Knots

Discussion in 'Survival and Wilderness Skills' started by Slade, May 5, 2017.

  1. Slade

    Slade Member

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    I am not nearly as versed as I should be in various knots. I am working on a design for a survival pack cloth. Likely to be a large size. Waterproof and uses only limited by your imagination. The amount of usable information you might find on such a thing is somewhat limited. One of the key elements that I think could be of huge benefit AND could be shown in text and/or pictures is knots. There are so many variations.

    So, what are the important ones? If I go listing 25 knots, its going to take up a huge amount of space. That might be okay if there is really need for 25. What are the "need to know" and would be "handy to know" lists.

    Bends - Joining two ropes together
    Figure 8 Bend - Strong and secure joining of ropes the same size. Not Easy to remove
    Double Sheet Bend - joining two ropes of different size securely
    Carrick Bend/Pretzel Knot - Joining two heavy lines
    Water knot - Temporarily secure joining of two rope ends the same size
    Zepplin Bend - possibly cut all the rest for this one? best all around

    Lashing - Structure Building Ties
    Double Constrictor - Basically permanent lashing around round objects
    Diagonal - Clove Hitch, wrap, clove hitch
    Square - Clove Hitch, wrap, clove hitch
    Tripod - Clove Hitch, wrap, clove hitch
    Shear - Clove Hitch, wrap, clove hitch

    Hitches - finishing attachment and mechanical advantage
    Trucker's Hitch - Mechanical advantage on lines that need to be very tight
    Timber Hitch - tying temporarily to a round object to create a hold
    Barrel hitch - Keeping an open container upright for hoisting
    Buntline Hitch - Small and secure end attachment knot. does not create a roomy loop
    Tight Line Hitch - Load bearing lines with the ability to adjust them periodically

    Loops
    Figure 8 Follow Through - Secure End of rope loop
    Bowline - fixed loop at the end of a line - prob cut this for the figure 8
    Prusik Friction hitch - creating a loop on a line with a new line
    Marlin Spike - temporarily in line toggle
    Alpine Butterfly - Adding an in line loop good for unidirectional loading

    Fishing
    Clinch Knot - line to lure attachment
    Blood Knot - broken fine line mending

    Stoppers
    Simple Double Overhand, Figure 8, Slip knot, Ashley

    Some redundancies here I suppose. Stuff that should be removed? added?
     
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  2. STPNWLF

    STPNWLF Member

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    The latest issue of Backwoodsman magizine has an article by Creek Stewart on this very subject, I'll post up his recommendations for knots to know later.
     
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  3. STPNWLF

    STPNWLF Member

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    Creek's 6 favorite survival knots
    Half hitch
    Double half hitch
    Arbor knot
    Figure eight
    Trucker hitch
    Timber hitch
     
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  4. Slade

    Slade Member

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    The half hitch is like the clove hitch to me. Its only valuable as a component of other knots so it seems wasteful to show it. An arbor knot is simply made up of two overhand knots where the second overhand knot is just used as a stopper. I'm surprised he didn't pick anything more complete in those spots.
     
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  5. Dagwood

    Dagwood Member

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    Palomar knot for fishing super easy to tie can be done in the dark with absolutely no light and has near 100% knot strength
     
  6. Dagwood

    Dagwood Member

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    Albright knot for joining smaller diameter line to larger diameter line. Tough to tie at first but once you've done it a half dozen times its easy. Its good for when you don't have a barrel swivel handy for a shock leader
     
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  7. AddictedToSteel

    AddictedToSteel Member

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    Two must haves are the Bowline and Clove Hitch. The figure 8 loop seems like a good one, but the best knots don't just hold, they also can be untied without having to work too hard at it. The Bowline holds well while still being fairly easy to untie even after being under great strain. Must have the Bowline.
     
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  8. Slade

    Slade Member

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    True enough. When I wrote the list I was thinking between the figure 8 pass through and the buntline hitch, the bowline seemed redundant. The figure 8 pass through isn't as susceptible to jamming as the figure 8 loop, but it's also more difficult/time consuming to tie than the bowline. The buntline is smaller, easy to tie and more reliable than the bowline, but but can jam up as it gets tighter under Stress. The bowline stays. It's a different animal.

    The buntline hitch
    [​IMG]
     
  9. AddictedToSteel

    AddictedToSteel Member

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    I have used the bowline as a loop. The buntline looks useful, but not as a loop as it appears to tighten up when you put a strain on it. But then it isn't called a hitch for nothing. :)
     
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  10. charlie

    charlie Member

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    it's nice to know what creek stewert's favorites are, but what are YOUR favorite knots?
     
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  11. Jeff Randall

    Jeff Randall ESEE Knives / Randall's Adventure & Training Staff Member

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    I'm surprised a Sheet Bend is not on that list. Very useful for tying together two dissimilar size cords/ropes.

    I think a Munter Hitch is very important to know for lowering heavy loads.

    I also like the Scaffold knot for hard tying a rope to an attachment point since it doesn't flop around like a bight will.
     
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  12. Mike Perrin

    Mike Perrin Administrator Staff Member

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    Canoe knot.
     
  13. BlueDogScout

    BlueDogScout Member

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    Nice thread!
     
  14. Ryan Humphrey

    Ryan Humphrey Member

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    Bowline (regular and on a bight)
    Clove hitch
    Butterfly
    Munter Hitch
    Water Knot
    Overhand (regular and follow through)
     
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  15. Bushman5

    Bushman5 Member

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  16. Jeff Randall

    Jeff Randall ESEE Knives / Randall's Adventure & Training Staff Member

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    Just completed a whole bunch of testing between nylon and polyester ropes/cordage and their friction coefficients to aluminum, stainless and sandstone. Results are pretty interesting. The “tensionless” hitch is our preferred single rope anchor.
     
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  17. Jeff Randall

    Jeff Randall ESEE Knives / Randall's Adventure & Training Staff Member

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    The tensionless hitch is based on the Capstan Equation. The size of the pole/tree/whatever you are wrapping around, nor the size of the cord matters in it's ability to hold. The only things that matter is the degree of contact in radians and the coefficient of friction between the materials.
     
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  18. OKcherokee

    OKcherokee Member

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    My grandpa (Navy Veteran, WW2) was big on knots.

    If we had something tied up with a knot that couldn’t be untied easily, out came his pocket knife to cut the cordage.
     
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  19. Bushman5

    Bushman5 Member

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    it reduced the amount of gear i needed to carry for SRT. Simple quick wrap or three. Weave the rope thru the rappel rack, clip in an drop .
     
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  20. Jeff Randall

    Jeff Randall ESEE Knives / Randall's Adventure & Training Staff Member

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    Depending on the coefficient of friction, here's your holding power (ratio to 1). In other words, if you have a coefficient of .50, then 4 complete wraps can hold around 287,000 pounds with only 1 pound of force. Of course you rope will break long before you reach this :)

    4.png
     
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