View Full Version : Knot Resource
I just found this website link on another Forum. Thought it may be helpful here.
Animatedknots.com (http://www.animatedknots.com/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com)
Good link, cheers.
Love the sig, too.
Cincinnatus
05-19-2006, 21:00
This reminds me of a question I'd meant to ask of those who climb, boat, deal with tying down loads, etc., in a previous "knot thread." If you were to teach someone the six or eight most useful knots you can think of, what would they be, and for which applications are they best suited.
I'm guessing there are a few general purpose knots and then a few others that are good only for specific applications but work better than everything else.
TIA
Great link - Like what I saw on it. Some really good "vids" if you call them that. I put that into my Favorites. :D
Bill Harsey
05-19-2006, 21:36
Good rigging!
Great Site. Thanks for the link.
Chris
This reminds me of a question I'd meant to ask of those who climb, boat, deal with tying down loads, etc., in a previous "knot thread." If you were to teach someone the six or eight most useful knots you can think of, what would they be, and for which applications are they best suited.
I'm guessing there are a few general purpose knots and then a few others that are good only for specific applications but work better than everything else.
TIA
There are Knots and Have Knots.. Ok bad pund. Square, Bowland(SP), figure 8(and variants), butterfly, munter hitch, water knot, prussick(sp?) and sheep shank. Maybe add the clove hitch. Problem some knots have multiple names. If you look at knots, from different angle, there are really not that many different knots, more like variants. One secret in learning to tie knots where two ropes are used is to use different colors of rope. Also some knots work better on different types of ropes. Nylon ropes/tape can bleed (untie themselves).
BTW excellent video.
That is a pretty good site. I have used it a few times to refresh my memory on knots, that I tied hundreds of times three decades ago. I was Googling for something else, when I found that site. Which seems to be how I Google best. :confused:
I’ll get to that later, cause it may be considered a slight hijack. NP. If so, I’ll restore the thread to it’s pristine condition. Trust me! ;)
In regards to your question Cincinnatus. Take just the one knot. The Bowline. That is probably the most useful knot anyone can learn. Based on the things I have done and what you listed. There is the basic Bowline. For something even more secure, the Double bowline. Then there is the Running bowline or........ the Bowline on a bight. Generally speaking. There are many specialty knots for all of those activities you listed. Oh. May want to add the Sheet bend. Through the Service and working as a commercial diver and the salvages we did, It’s a goodin. I hated swimming trying to tow a 500 pound length of 2" thick hawser behind me.
The Reaper
05-20-2006, 07:52
To the bowline, add the square knot, the half hitch, the girth hitch, the sheet bend, and the Prusik.
After watching some of the knots, I finally realize after all of these years that when we were tying down loads on a trailer, my Dad was tying a Trucker's Hitch.
Bill Harsey
05-20-2006, 08:14
There are only two kinds of knots, the ones that work and the ones you wish had worked.
There are only two kinds of knots, the ones that work and the ones you wish had worked.
The best one I've found is the SEX Knot - another fuckin knot!! Take a rope and just act like a 6 Y/o kid.
Warrior-Mentor
05-20-2006, 18:47
This reminds me of a question I'd meant to ask of those who climb, boat, deal with tying down loads, etc., in a previous "knot thread." If you were to teach someone the six or eight most useful knots you can think of, what would they be, and for which applications are they best suited.
I'm guessing there are a few general purpose knots and then a few others that are good only for specific applications but work better than everything else.
TIA
If you can do these Top 5, you can tie 98% of what you need to:
1. Square Knot - Tie two ropes of equal size togther. Can loosen if tension is released. I use this to tie my boot laces.
2. Sheet Bend - Tie two ropes together, regardless of size. The larger forms the bite, the smaller wraps around it. Unlikely to come apart on it's own. I use this in lieu of a square knot most of the time because it is less likely to come undone on it's own.
3. Taut Line Hitch - Use this to tighten the lines on a tent or ponch hooch. A tight hooch is (generally) a dry hooch. The tighter you tie your shelter (to a point) the better it will stand up to winds & rain.
