip!


 

 

11/18/2019 5:21 pm  #9


Re: Knots

MartinG wrote:

Here's my favorite, I call it the Arrghh, f****n, son of a &^$%, Mother ^&*$#!!!! Use it every trip!


 

Lol.
Funny Martin that is only 1 of a few knots I really have down.
 


We do not go to the green woods and crystal waters to rough it, we go to smooth it.
 - George Washington Sears
     Thread Starter
 

11/18/2019 5:36 pm  #10


Re: Knots

Martin, that's a great knot - and so versatile!  I find it useful at home, too, for extension cords, strings of Christmas lights, patch cords, XLR cables, etc.

 

11/18/2019 6:42 pm  #11


Re: Knots

If you can't tie a knot, tie allot!

 

11/18/2019 6:59 pm  #12


Re: Knots

I mostly camp in winter now and use more hardware than knots (dutchware) so I can setup / take down with gloves on.

However I do have a good arsenal of knots

The ones I use the most

Siberian hitch (tarp ridge line)
Truckers hitch (tarp ridge line )
Double fisherman knot ( for loops to attach tarp to ridge line )
Prusick knot ( to adjust tarp loops )
Taut line hitch ( tie outs )
Bowline ( to attach food bag to hang rope )
Sheet bend ( general use )
Figure 8 stopper ( there's usually one on the end of the rope to prevent fray )

Last edited by Lofty (11/18/2019 7:02 pm)

 

11/19/2019 11:13 am  #13


Re: Knots

Martin - I use your knot with my food bag, but only at night, in the rain, when I'm ankle deep in moose leavings.

Lofty's note interested me - the Sheet Bend is a super-helpful knot to know.  For those who don't know, that's to join to ropes together of different diameters.  Square knot does the same for two ends that are of the same diameter. 

The use of a Figure Eight can be handy to prevent an end from slipping through a pulley for example, but if it is on the end of a piece of rope in general to prevent fraying, I find it a pain in the dupa because it interferes with untying knots.  Still, depending on what you are using, you gotta do what you gotta do to prevent fraying.  It did put me in mind of another rope skill - splicing, which you can do if you have a three-stranded rope (or more strands if you have a lot of dexterity).

Splicing is both fun and useful, it just takes more time than tying a knot, and I think most of the time we aren't using stranded rope (although we've all seen stranded rope when somebody loses a foodbag line....I'm hilarious).  Stranded ropes tend to be thicker and heavier than what we would typically want to give packing space to or add portage weight for, but hey it is worth a mention, because splicing really is fun.  At least I think so...  

End splice (or back splice), is a way to finish the end of your rope to it will never fray.  

Long splice joins two ropes together and retains more of the rope's strength than if you used a knot.  

Eye splice forms a loop at the end of the rope, which is super-handy.  I tend to tie loops in the ends ropes because it is faster and/or I don't have stranded rope, but the knot frequently gets in the way.  An eye splice is a really clean way to accomplish the same thing.

There are lots and lots of splices, but I think you'd find the above three the most common and most useful.

So, to me, splicing would be a fun skill to learn, a fun in-camp skill to learn as well, and could be a fun in-camp skill to teach someone else.  There has never been a person who made a splice who didn't want to show it off to somebody after they did it.  The chief downside is you do a splice, then you wish you had more rope to splice and even if you do have more rope to splice you can't justify the utility of doing it just for the sake of doing it.   

 

11/22/2019 12:03 am  #14


Re: Knots

LOL!  Not really my strong suit. I'm the guy who stiffens, watching the setting sun while camped out on an island, and the supposedly secur boat goes drifting by a few feet offshore.

I forget why they call them Gordian knots?!

 

11/22/2019 6:33 am  #15


Re: Knots

I don't know many, but the ones I do know have been adequate for my needs. Bowline, trucker's hitch (with a slippery half), taught-line, and prusik. I set up my tarp with a bowline/carabiner at one end, trucker's hitch at the other. It has 2, permanently-attached prusik loops each made from short pieces of cord tied into a loop using a fisherman's bend. These loops slide on the tarp rope and I spike my tarp to them using the tarp's loops and short sticks I find on site. I then slide the prusiks to position and tighten the tarp.

 

11/22/2019 8:39 am  #16


Re: Knots

I agree with moosewhizzer on the figure 8! I've been using knots both recreationally and for work for decades, and a figure 8 for fraying is an abomination- it jams, you can't pull loops over it, and in a high- strain situation it can actually be dangerous because it's bulk can grab gloves, catch on objects, and even pull your hand into machinery. My old boss can only count to 8 after losing two fingers in a pulley when a knot caught his glove and pulled his hand in.
The only way you should finish a rope is either a back splice, whipping, or melting. in a lot of industries tying a stopper on the end is illegal.
 

 

11/23/2019 1:04 pm  #17


Re: Knots

Ok my upstairs banister right now. My wife thinks I’ve lost it.

G.E and Truckers Hitch seems to work well for ridgeline.


Last edited by ShawnD (11/23/2019 1:30 pm)


We do not go to the green woods and crystal waters to rough it, we go to smooth it.
 - George Washington Sears
     Thread Starter
 

Board footera

LNT Canada is a national non-profit organization dedicated to promoting responsible outdoor recreation through education, research and partnerships.