5 ms·

I took pandemic time to learn some knots, and then forget a bunch of them that didn't offer enough distinct utility to me. I highly recommend the Farrimond Fri

by fdr 4y ago

I took pandemic time to learn some knots, and then forget a bunch of them that didn't offer enough distinct utility to me. I highly recommend the Farrimond Friction Hitch: https://www.animatedknots.com/farrimond-friction-hitch-knot https://www.animatedknots.com/farrimond-friction-hitch-knot It's simple and fast to tie (with a little practice for muscle memory), and with an extra turn has exceptional friction preventing loop collapse in some situations where even a bowline would have an issue. However, by relieving tension on one side of the knot, like a taut-line hitch it can slide. I use it for its common application of tensioning, but I also find it useful for cinching. It can go anywhere a cord lock might have been useful in but a few seconds.

dhimes 4y ago
I'll give that a whirl. I usually use a tautline hitch for that function.
gffrd 4y ago
Want to add: the _about us_ of this site ("Grog Story") is excellent. I always seek out the "about" of sites to find out "why do you do this, and how well do you understand what you do?" This does not disappoint: https://www.animatedknots.com/grog-story https://www.animatedknots.com/grog-story
cseleborg 4y ago
I learned the taut-line hitch a while ago and find it great for exactly this purpose, and it looks a bit easier than the one you suggest. Do you have a particular reason to recommend this one?
- kqr 4y ago
  Seconding this question. I learned many knots from my father when I was small, but the taut-line hitch is one of few I have used on a weekly basis all these years. (If anyone is curious, the carrick bend is the other one I use very often.)
- bhelkey 4y ago
  I also learned the taut-line hitch. It looks like the Farrimond Friction Hitch trades off slightly harder tying with easier untying.
- contravariant 4y ago
  Being able to tie in the bight seem useful, it means you don't need to have both ends free to tie it. A taut line hitch is a good choice in most cases though.
- fdr 4y ago
  Much better friction. It's especially noticeable with synthetically sheathed ropes, including the abundant and inexpensive paracord format. I also find I can tie and untie it faster: the taut line hitch requires finding and threading the end a lot more (for multiple wraps). By comparison, the Farrimond Friction hitch is two major steps: wrapping a small underhand loop you can put anywhere on the running end of the rope is faster and more contained motion. After wrapping it, you just tuck a bight through, and you're done. If you crave much more security than what a bight allows, pull the rope through. If anything took some practice vs the taut line hitch (or the midshipman's variant), it was the fact that the knot is one of those you tend to dress at the end: a taut-line hitch has a distinct and neat look at every step...at the cost of having to thread a rope through one loop (twice), then another once. Dressing the Farrimond Friction hitch is simple to do, a firm tug on the standing end plus sliding the knot is all you need, but to someone without muscle memory the knot may appear to be controlled chaos in mid-tying. It's a very easy knot to tie without any visual feedback after a bit of practice, you gain a feel for it with your hands.
- probotect0r 4y ago
  If the length of your working end is really long, it's easier to tie a farrimond hitch. I used to use the tautline hitch for tying tarps over my hammock, but sometimes I would have a lot of line left over after wrapping it around a tree and passing the end through the loop of the tautline hitch was annoying.
yardshop 4y ago
Nice knot! I agree with the others, I use the taut line hitch frequently, but this is interesting and looks like it will get easier to tie after a few times. Then it has a pull tag for a quick release.
- MikeBVaughn 4y ago
  The tautline hitch is, after the square knot, probably my most-used knot outdoors. It's just versatile and adjustable. I know people say there are usually better knots for various jobs where you can employ it, but throughout all of Boy Scouts and beyond, it was always at least good enough. Plus, it's really satisfying the way you can slide and adjust it. There's something so wonderful about getting sophisticated mechanics from things made purely of rope or cord.
  - dhimes 4y ago
    I quite often use the tautline in combination with the truckers: Use the purchase of the truckers to reduce the load that tautline has to hold, but the adjustability of the tautline lets me cinch things tight. Super handy on sailboats. Great example is from the video linked above with the airplane. At the end he's complaining about the tautline. In that instance, I would use (if not the knot he's showing) a truckers to the plane, and the tautline to set the length.
  - kqr 4y ago
    Do you know about the prusik knot, and the corresponding practise of prusiking? Works on the same principle as the taut-line hitch. You can hang your weight in the knot on a vertical rope indefinitely. If you can then find a way to unload the knot, you can slide it up the rope and then put your weight on it again, slightly higher up than before. So how do you unload the knot? By loading another of the same knots! So you alternate between loading and sliding the two knots, making your way up the rope with comparatively little effort and comparatively high security. It's quite amazing!
    - cudgy 4y ago
      Prusik knot is great. Used it for attaching a tarp over the cockpit of a sailboat for some shade by attaching to the shrouds and stays. Holds extremely well in high winds too. Some use it as described by above post to climb the mast.
joshuamorton 4y ago
Oh neat it's a taut line hitch but using a prussik instead of half-hitches. It's cool that you can compose knots like that!
denlekke 4y ago
nice, kinda like a prusik. i'll give it a go i learned the trucker's hitch in high school and use it all the time https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trucker's_hitch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trucker's_hitch
- codetrotter 4y ago
  > kinda like a prusik Speaking of climbing-related knots, the figure-eight knot is another great knot to know. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure-eight_knot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure-eight_knot
freedomben 4y ago
cool knot, thanks for sharing! My most useful knot is the trucker's hitch. It's so handy for tying down loads, I don't know how I ever lived without it: https://www.animatedknots.com/truckers-hitch-knot https://www.animatedknots.com/truckers-hitch-knot
- stevesimmons 4y ago
  The trucker's hitch is great. So quick, and perfect for tensioning loads. I've used it probably a thousand times for tying kayaks on roofracks. Only had one lost load, due to using the wrong rope (my friend's polypropylene rope rather than my usual climbing rope or yachting halyard rope). Unfortunately, that involved 5 canoe polo kayaks falling off, in the middle of a busy city intersection, in the evening peak hour. Lesson learned: bring your own rope!
  - BozeWolf 4y ago
    Climbing rope is probably not a good fit for this job. Climbing rope has at least 10% stretch.
    - andrewflnr 4y ago
      But you're going to take up a lot of the stretch during the tensioning phase. The key thing is that it's not so slippery that knots fall apart.
- eoerl 4y ago
  I'm utterly fascinated, big knot fan and I didn't know this one, but it's a combination of parts I knew. It's really strange to me though, and it's probably a culture thing, because for this use case literally everybody I know would use a bowline knot (https://www.animatedknots.com/bowling-knot https://www.animatedknots.com/bowling-knot), possibly with an extra lock to make sure it does not untie if there's no tension. This observation comes from a French sailing background, hence the probable cultural bias. Could you educate me as of where the trucker's hitch is better? (to me the bowtie feels simpler, no possible slippage and easy to untie after a load)
zrobotics 4y ago
I can't track down the name of this knot, but for ropes that will be under tension the knot I learned when working line service in high school for tying down aircraft has been tremendously useful. [0] is an excellent example of how to tie this knot, it holds tremendous tension while being easy to release. I've found this very useful for camping and general securing of loads. If anyone knows the 'proper' name for this knot I would greatly appreciate it. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMITtV80xpY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMITtV80xpY
- jean- 4y ago
  This looks like two midshipman’s hitches without the final half hitches: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taut-line_hitch#%231855 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taut-line_hitch#%231855
Melatonic 4y ago
Looks like a fancy slip loop

