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I'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 goi

I'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 ago
This 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 ago
I 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 ago
  Betting 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 ago
    Seconded. 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.
  - tmoertel 6y ago
    Along the lines of the trucker's hutch, I particularly like the Versatackle knot system: https://notableknotindex.webs.com/Versatackle.html https://notableknotindex.webs.com/Versatackle.html
sizzzzlerz 6y ago
I've used it for a long time as well. I love learning new knots and it provides very through instructions on how to tie them. My problem is that, if I don't continually practice, I quickly forget. Fortunately, I have 4 or 5 goto knots that serve nearly every conceivable situation where a knot is required.
- BiteCode_dev 6y ago
  Can you name them ?
  - JshWright 6y ago
    Not the parent comment, but you'll get a long way with a figure-8 (both on a working end and on a bight), a clove hitch, and an alpine butterfly. I'm sure others have a couple more favorites. (this is omitting a few "foundation" knots like the overhand)
  - kortex 6y ago
    My dirty dozen-ish: tautline hitch, bowline, square knot, figure eight + variants, fisherman's knot, N half hitches, sheet bend, Zeppelin bend, trucker hitch, Alpine butterfly, hangman knot, and a variant on the shoe knot that doesn't come loose. Can't remember the name but in sure you can find many variants with a search. Square knot most people already know. Tautline and bowline are the two worth memorizing being able to do soaking wet in the dark.
    - JshWright 6y ago
      Personally I rate the figure-8 over the bowline. I think it's a much more versatile family (and much easier to tie and inspect with high confidence soaking wet in the dark).
      - kortex 6y ago
        Good point! I think I mentally chucked it with the square knot under "knots that should already be in most people's inventory" but you are right, that is definitely worth learning, since there are so many useful variants. So like, 4 essential knots: Figure 8, square knot, bowline, hitch. The map, filter, fold, and reduce of knots, if you will. Most everything else can be composed from those.
lemonberry 6y ago
I have almost zero use for knots, but use it as a kind of a meditative practice and as something to do when I'm watching tv or a movie. I think it's analogous to crocheting or knitting in that regard.
- repiret 6y ago
  Well, crocheting and kitting are both tying knots in yarn.
ashishuthama 6y ago
same here. Was excited to see "Knot of the Day", thought I could add that to my RSS reader and look at one each day..could not find a way to do that.
carabiner 6y ago
Favorite and forget. I'm a climber and use a handful.
- unixhero 6y ago
  Do you use any other knots than the 8 knot for climbing?
  - Thrymr 6y ago
    You will almost certainly want to know the butterfly knot and a number of hitches and bends: https://www.animatedknots.com/climbing-knots https://www.animatedknots.com/climbing-knots
  - scarecrowbob 6y ago
    Can't comment for parent, but I agree. As a climber I only know a couple of knots, and don't usually need anything outside this set, in order of utility: - figure 8 - clove hitch - klemheist - overhand bend - girth hitch - munter hitch - prussik - ring bend - double fishermans - bowline
    - unixhero 6y ago
      That prussik might save your life, that's for sure:)
    - breatheoften 6y ago
      This is a good selection of climbing knots. I went down a rabbit hole recently surveying the "current internet wisdom" regarding the use of the double bowline with fisherman as a tie in knot for the climber ... To recap briefly -- figure 8 follow through is the standard tie in knot that everyone is taught. It's easy to tie, easy to verify visually, and secure -- but it's hard to untie after being weighted by a fall. That last fact matters a lot when sport climbing when taking big falls a lot is expected. Hence the several different versions of the bowline ... which is also secure if tied properly, easier to tie wrong, harder to verify visually, but extremely easy to untie after weighting ... Unfortunately there's a bit of a controversy in the climbing world regarding "what people are likely to do wrong" and whether those kinds of risks should guide people towards not using the double bowline as a tie in ... there are also multiple variations of the bowline -- some of which actually are less secure ... Personally I've been using the double bowline with a fisherman finishing knot for years now when sport climbing -- but it's a bitch to say it ... -- but I think a worthy addition to your list (or at least a clarification that the regular bowline by itself is not really used for anything in climbing)
