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Learn How to Tie Knots
- bluefirebrand 6y agoDisappointed it didn't include a category for the type of knots I was looking for.
- LeifCarrotson 6y agoThey've got categories for Boating, Fishing, Climbing, Surgical, Arborist, Scouting, Horse & Farm, Decorative, and several other groups of knots. I would suggest starting out learning the basic bowline as the most generally useful knot, and go from there: https://www.animatedknots.com/bowline-knot https://www.animatedknots.com/bowline-knot What category of knots are you looking for? ...oh wait, nevermind, I just got it. Be aware that the bowline can slip loose when the load is repetitively applied and released.
- otabdeveloper4 6y agoSewing knots are far more useful than any of those other categories and are conspicuously missing. I wonder why. Is it because the list only picks the meme "manly" types of knots?
- rektide 6y ago> Disappointed it didn't include a category for the type of knots I was looking for. Disappointed you didn't share what it was you were looking for.
- bluefirebrand 6y agoI'm just being cheeky.
- nosianu 6y agoElvish knots as seen in The Lord of the Rings, which are secure but auto-open when the user needs them to...
- aerovistae 6y agoI've had this damn site bookmarked for longer than I can remember. At least 4 years, I think, and maybe as long as 9. Idk. I always tell myself "someday I'm going to sit down and learn knots from this site," but someday never seems to come. Maybe because in reality I have almost no use whatsoever for knot-tying, as cool as it is.
- smhinsey 6y agoThis is the key, as with many things it’s hard to get momentum established without some external motivation. It was always interesting to me but I could never keep a knot in my head until I picked up fly fishing.
- heleninboodler 6y agoI end up at this site about once a year trying to refresh my memory on a good knot for securing a load, but their categorization system makes that particularly hard to find. Once you do, their presentation is pretty good, but I find the site navigation very frustrating.
- blacksmith_tb 6y agoBetting that's the Trucker's Hitch[1] which is a knot (or more like a combination of knots, really) which everyone should know! I tend to use an Alpine Butterfly[2] for the loop, but that's partly because it's a personal fave. 1: https://www.animatedknots.com/truckers-hitch-knot https://www.animatedknots.com/truckers-hitch-knot 2: https://www.animatedknots.com/alpine-butterfly-loop-knot https://www.animatedknots.com/alpine-butterfly-loop-knot
- leephillips 6y agoSeconded. The trucker's hitch is super useful, but most people have no idea that such a thing exists. Knots are good technology. Everyone should know a few, and this one is in the top four. But I agree with others here who've noticed that you need to practice frequently to keep from forgetting them.
- 6y ago
- anonymouswacker 6y agoBest way to learn to really tie is to tie up a person.
- amenghra 6y agoIan's Shoelace Site https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ is a classic. Discussed a few times here, including https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16454796 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16454796.
- vinw 6y agoI started using that since seeing it here and it's great. Also just tried this Surgeon's shoelace bow [0] and it seems good for walking boots, will be testing it out! [0]: https://www.animatedknots.com/shoelace-bow-knot-surgeons https://www.animatedknots.com/shoelace-bow-knot-surgeons
- dmarlow 6y agoFor me, it's the lack of consistent practice in order to retain the knowledge. I rarely tie knots frequently enough to remember how to tie a few, let alone dozens of different kinds of knots. Maybe I need to do more mountain climbing, camping, boating!
- EvanAnderson 6y agoSame here. I retained enough knowledge from my Boy Scout days to know that there are different knots that are useful for different purposes, but aside from tying my shoelaces, a Windsor knot, and an occasional square knot I always have to go back to references.
- ch4s3 6y agoThat's interesting, I feel like I tied the same dozen or so knots for 7 years that I can still tie knots for which I can't remember the names.
- kgilpin 6y agoI spent a few months on Zoom tying knots under the camera. I have busy hands. Now I know quite a few knots by heart.
- dylan604 6y agoIf only it was practical to shove rope into one's pockets. The resulting knots are always fun to untie
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- rektide 6y agoSpent a lot of time on this site this summer. Both good instructions & good materials to understand each knot, some background on it & it's uses. The "knots by type" (categories) are a good split of general function. Still, it was a bit difficult to find what the really good knots for any given application were, to know what to pick.