by fdr 4y ago

dhimes 4y ago

I'll give that a whirl. I usually use a tautline hitch for that function.

gffrd 4y ago

Want to add: the _about us_ of this site ("Grog Story") is excellent. I always seek out the "about" of sites to find out "why do you do this, and how well do you understand what you do?" This does not disappoint: https://www.animatedknots.com/grog-story https://www.animatedknots.com/grog-story

cseleborg 4y ago

I learned the taut-line hitch a while ago and find it great for exactly this purpose, and it looks a bit easier than the one you suggest. Do you have a particular reason to recommend this one?

kqr 4y ago
Seconding this question. I learned many knots from my father when I was small, but the taut-line hitch is one of few I have used on a weekly basis all these years. (If anyone is curious, the carrick bend is the other one I use very often.)
bhelkey 4y ago
I also learned the taut-line hitch. It looks like the Farrimond Friction Hitch trades off slightly harder tying with easier untying.
contravariant 4y ago
Being able to tie in the bight seem useful, it means you don't need to have both ends free to tie it. A taut line hitch is a good choice in most cases though.
fdr 4y ago
Much better friction. It's especially noticeable with synthetically sheathed ropes, including the abundant and inexpensive paracord format. I also find I can tie and untie it faster: the taut line hitch requires finding and threading the end a lot more (for multiple wraps). By comparison, the Farrimond Friction hitch is two major steps: wrapping a small underhand loop you can put anywhere on the running end of the rope is faster and more contained motion. After wrapping it, you just tuck a bight through, and you're done. If you crave much more security than what a bight allows, pull the rope through. If anything took some practice vs the taut line hitch (or the midshipman's variant), it was the fact that the knot is one of those you tend to dress at the end: a taut-line hitch has a distinct and neat look at every step...at the cost of having to thread a rope through one loop (twice), then another once. Dressing the Farrimond Friction hitch is simple to do, a firm tug on the standing end plus sliding the knot is all you need, but to someone without muscle memory the knot may appear to be controlled chaos in mid-tying. It's a very easy knot to tie without any visual feedback after a bit of practice, you gain a feel for it with your hands.
probotect0r 4y ago
If the length of your working end is really long, it's easier to tie a farrimond hitch. I used to use the tautline hitch for tying tarps over my hammock, but sometimes I would have a lot of line left over after wrapping it around a tree and passing the end through the loop of the tautline hitch was annoying.

yardshop 4y ago

Nice knot! I agree with the others, I use the taut line hitch frequently, but this is interesting and looks like it will get easier to tie after a few times. Then it has a pull tag for a quick release.