aidos 6y ago
I love this website. Having spent a bit of time on yachts I already had a reasonable grounding, but it’s easy to forget knots you’re not using. For a while I found the easiest way to get to sleep each night was to try to picture how to tie the tumble hitch and visualising where the forces were held. https://www.animatedknots.com/tumble-hitch-knot https://www.animatedknots.com/tumble-hitch-knot
narag 6y ago
Maybe because in reality I have almost no use whatsoever for knot-tying, as cool as it is. A long time ago I learned "as de guía", let me see the translation... bowline. It's the only knot I've ever needed. I know there are a lot of specialized knots for different situations. But this one in particular is like a swiss army knife. Clothes lines, anything to lift, packaging... If I needed something more specific I'd be happy to learn more.
- ch4s3 6y ago
  That's a really useful knot, especially if you also know how to tie two half hitches [1] for securing the other end in a way that can be tightened. The sheet-bend [2] and square knot [3] are my other two favorite useful knots. [1] https://www.animatedknots.com/two-half-hitches-knot https://www.animatedknots.com/two-half-hitches-knot [2] https://www.animatedknots.com/sheet-bend-knot https://www.animatedknots.com/sheet-bend-knot [3] https://www.animatedknots.com/square-knot https://www.animatedknots.com/square-knot
  - narag 6y ago
    Thank you! They seem very easy to learn.
    - thefunnyman 6y ago
      These are exactly the knots they teach in Boy Scouts. All very simple and worthwhile to learn.
      - ethbr0 6y ago
        Every knot I know now, I originally learned in Boy Scouts. Because I actually sat down and practiced them for a week+. Best advice for learning: get a convenient (2-4' depending on knots) piece of rope, thin enough to be portable, thick enough to be manageable, and practice tying knots as a fidget spinner Initially it will be tough and require thought, but for a lot of the patterns you can do it without looking after a bit of practice. And repetition breeds memory.
0xbadcafebee 6y ago
Do you have a kinky significant other / do you want one? Pick up some 4mm braided nylon rope from Home Depot, google "rope bondage", and go to town. (Books from Two Knotty Boys, Lee Harrington, and Jay Wiseman are the gold standard instructions; Douglas Kent's books have lots of technical information, but are apparently rife with errors)
chooseaname 6y ago
Two knots: bowline and trucker’s hitch. You’ll need them one day.
- cosmincimpoi 6y ago
  Also Zeppelin and constrictor for joining ropes and tying bags.
- JshWright 6y ago
  Trucker's hitch isn't really a specific knot. It's a technique that can use any number of knots (you just need to be able to put a loop in the middle of the rope and tie some sort of securing knot in the running end).
jschwartzi 6y ago
I use the alpine butterfly to make a trucker's hitch, and I'll often use a friction knot at the end when I've tensioned the line. With those few knots I can use a single 100ft rope in place of a bunch of ratcheting hitches for securing loads in the bed of my truck. And when I want to release the load I can just untie a couple of corners and the whole rope comes out.
jjav 6y ago
I started learning knots by having a sailboat where they are undeniably useful. However, after learning a handful, they end up being useful in all areas of life wherever one needs to hold something to something else (in a car, on a bike, in the yard when it's windy, endless possibilities). To echo others, if you have interest to learn just one thing, learn the bowline. You can get through life knowing just that.
blacktriangle 6y ago
Backpacking finally got me motivated to tie knots. On a single trip I had two janky plastic connectors break leading to some very awkward tying and repositioning of gear. This got me thinking about what people did in the wilderness before everything had its own little custom plastic latch, and the so obvious mind-blowing conclusion that they knew their knots and just used rope. Knots are kind of like manual transmission. It's a skill that everybody used to have until it was replaced by a more convenient technology that nobody had to learn. So for me, the realization that with a little knowledge I could obsolete an entire classification of annoying and breakable connectors got me to finally sit down and study knots.