- at_a_remove 6y agoYes, I have run across this before. And I'm not talking about the Ashley Book of Knots, either. I think there's room for a sensible book that is like a flowchart. 1) What are you tying to what else? 2) Do you have a free end or not? 3) Is this a synthetic rope? Is there a size difference? And other factors that might determine which knot you want to use. I got a couple of books on knots and this sort of thing wasn't coherently addressed, which I thought was a shame.
- mkslwsk 6y agoThere is also Knots3D with a good Android app. https://knots3d.com/ https://knots3d.com/ As a climber what I see is that in general you learn your knots and practice them until you can tie them blindfolded, sometimes single handed, sometimes with gloves on!. As a beginner you need probably two or three knots (fig. 8 for tie in, prussik for a rappel backup, double fisherman) As you progress you learn other knots for other purpose and some alternatives. (alpine butterfly, bowline, other friction hicthes, munter mule and so on) Then you stick with the ones you like most or are most versatile and you probably won't need no learn any new knot unless you start doing any new stuff (like start ice climbing if you never done that). So, those resource are good for visual learners but once you learn it and use it regularly you'll probably never forget.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- dfee 6y agoIs there a guide to tying shoelaces? Figure it’s easiest to teach my child with an animation.
- js2 6y agoI think Ian's Shoelace Site[1] is famous[2] and you're one of today's lucky 10,000[3]: 1. https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ 2. https://hn.algolia.com/?q=ian%27s+shoelace&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?q=ian%27s+shoelace&type=comment 3. https://xkcd.com/1053/ https://xkcd.com/1053/
- swader999 6y agoMy kids are rockstar's at school with these. At least they were when they stopped going a year ago. Sigh.
- cbsmith 6y agoYes: https://www.ted.com/talks/terry_moore_how_to_tie_your_shoes https://www.ted.com/talks/terry_moore_how_to_tie_your_shoes
- heelix 6y agoWe do regular trips up to the BWCA (Boundary Waters Canoe Area) - an area between northern Minnesota and Canada. Fantastic camping where you paddle in and basically only get a fire pit and shitter - the rest is wilderness. As is tradition, we always will get a bit of rain (or sun). We pack in a small collection of tarps and generally engage in building out some of the most half assed structures ever seen. Those who have done this a few times have a small collection of effective knots. Others end up with something touched by His Noodly Appendage. Always good fun to see a 20-30x20-30ish structure try to survive the winds/rain - more often badly.
- dang 6y agoIf curious, past threads: Animated Knots: Learn how to tie knots with step-by-step animation - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20074496 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20074496 - June 2019 (65 comments) Also: Andy's Most Useful Knots - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1558169 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1558169 - July 2010 (22 comments) The Most Useful Rope Knots for the Average Person - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=828539 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=828539 - Sept 2009 (49 comments) I've left out Ian's Shoelace Site since that's its own specialty.
- PureParadigm 6y agoThis being HN, does anyone have any knot suggestions for computer cables? For example, I have several cables that are too long and I tie them up with a twist-tie, but maybe there's a knot for that. Some features that a good computer cable knot would have: - No sharp bends (could damage cable internals) - Stable but able to untie easily by pulling (like shoelaces) - Can tie with one end still plugged in
- merlincorey 6y agoYou're looking for "Cable Lacing", a somewhat lost art in general that is still useful in large data center deployments as well as whatever you are trying to do, of course.
- t530 6y agoMaybe a Sheepshank https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheepshank https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheepshank ?
- sixstringtheory 6y agoI just go with the roadie wrap and let out enough so the cable is just long enough to reach from A to B. First google hit for me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kda4DPAn3C4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kda4DPAn3C4 He mentions "flaking the line" which is also an important thing to do with climbing ropes, which are understandably mentioned all over this thread. Climbing ropes aren't that dissimilar from cables; there's a core and a sheath, and you don't want that core becoming twisted inside. That's why you don't want to ever tie cables into knots.
- mrfusion 6y agoThat is so overwhelming. I’d prefer to learn say the top four knots to get me through 90% of my life. At least to get started.
- rawgabbit 6y agoFor me, I only know two advanced knots. Anchor Bend which is a variation of clove hitch [1]. And zeppelin for connecting two lines. [2]. [1] http://www.surreyknots.org.uk/15-clove-hitch-variations.htm http://www.surreyknots.org.uk/15-clove-hitch-variations.htm [2] http://www.surreyknots.org.uk/55-rosenthal-zeppelin-knot.htm http://www.surreyknots.org.uk/55-rosenthal-zeppelin-knot.htm
- zxcvbn4038 6y agoAwesome site! I was trying to teach my son how to do various knots but he has no interest - even the more risqué knots like the hangman knot or the handcuff knot can't compete with Minecraft. I always thought it was an awesome life skill to have.
