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The Most Useful Rope Knots for the Average Person
- URSpider94 17y agoCheck out http://www.realknots.com/knots/ http://www.realknots.com/knots/ for a more thorough list. On my short list, I would recommend: -- the bowline, for putting a slip-free loop around something -- two half hitches, for putting a cinching loop around something -- the clove hitch, for tying a rope to a pole or other cylindrical object Start with those three, tied properly, and you can do a lot.
- naish 17y agoI would add a couple of other useful hitches: the taut-line and trucker's. Along with the bowline, I use these constantly for attaching adjustable-length lines to things and securing items to vehicles.
- dhimes 17y agoThey are both a part of my repertoire also. The trucker's offers a great "quick and dirty" mechanical advantage for tying things down on your car, on your boat (my mast when I trailer it, for instance); heck I even use it to tie down my trash-can lids to keep the animals from getting into the trash (raccoons, not bears!).
- tomsaffell 17y agoI'd 2nd the bowline - very useful knot. I was once forced to learn to tie a bowline behind my back - seemed fairly useless at the time, but then a few months ago I had to tie something onto the back of the wetsuit that I was wearing - to my amazement I did it first time - muscle memory is an amazing thing. I also 2nd the truckers' hitch. And remember: if you can't tie knots, tie lots
- dimview 17y agoWhy does everyone likes bowline so much when eskimo bowline or kalmyk loop (http://dimview.org/knots/ http://dimview.org/knots/) is much better?
- mattiss 17y agoCan you quantify why it is better? Bowline -- outrageously strong, simple to tie, easy to undo, can tie it around things. What can be better?
- dimview 17y agoKalmyk loop is exploding - pull to untie. Bowline is not. Bowline requires stopper knots when used on on modern ropes, otherwise it can slip. I've never seen kalmyk loop slip. Both are simple and can be tied around things.
- mattiss 17y agoI would never trust an exploding knot while rock climbing.
- dimview 17y agoEskimo bowline is non-exploding, nevertheless I wouldn't use bowline (or eskimo bowline) while rock climbing without somehow securing the working end. Kalmyk loop (which is exploding variant of eskimo bowline) is probably not secure enough for rock climbing, but better than bowline for other tasks. Less likely to spill and easier to untie.
- yan 17y agoIn climbing, a great property to have is to be able to identify if a knot is tied correctly by just glancing at it. Figure-8 is obvious. A double bowline is fairly easy. Not so sure about other knots...
- yan 17y agoI had to learn a lot of these knots for rock climbing (and their numerous variations) and I find myself using them in 'normal' life too. Knowing a few crucial knots (learn the bowline and a few variations, seriously) is a great skill to have.
- mattiss 17y agoKnowing how to tie a few useful knots is surprisingly empowering. Cinch things down, strap things to your backpack, hang a tarp, fix broken items, etc. etc. I highly recommend learning to rock climb or sail as you will most definitely use the knots you learn on a regular basis.
- yan 17y agoI've been a climber for a bit over two years and am looking to get into sailing. Other then volunteering to help out during races, do you know of any other cheap ways to get into the sport/pastime?
- gaius 17y agoDinghies or offshore?
- URSpider94 17y agoWhere do you live? In Boston, for example, there's Community Boating, where you can get out on the water for a couple hundred dollars per season and learn with peer-to-peer instruction.
- yan 17y agoI'm near Baltimore, so there's definitely a community here. Some clubs cost near $800/yr, which is a bit too much for me.
- URSpider94 17y agoGoogle is Your Friend. Check out the downtown sailing center, http://www.downtownsailing.org/ http://www.downtownsailing.org/ . $245 per season for a crew membership.
- krschultz 17y agoYou don't need to join a club to sail, only the owner of the boat really needs to be so you can usually find someone who is willing to teach you on their boat.
- albertsun 17y agoThere's far too many there for someone not dedicated to knots to actually bother learning. A few good ones to start with would be the bowline, reef knot, figure eight knot, fisherman's knot, clove hitch and trucker's hitch. For everyday use in tying things together so they don't fall apart and other odds and ends they are probably the most useful and easiest to learn. Of course, if you rock climb, or sail, etc. there are different knots to learn.
- HeyLaughingBoy 17y agoIn a previous life I was a Merchant Marine officer cadet. Had to take tests for some of these knots without looking (given a choice of blindfolded or with hands behind back) and with 3-5 second time limits depending on knot. The point being of course that seamen often need to tie knots rapidly, in complete darkness or in less than convenient positions. I still find it amusing that there is a Federal agency (US DOT) that requires that an applicant pass a knot tying test as part of a set of license exams :-)
- nothingmuch 17y agoThis list is incredibly convoluted and redundant. Memorizing 4 variants of the perfection loop, which really isn't a general purpose knot is just plain silly. Wikipedia is a much better resource for finding out about the different types of knots and how they relate to each other (for instance, loops and bends are usually related), and has good descriptions and interlinking so you can easily find the a handful that is easy for you to remember. If you are more of the geek then understanding the taxonomy of knots and their engineering principle is a fun hobby (and it's much easier to remember a knot if you understand how it works). For that the Ashley Book of Knots and a few other websites are a much more interesting resource.
- Aegean 17y agoSorry if I am being negative here, but isn't this off topic?