smhinsey 6y ago

This 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 ago

I 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 ago
Betting 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 ago
  Seconded. 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.
- tmoertel 6y ago
  Along the lines of the trucker's hutch, I particularly like the Versatackle knot system: https://notableknotindex.webs.com/Versatackle.html https://notableknotindex.webs.com/Versatackle.html

sizzzzlerz 6y ago

I've used it for a long time as well. I love learning new knots and it provides very through instructions on how to tie them. My problem is that, if I don't continually practice, I quickly forget. Fortunately, I have 4 or 5 goto knots that serve nearly every conceivable situation where a knot is required.

BiteCode_dev 6y ago
Can you name them ?
- JshWright 6y ago
  Not the parent comment, but you'll get a long way with a figure-8 (both on a working end and on a bight), a clove hitch, and an alpine butterfly. I'm sure others have a couple more favorites. (this is omitting a few "foundation" knots like the overhand)
- kortex 6y ago
  My dirty dozen-ish: tautline hitch, bowline, square knot, figure eight + variants, fisherman's knot, N half hitches, sheet bend, Zeppelin bend, trucker hitch, Alpine butterfly, hangman knot, and a variant on the shoe knot that doesn't come loose. Can't remember the name but in sure you can find many variants with a search. Square knot most people already know. Tautline and bowline are the two worth memorizing being able to do soaking wet in the dark.
  - JshWright 6y ago
    Personally I rate the figure-8 over the bowline. I think it's a much more versatile family (and much easier to tie and inspect with high confidence soaking wet in the dark).
    - kortex 6y ago
      Good point! I think I mentally chucked it with the square knot under "knots that should already be in most people's inventory" but you are right, that is definitely worth learning, since there are so many useful variants. So like, 4 essential knots: Figure 8, square knot, bowline, hitch. The map, filter, fold, and reduce of knots, if you will. Most everything else can be composed from those.

lemonberry 6y ago

I have almost zero use for knots, but use it as a kind of a meditative practice and as something to do when I'm watching tv or a movie. I think it's analogous to crocheting or knitting in that regard.

repiret 6y ago
Well, crocheting and kitting are both tying knots in yarn.

ashishuthama 6y ago

same here. Was excited to see "Knot of the Day", thought I could add that to my RSS reader and look at one each day..could not find a way to do that.

carabiner 6y ago

Favorite and forget. I'm a climber and use a handful.

unixhero 6y ago
Do you use any other knots than the 8 knot for climbing?
- Thrymr 6y ago
  You will almost certainly want to know the butterfly knot and a number of hitches and bends: https://www.animatedknots.com/climbing-knots https://www.animatedknots.com/climbing-knots
- scarecrowbob 6y ago
  Can't comment for parent, but I agree. As a climber I only know a couple of knots, and don't usually need anything outside this set, in order of utility: - figure 8 - clove hitch - klemheist - overhand bend - girth hitch - munter hitch - prussik - ring bend - double fishermans - bowline
  - unixhero 6y ago
    That prussik might save your life, that's for sure:)
  - breatheoften 6y ago
    This is a good selection of climbing knots. I went down a rabbit hole recently surveying the "current internet wisdom" regarding the use of the double bowline with fisherman as a tie in knot for the climber ... To recap briefly -- figure 8 follow through is the standard tie in knot that everyone is taught. It's easy to tie, easy to verify visually, and secure -- but it's hard to untie after being weighted by a fall. That last fact matters a lot when sport climbing when taking big falls a lot is expected. Hence the several different versions of the bowline ... which is also secure if tied properly, easier to tie wrong, harder to verify visually, but extremely easy to untie after weighting ... Unfortunately there's a bit of a controversy in the climbing world regarding "what people are likely to do wrong" and whether those kinds of risks should guide people towards not using the double bowline as a tie in ... there are also multiple variations of the bowline -- some of which actually are less secure ... Personally I've been using the double bowline with a fisherman finishing knot for years now when sport climbing -- but it's a bitch to say it ... -- but I think a worthy addition to your list (or at least a clarification that the regular bowline by itself is not really used for anything in climbing)

