Comments on: 7 Basic Knots Every Man Should Know

By: Bill G

Bill G — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:51:36 +0000

I was also taught that the clove hitch makes an excellent tourniquet. Tie a clove hitch above the wound on an arm or leg, pull the ends and it will maintain compression.

By: 15 Great iPhone Apps for Men | The Art of Manliness

15 Great iPhone Apps for Men | The Art of Manliness — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 04:51:45 +0000

[...] man should know how to tie basic knots. But after you’ve mastered the basics, it’s time to move on to more advanced knot-work. [...]

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:14:35 +0000

Great post, HIvolt!

Further on the clove hitch, one of my favorite, um, knots — ok, hitches. When I’m using it for anything that will have much movement, or I want to leave for a long time, I back it up with a half hitch, or usually two half hitches, thrown around standing side.

In mountaineering, rock climbing, high-angle rescue, etc. you always want to back up a knot with a second knot.

By: Allen Martin

Allen Martin — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 03:26:03 +0000

Ask This Old House had a little turtorial like this one. I tracked it down, and they have several of the same knots featured on here. Like this post, they explan how the knots may be utilize . Hope this helps.

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,217079,00.html

By: Hivoltlineman

Hivoltlineman — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:01:24 +0000

I am a lineman for a local utility and use knots everyday, all day for a lot of applications. It is great to see that so many people know so much about knots. The one piece that I disagree with is when the narrarator said that the clove hitch isn’t suited for a heavy load; unless, that is, I mistook what he meant. If you’ve every had a Marsh Master stuck in the swamps of southeastern North Carolina, you’ll know what I mean. The clove hitch is perfect for lashing a handline around a suitable cypress tree to extend your winch cable. Half hitches tend to bight the tree too tightly, and can be a downright pain to loosen. The nice thing about the clove hitch is that it doesn’t burn into itself, making it very easy to untie. But what to do with the other end of your handline? A Bowline on the Bight is a very strong way to tie a loop in a rope as it has two loops, two bights, and two hitches. The disadvantage to this knot is that if there is a great amount of uneven strain on the loop, one of the loops will tighten down on your assembly (the hook on your winch cable, etc.) defeating the purpose of tying a proper knot. The figure eight on a bight can be used as well to form your loop. It is the same as the standard figure eight, you just bend the rope in half and tie it so the bight sticks out of the top, making an attachment point for your assembly. This knot also comes out very easily, not burning the rope together as a regular figure eight would under much strain.

However remember this: many knots are only meant for vertical load, not “side load.” An example is if you tie a square knot and then pull it sideways, it will form two half hitches. This isn’t neccesarily a capital mistake, but it does tend to loosen the knot.
Also, ropes are rated for a certain breaking strength determined by the manufactuer. Tying knots in the rope reduces this rated strength by different percentiles.
A few examples are:
Bowline: reduces the strength by 40%
Sheet Bend: reduces the strength by 50%
Square Knot: reduces the strength by 55%
Clove Hitch: reduces the strength by 25%

Have a safe day!
–Hivolt

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:33:31 +0000

Sam, fishing knots are a whole new subject. The knots are different because of the unique nature of modern fishing lines. Monofilament is very smooth, much more stiff, and loses more of its strength when bent, than rope. Therefore the knots have to be different.

A couple other things mentioned above, lashing and splicing, are also a pretty wide departure from the topic of a few good knots. They should be in any competent knot-tier’s bag of tricks. But we’ve already moved quite beyond the topic of this article – seven basic knots.

By: Fingersoup

Fingersoup — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:29:12 +0000

That just didn’t work at all. If an admin could edit that mess about diagrams out… Copy/paste into notepad does nothing….

By: Fingersoup

Fingersoup — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:27:43 +0000

@ owen 32 – A round turn two half hitches requires you to tie a round turn around your spar or ring. Brett was quite correct calling this two half hitches, as it was done on a bight.

Some terminology first:

A bight, or half turn is when you have a fold in your line, so to speak. It is U shaped.

A turn, or full turn is when your line wraps around an object once, and continues in the same direction (ie: from left to right).

A round turn is when you take the full turn and add an extra half turn so your line wraps back so your standing end and working end both come out the same side (ie: to the left of the object).

Round turns are typically used on lines where there is a lot of movement on your standing end (Such as tying a small boat to a dock ring). It allows the rope to roll on the ring as opposed to rub the object and wear out the line quicker.

As for the two half hitches, it is better to tie the two half hitches in the same direction so it resembles a clove hitch. usually the separating factor between a clove hitch and two half hitches, is that you leave some room between your hitches when it comes to two half hitches. In fact, in many books, the working end of a round turn two half hitches, will have a stop applied to the working end, so that it is lashed to the standing end.this keeps the half hitches from slipping, and it allows more line to let your object roll.

Regarding the taut line knot – it is essentially a rolling hitch tied to the standing end of a line. A rolling hitch is a clove hitch’s cousin. Whereas on a clove hitch the pull should be perpendicular to the object you have tied to, a rolling hitch is designed to be pulled in a SPECIFIC direction.

To tie a rolling hitch:
1. Wrap your line in a full turn around your spar. IMPORTANT: Make sure you wrap the line towards the direction the line will be pulled.
2. Go around for a second full turn. This is the major difference from a clove hitch.
3. Cross your working end across all of your turns, and complete another turn. Ensure the line is wrapped on the opposite side of your standing part. As you complete the turn, tuck your working end straight under the “crossover” portion, just as you would in a clove hitch.

By: sam

sam — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:59:07 +0000

great post! how about how to tie fish hooks and lures to fishing line?

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:46:26 +0000

Good point, Joseph. I would also add the end splice to your list. I do more end splices than anything else.

I think I should explain that the term “slippery,” which I used in my first post, refers to a knot that is made so that it is easy to untie. Your shoelace tie is done so that the last half of the square knot can be undone simply by pulling the ends. A proper slippery knot is not more inclined to actually slip, meaning coming loose under tension, than its standard brother.

BTW a simple square knot also works great on shoelaces, and is actually superior on quality leather boot laces. By pulling one of the lace ends over to the opposite side of the knot, the knot can be made to “flip,” turning the square knot into a (improperly-tied) double half hitch, which then easily slides off the side that you pulled. I use this technique on my heavy work boots. It eliminates the loops, which catch on brush, and lead to a serious face-plant. Been there-done that, too.