- fuball63 6y agoBefore going backpacking last year, I decided to learn a bunch of knots while I was watching TV and relaxing. It was really helpful during the trip; I'm usually a "use a variation of an overhand or square knot for everything" type of person, but knowing a few specialized knots was really helpful when setting up camp (securing tarps, hanging hammocks, attaching gear to the bag). This is my favorite knot, its called the midshipman's hitch on animated knots but I knew it as taut-line hitch from my book: https://www.animatedknots.com/midshipmans-hitch-knot https://www.animatedknots.com/midshipmans-hitch-knot
- chooseaname 6y agoI keep a couple lengths of rope (550) next to my desk. When I’m pondering a challenging problem and I can’t take a walk, I practice knots. I find it to be a very good way to get my head completely off the problem and yet easy to stop so I can start working again.
- ed25519FUUU 6y agoThis is a excellent knot with many, many great uses. I personally prefer the taut-line hitch because it’s faster and easier to tie, even if not quite as strong. Combine this with an alpine butterfly[1] to add loops and you can basically create a leveraged way to tighten a rope. 1. https://www.animatedknots.com/alpine-butterfly-loop-knot https://www.animatedknots.com/alpine-butterfly-loop-knot
- lisper 6y agoI never realized this before, but I think I've actually invented a new way to tie a necktie. I've been doing it the same way for years, but it is different from any of the knots presented on this site. My technique produces a symmetric knot which falls apart when the short end is removed. It is distinguished from all the other knots by having the long end go behind the short end as the first step. It's a little hard to describe how it goes from there without images, but you basically do the first half of a Windsor backwards, wrap the long end around the front, and then finish like a regular Windsor. Maybe I should apply for a patent :-)
- nabeards 6y agoI’ve done the same for 25 years!
- extremelearning 6y agoI was given the book "The 85 ways to Tie a Tie" as a gift many years ago. It is a wonderful read for nerds. "Two physicists prove that there are not just four ways to tie a tie, but a further eighty-one. ‘The 85 Ways to Tie a Tie’ unravels the history of ties, the story of the discovery of the new knots and some very elegant mathematics in action." https://www.amazon.in/85-Ways-Tie-Science-Aesthetics/dp/1841155683 https://www.amazon.in/85-Ways-Tie-Science-Aesthetics/dp/1841...
- lisper 6y agoOnly on HN :-) Thanks!
- ehwhyreally 6y agoMy fav is the carnation knot for weddings.
- SPBS 6y agoShame, it looks like the Sheet Bend is advertised on the front page as one of the "Basic Knots" to start with but I think the Zeppelin Bend[0] is far superior and just as easy to grok. It is more secure than a Sheet Bend and yet paradoxically easier to untie after heavy load. https://www.animatedknots.com/zeppelin-bend-knot https://www.animatedknots.com/zeppelin-bend-knot
- cirgue 6y agoThis is a cool guide, but knots are max 50% of the ball game when doing anything useful with rope. If you want to learn knots, a better place to start is picking a task like “set up a ridge line for a tarp” or “hang a bear bag” or “set a top rope belay”. Knots are a part of that, but their strengths and weaknesses don’t make much sense outside of an actual application (unless you like just tying them, in which case go ham). It’s kind of like knowing the syntax for a class. Like it’s cool and all, but the syntax part isn’t the interesting part of classes, it’s how they can be used/abused.
- autorun 6y agototally agree on that. the site is great, but use cases are more important
- poushkar 6y agoA wonderful site! Still, I wasn't able to find a knot specifically for securing a hammock between two trees. Any recommendations?
- timonoko 6y agoStrangely these sites never have the most useful knots. Most prominently the "recursive slipknot", where you secure a slipknot with a slipknot until it feels secure. And the other one is "reverse-8". First you make a single eight and the you track the eight with another rope but from opposite end. Mountaineers seem to extend their ropes with this, because the knot is still easy to open. Third one is the "reindeer-knot" suitable for frozen leather, but I cannot describe it easily.
- ChrisArchitect 6y agosome previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20074496 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20074496