aidos 6y ago

I love this website. Having spent a bit of time on yachts I already had a reasonable grounding, but it’s easy to forget knots you’re not using. For a while I found the easiest way to get to sleep each night was to try to picture how to tie the tumble hitch and visualising where the forces were held. https://www.animatedknots.com/tumble-hitch-knot https://www.animatedknots.com/tumble-hitch-knot

narag 6y ago

Maybe because in reality I have almost no use whatsoever for knot-tying, as cool as it is. A long time ago I learned "as de guía", let me see the translation... bowline. It's the only knot I've ever needed. I know there are a lot of specialized knots for different situations. But this one in particular is like a swiss army knife. Clothes lines, anything to lift, packaging... If I needed something more specific I'd be happy to learn more.

ch4s3 6y ago
That's a really useful knot, especially if you also know how to tie two half hitches [1] for securing the other end in a way that can be tightened. The sheet-bend [2] and square knot [3] are my other two favorite useful knots. [1] https://www.animatedknots.com/two-half-hitches-knot https://www.animatedknots.com/two-half-hitches-knot [2] https://www.animatedknots.com/sheet-bend-knot https://www.animatedknots.com/sheet-bend-knot [3] https://www.animatedknots.com/square-knot https://www.animatedknots.com/square-knot
- narag 6y ago
  Thank you! They seem very easy to learn.
  - thefunnyman 6y ago
    These are exactly the knots they teach in Boy Scouts. All very simple and worthwhile to learn.
    - ethbr0 6y ago
      Every knot I know now, I originally learned in Boy Scouts. Because I actually sat down and practiced them for a week+. Best advice for learning: get a convenient (2-4' depending on knots) piece of rope, thin enough to be portable, thick enough to be manageable, and practice tying knots as a fidget spinner Initially it will be tough and require thought, but for a lot of the patterns you can do it without looking after a bit of practice. And repetition breeds memory.

0xbadcafebee 6y ago

Do you have a kinky significant other / do you want one? Pick up some 4mm braided nylon rope from Home Depot, google "rope bondage", and go to town. (Books from Two Knotty Boys, Lee Harrington, and Jay Wiseman are the gold standard instructions; Douglas Kent's books have lots of technical information, but are apparently rife with errors)

chooseaname 6y ago

Two knots: bowline and trucker’s hitch. You’ll need them one day.

cosmincimpoi 6y ago
Also Zeppelin and constrictor for joining ropes and tying bags.
JshWright 6y ago
Trucker's hitch isn't really a specific knot. It's a technique that can use any number of knots (you just need to be able to put a loop in the middle of the rope and tie some sort of securing knot in the running end).

jschwartzi 6y ago

I use the alpine butterfly to make a trucker's hitch, and I'll often use a friction knot at the end when I've tensioned the line. With those few knots I can use a single 100ft rope in place of a bunch of ratcheting hitches for securing loads in the bed of my truck. And when I want to release the load I can just untie a couple of corners and the whole rope comes out.

jjav 6y ago

I started learning knots by having a sailboat where they are undeniably useful. However, after learning a handful, they end up being useful in all areas of life wherever one needs to hold something to something else (in a car, on a bike, in the yard when it's windy, endless possibilities). To echo others, if you have interest to learn just one thing, learn the bowline. You can get through life knowing just that.

blacktriangle 6y ago

Backpacking finally got me motivated to tie knots. On a single trip I had two janky plastic connectors break leading to some very awkward tying and repositioning of gear. This got me thinking about what people did in the wilderness before everything had its own little custom plastic latch, and the so obvious mind-blowing conclusion that they knew their knots and just used rope. Knots are kind of like manual transmission. It's a skill that everybody used to have until it was replaced by a more convenient technology that nobody had to learn. So for me, the realization that with a little knowledge I could obsolete an entire classification of annoying and breakable connectors got me to finally sit down and study knots.