MikeBVaughn 4y ago
The tautline hitch is, after the square knot, probably my most-used knot outdoors. It's just versatile and adjustable. I know people say there are usually better knots for various jobs where you can employ it, but throughout all of Boy Scouts and beyond, it was always at least good enough. Plus, it's really satisfying the way you can slide and adjust it. There's something so wonderful about getting sophisticated mechanics from things made purely of rope or cord.
- dhimes 4y ago
  I quite often use the tautline in combination with the truckers: Use the purchase of the truckers to reduce the load that tautline has to hold, but the adjustability of the tautline lets me cinch things tight. Super handy on sailboats. Great example is from the video linked above with the airplane. At the end he's complaining about the tautline. In that instance, I would use (if not the knot he's showing) a truckers to the plane, and the tautline to set the length.
- kqr 4y ago
  Do you know about the prusik knot, and the corresponding practise of prusiking? Works on the same principle as the taut-line hitch. You can hang your weight in the knot on a vertical rope indefinitely. If you can then find a way to unload the knot, you can slide it up the rope and then put your weight on it again, slightly higher up than before. So how do you unload the knot? By loading another of the same knots! So you alternate between loading and sliding the two knots, making your way up the rope with comparatively little effort and comparatively high security. It's quite amazing!
  - cudgy 4y ago
    Prusik knot is great. Used it for attaching a tarp over the cockpit of a sailboat for some shade by attaching to the shrouds and stays. Holds extremely well in high winds too. Some use it as described by above post to climb the mast.

joshuamorton 4y ago

Oh neat it's a taut line hitch but using a prussik instead of half-hitches. It's cool that you can compose knots like that!

denlekke 4y ago

nice, kinda like a prusik. i'll give it a go i learned the trucker's hitch in high school and use it all the time https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trucker's_hitch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trucker's_hitch

codetrotter 4y ago
> kinda like a prusik Speaking of climbing-related knots, the figure-eight knot is another great knot to know. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure-eight_knot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure-eight_knot

freedomben 4y ago

cool knot, thanks for sharing! My most useful knot is the trucker's hitch. It's so handy for tying down loads, I don't know how I ever lived without it: https://www.animatedknots.com/truckers-hitch-knot https://www.animatedknots.com/truckers-hitch-knot

stevesimmons 4y ago
The trucker's hitch is great. So quick, and perfect for tensioning loads. I've used it probably a thousand times for tying kayaks on roofracks. Only had one lost load, due to using the wrong rope (my friend's polypropylene rope rather than my usual climbing rope or yachting halyard rope). Unfortunately, that involved 5 canoe polo kayaks falling off, in the middle of a busy city intersection, in the evening peak hour. Lesson learned: bring your own rope!
- BozeWolf 4y ago
  Climbing rope is probably not a good fit for this job. Climbing rope has at least 10% stretch.
  - andrewflnr 4y ago
    But you're going to take up a lot of the stretch during the tensioning phase. The key thing is that it's not so slippery that knots fall apart.
eoerl 4y ago
I'm utterly fascinated, big knot fan and I didn't know this one, but it's a combination of parts I knew. It's really strange to me though, and it's probably a culture thing, because for this use case literally everybody I know would use a bowline knot (https://www.animatedknots.com/bowling-knot https://www.animatedknots.com/bowling-knot), possibly with an extra lock to make sure it does not untie if there's no tension. This observation comes from a French sailing background, hence the probable cultural bias. Could you educate me as of where the trucker's hitch is better? (to me the bowtie feels simpler, no possible slippage and easy to untie after a load)

zrobotics 4y ago

I can't track down the name of this knot, but for ropes that will be under tension the knot I learned when working line service in high school for tying down aircraft has been tremendously useful. [0] is an excellent example of how to tie this knot, it holds tremendous tension while being easy to release. I've found this very useful for camping and general securing of loads. If anyone knows the 'proper' name for this knot I would greatly appreciate it. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMITtV80xpY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMITtV80xpY

jean- 4y ago
This looks like two midshipman’s hitches without the final half hitches: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taut-line_hitch#%231855 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taut-line_hitch#%231855

Melatonic 4y ago

Looks like a fancy slip loop