Great Knots You Probably Don't Need to Know
This page is part of a multi-page set about the best knots to know. If you haven't already done so, I suggest you start with the page on essential knots.
This third page features knots that I like but don't use as much as those on the first two pages. Some are for people who just enjoy playing with knots. And some are for very specialized functions.
The Double Dragon
Knot master Dave Root uses the double dragon in many flavors. It is less well known than the Alpine butterfly, figure-eight rethread and double-knotted bowline, but it is said to be as strong and it is fun to tie. (Sadly, as of January 2012, Dave's site Layhands.com is down.)
The True Lover's Knot
One overhand knot embracing another: this neat little symmetrical knot makes a good-looking loop for a keychain. It's possible to get confused about the direction of the overhand knots. The first knot starts by crossing over. The second starts by crossing over into the first, then the strand crosses under to complete the knot.
For a slightly more complex knot that achieves the same purpose and general look with a little more bulk, see the Japanese square knot below.
Japanese Square Knot
This knot takes a little practice. It's great to decorate something like a key-holding lanyard. I used two strings for these pictures, but you can tie it using the two ends of one string.
The Heaving Line Knot
I like this easy knot to add weight at the end of a rope. Add a stick in the middle and you'll have a rope that's easy to throw over a branch.
The Zeppelin Bend
This method of tying two ropes together ("bend") appears in most recent knot books (but not in Ashley) under the names of "Zeppelin" or "Rosendahl" bend. For a long time I resisted learning it because I thought I knew enough bends, such as the double sheet bend on this site's main knot page.This all changed when I watched a documentary about the Hindenburg, an 803-foot long lighter-than-air airship that burst into flames in 1937. The doco retraced the history of rigid airships, a.k.a. "dirigibles" or "Zeppelins", as they are commonly known in honor of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who pioneered the design of these ships, and of his company (the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH), which manufactured its most famous models. The beauty of the black-and-white footage blew me away. Apparently, Charles Rosendahl, an American skipper of rigid airships (who happened to be traveling on the Hindenburg on the day it burned) insisted that the Zeppelins only be moored using what is now known as the Zeppelin bend. I just had to learn the Zeppelin bend in honor of these majestic airships from another era.
The bend is known to be extremely reliable (you can entrust your airship to one of them!) and easy to untie. That it is—it comes loose much more easily than the double sheet bend, let alone the Alpine butterfly bend or the double fisherman's knot.
It also turns out to be very easy to learn with the so-called "69" or "b & q" method. On the first picture, see how the two ropes form a "69" or a "b" and a "q". On the "9", make sure that the tail of the 9 crosses underneath the rope, unlike on the "6". Place the "6" on top of the "9"(second picture) and follow the diagram.
The Braid Knot
Of all the long decorative knots, this is perhaps the simplest. It uses the same principle as hair braiding, but dividing a single strand into three strands.Take the leftmost strand, bring it over to the middle. Take the rightmost strand, bring it to the middle. Keep going in this pattern (left, right, left, right), and stop the knot by passing the stand-alone strand into the last loop.
The Marlingspike Hitch
This hitch comes in handy when your hands are raw from too much ropework—or better, before you even start. It allows you to pull on a handle instead of the rope itself. The knot owes its name to a knotting tool called a marlingspike, but any screwdriver or sturdy stick will do.
Handcuff Knot
I haven't yet found reason to use the handcuff knot (ABOK# 412, 1134), but if I ever need to keep a camel down on the ground, I'm ready. This knot is easy to tie if you know how to make the "throw-over-a-peg" version of the clove hitch. As you do for the clove hitch, make sure that in the initial formation one rope crosses over, the other under.
Lock each cuff with two half hitches as shown.
Highwayman's Hitch
I don't really use this quick-release hitch, but its triple loop action makes it fun to tie. After you pull the second loop through the first, tighten the hitch before you bring the third loop through.
Pulley System (Tackle)
I still find it amazing that through an ingenious routing of rope, we are able to lift objects that would be too heavy for us otherwise. Even if we understand the mechanics, there is still something magical about the universe "letting us" use its laws this way.It's possible to make a simple pulley with rope. In the bush, I use that for tasks such as lifting a solar shower. In the first picture, I have hung one end of the rope to a high point. Immediately below that, I have made a small loop (an Alpine butterfly). In the second picture, you can see that I have taken the second end of the rope down to the object to be lifted (a solar shower), then back up, through the loop, and down again to pull.
Here a fair bit is lost to friction. If I had a carabiner, I could have attached it to the small loop, and reduced friction by threading the rope through the carabiner instead of the loop. In that case, I would have made the small loop even smaller in order not to lose too much height.
Now why does this work? On the second picture, imagine that the hand pulls the rope down four inches. By how much will the bag go up? Only two inches. (Follow the rope. You will see that because it divides in two on the sides of the bag, the four inches divide into two times two inches, and the bag only goes up by two inches.) The energy I spent pulling down four inches resulted in lifting this 20-liter (5-gallon) bag by two inches. Ignoring friction, this is the same energy as that required to lift a bag half the weight (10-liter or 2.5 gallon) by four inches. So pulling on the rope feels as though I am lifting a bag half the weight! To make up for that "magic", the heavy bag only goes up half the distance that I pull.
Other Knots
Here are other knots I am considering for the page:- more pulley systems;
- other forms of lashing: sheer lashing, floor lashing, the Japanese lashing, the Norwegian lashing and the Filipino lashing.
Smiles,
Andy
My knot site has more pages (see the links in the left column at the top of the page):
"Most Useful Knots"
Other "Best Knots" (optional knots)
Best Ways to Tie a Constrictor
Best Ways to Tie a Bowline, and Variations
Index of Knots
Leave a Comment
Second, about the grapple hitch. In my (very) informal testing with 550 paracord, I find this knot somewhat easy to remember, but inferior in slippage to the adjustable hitch or three-turn tautline hitch. It is also more difficult to slide when needed, esp in comparison to the others' ability to lock. Third, have you heard of this knot? Goto 10:13… Http://www. Youtube. Com/watch? V=GCsG—lksuU
Andrej