- mcantor 17y agoI downvoted you; this is why: 1. Your post apologizes for itself. This is offensive to both the reader and the writer. 2. You seem to have not read the very first point in the guidelines. I am reproducing them here for convenience: What to Submit On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity. Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. Videos of pratfalls or disasters, or cute animal pictures. If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic. This submission is clearly gratifying to intellectual curiosity, being a primer for a presumably esoteric but actually highly useful skillset, and it does not stumble into the territory of politics, crime, sports, or animal pictures. How is it off topic?
- pasbesoin 17y agoIt's been years since I studied any knots. The ones I continue to use regularly and to great (personal) effect: slip square double half hitch bowline barrel (combine the ends of two equal (esp. equal diameter) ropes) figure eight (and, I suppose, whatever it's called that I use for shoelaces) Gordian (mostly metaphysical applications ;-)
- jksmith 17y agoA mandatory requirement for being alive includes at least knowing how to tie a bowline.
- crux_ 17y agoThe knots I use all the time: Figure 8 (climbing, mostly), clove hitch (pretty much anything), truckers' hitch. (Pretty much anything as well.) Also helpful in everyday life are coiling / stacking skills you pick up when working with rope. For example, my headphone cords are never tangled. ;)
- pyre 17y agoI'm interested in what knots/skills you use to do things like keep your headphone cords untangled.
- crux_ 17y agoI usually simple butterfly coil w/ wrap finish around my index + ring ringers. There's a bunch of different approaches people use; the general ideas of not introducing twists (not a big deal for short cables) and finishing with a wrap are more important than any One True Way. Specific to headphones and other cords: avoid introducing sharp bends as well -- cheap cords will eventually short out. (For me, I try to have a fairly fat "bundle" before I do the wrap, and don't pull it too tight.)
- billswift 17y agoUse a figure-8. It's easy to tie and untie and it doesn't have any sharp bends to risk kinking the wire.
- billswift 17y agoYou need to be careful with clove hitch, it's a great knot, but it can fall off if the rope gets slack.
- gnosis 17y agoMy favorite knots: ** adjustable grip hitch an easy to tie and very reliable noose-type knot for when you need to adjust frequently ** zepplin bend a very reliable way of joining ropes that's also easy to tie and untie (but won't slip apart on its own) ** double constrictor knot grips anything you tie it around **very tightly**, exceptionally secure ** icicle hitch when you know the direction of pull is going to be mostly parallel to what you're tying your rope to, then this knot grips even tighter than the double constrictor. useful for when hanging something from a vertical, slippery cylinder (hence the name) ** ashley stopper knot a bulky knot useful for when you don't want the end of your rope to slip out ** alpine butterfly an easy and secure way to tie a loop in the bight
- mahmud 17y agoWhere is the Politician's Noose? that would be the most useful, imo.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- JCThoughtscream 17y agoKnots! One of the few things about the Boy Scout program that I still remember and find useful. Much gratitude for posting this link.
- heyitsnick 17y agoI went on a 2-year sailing trip with a friend. I'd never been aboard a boat up until the month we left, but before I left I spent a long time cramming myself with information. One was the knots, of course, and I learnt dozens of combinations and knew the pro's and con's of each knot, their breaking points, what to use with wet ropes, etc. Over the 2 year sailing trip, of the dozens I learnt, I used 5 in total: - The bowline - One hitch (round turn and two halfs) - Two bends (fishermans, figure of eight) - One stopper (figure of eight) Now back on land, I still use these 5 frequently, and the bowline daily. In a jam, you can use the bowline to do anything (even two of them to bend 2 ropes). It doesn't jam, is fine when wet, is ~60% as strong as the rope itself, and you can trust it with your life.
- krschultz 17y agoThis list is way too complicated. Simply know 5 knots and you are there. Bowline - used whenever you want to tie a rope to an object with a loop at the end of the line. Really strong knot, but you can't tie it under tension so you won't get a perfect length if you are trying to tie something down. If you don't know what to tie, this is probably it. Hitch - This is when you want to tie a rope around an object but the length matters or there is tension in the rope when you go to tie the knot. Useful in another 20% of situations. If you are tying something down I put a bowline on one side first since the length doesn't matter, and a hitch on the other since you will have tension in the line and want to tie it off with that tension in tact. Know how to put a loop in the middle of a line. You can use the loop as a way to get extra tension in your line. Figure eight stopper knot - whenever you need to keep a knot from going through something else. Not always obvious when it is useful. Know how to properly tie the end of one line to the end of another. If boating, also know how to tie a line to a cleat. I've been boating/sailing my entire life, rock climbing for a few years too. Never needed to know more than that. Better to know 6 knots perfectly so that in an emergency you can literally do them with your eyes closed or not looking, than to know 15 and try to find the perfect one for some specific situation.
- JshWright 17y agoI don't get the fixation with the bowline... it's harder to tie than a figure 8, and not as strong. Learn the figure-8 family (on a bight, follow-through, double loop, etc), and you'll know enough knots for almost any situation. On a bight it gives you a solid attachment point in the middle of a rope (tie a double loop if your life is gonna depend on it), Use a follow through around an object if you need to tie a hitch (also worth knowing a alternative like a clove hitch). A figure 8 bend is a _very_ secure way to attach two ropes together (again, also worth learning a simpler alternative like the becket bend). Once you've got the figure 8 mastered, pick up a couple more complex knot "systems" (trucker's hitch, tensionless hitch, etc). There are plenty of neat knots out there for specific situations, but for general purpose knot tying, nothing beats the figure 8 family. Obligatory "here's why I think I'm an expert" blurb: I've been climbing since I was 10, and am a New York State certified rope rescue technician.
- 17y ago