4. Half Hitch - Good general purpose knot. It's the foundation of many other knots.
5. Bowline - Good general purpose knot.
Clove Hitch - Tie a rope to log or other object. Can loosen if you don't maintain tension depending on rope type.
The Overhand is good to keep rope ends from fraying.
Cincinnatus
05-20-2006, 22:58
Thanks. I'll work on those.
Anyone here ever learned about this knot? It was taught to me back in Combat Engineer AIT. Damn thing impressed the hell out of me, still does. However, that was a long time ago. I have searched the web on and off for the past couple years and found nothing.
The purpose of this knot, was for say a rope bridge, even a simple one line over a river. When I was in, the stretch factor of the rope we used was about 1/3. This knot was designed and tied so as some guys or better yet a vehicle could stretch that 30 or percent out of the rope and make it taught, more stable. That would take that stretch factor of the rope out of the equation. Trying to move across a rope bridge is kinda slow and precarious. Thing was...... Jeep, truck, men, whatever, when the force was removed, the knot held as if it still was being pulled and remained that way, no matter what body weight was on it.
Damn! I hope that made some sense.
12B, the transport knot I know of is simply an overhand slipknot. It can be used in a transport tightening system to pull the stretch out of the old Green Line as you mentioned for rope bridges or setting up haul lines or fixed rope installations. To be truthful, though, any middle-of-the-rope loop will work for that use. The benefit of using a transport knot or a Figure 8 slipknot over, say, a Butterfly or Trucker knot is the ease of removal. Non-slip knots are a real bitch to get out of the rope after you've tensioned it with a TTS.
Here are a couple good links for mountaineering knots and applications:
http://www.fortunebaycompany.com/Education/knotsreferencepage.htm
https://atiam.train.army.mil/soldierPortal/atia/adlsc/view/public/7635-1/fm/3-97.61/ch7.htm (TTS is about halfway down the page)
To add a comment about W-M's list, I'd make it the top 6 and include the clove hitch (both end-of-line and middle-of-line) , as its used extensively in lashings.
The Transport Knot in that second site, looks like the one, I was thinking of. It has been a long time. After I posted the question, I kept wondering if I had the name wrong and maybe it was a Transport Knot. Answered that. :cool: That is a great knot. Crossed over on alot of rope bridges and such. Being able to take a good amount of that stretch from the old green rope, made it somewhat easier and the knot was easy to untie.
Thanks Razor.
x SF med
05-24-2006, 18:19
BOWLINE - learn how to tie this one in your sleep and left handed - it will not become untiable if tied correctly
SHEETBEND - ties ANY 2 rooes together - even different diameters
PRUSICK- not just for climbing anymore
FIGURE 8 - trust me on this one - if you don't want your rope whipping you in the face after it pulls through a block - use it
POST HITCH / CLOVE HITCH - essentially the same knot - keeps nice and tight under pressure - just don't slack the rope
there's one more I'd love to put on this forum - but I'll let the engineers explain that one.
Now that everyone knows the the best knots to use, you need to know you might need a good rope wrench when you screw up tying these things. Mr. Harsey is one hell of a craftsman when it comes to making rope wrenches.
x SF med
06-08-2006, 14:13
I second BamBam's nomination of rope wrenches - with the thought of a butterfly tied in the rain, lifting some obnoxious weight... one of Mr Harsey's finely crafted tools is a necessity.
Soft Target
06-09-2006, 09:26
There are only two kinds of knots, the ones that work and the ones you wish had worked.
The latter should be "... the knots that I tie." Oh well, I sure could have used this in Rigger School.
Great site, I forwarded it to the head of our local volunteer SAR group that I used to try and supervise. Dave
crabofwar
02-26-2008, 18:10
Good knots are those you can tie.
Best knots are those you can tie blind. Those are the ones you use.
BoyScout
02-26-2008, 19:07
Good knots are those you can tie.
Best knots are those you can tie blind. Those are the ones you use.
My dad is a navy vet, during his days as our patrol dad, he got us to tie them blind folded and behind our back to impress the others at the board of review.
A lot of the knots are still in my muscle memory, sadly not all anymore. Time to practice.:lifter