Which Knots To Know?

[3rd_gear_Ted]

If you want to fish someone out of the water a bowline does the trick.
To get rated for sailboat rentals, you need to be able to tie that knot floating in the water.

The marriage knot will usually cost you about $300K to untie that sucker.

[Synchro Joe]

Clove Hitch
Square (or Reef) Knot
Sheet Bend
Bowline
Double Fisherman’s Knot (grapevine)

[Bill Douglas]

A trucker's hitch is a good one to know. It effectively doubles the tension on the rope.

[GH85Carrera]

I did knot know that.

[fanaudical]

Am not commenting on fishing knots (haven't been fishing in ages); I think I generally get by with just these:

- Two half-hitches
- Square knot
- Figure-8
- Bowline
- Taut-line

And ratchet straps for any load in the truck...

[gwmac]

buddy was an industrial painter, said "If you gotta trust your life to a knot make sure its a Bowline"
HI HO!

[70SATMan]

Had an uncle that knew Don. I never met him.

The only guys that were taught knots in the Nav back in the day were the undeclared SA’s that went through general shipboard school after boot or Boatswains.

I was a little jealous actually.

[masraum]

THE knot book is the Ashley Book of Knots.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ashley_Book_of_Knots

he Ashley Book of Knots is an encyclopedia of knots written and illustrated by the American sailor and artist Clifford W. Ashley. First published in 1944, it was the culmination of over 11 years of work. The book contains 3,857 numbered entries and approximately 7,000 illustrations.[1] The entries include knot instructions, uses, and some histories, categorized by type or function. It remains one of the most important and comprehensive books on knots.
Use as a reference

Due to its scope and wide availability, The Ashley Book of Knots has become a significant reference work in the field of knotting. The numbers Ashley assigned to each knot can be used to unambiguously identify them. This helps to identify knots despite local colloquialisms or identification changes. Citations to Ashley numbers are usually in the form: "The Constrictor Knot (ABoK #1249)", "ABoK #1249", or even simply "#1249" if the context of the reference is clear or already established.[2]

Some knots have more than one Ashley number due to having multiple uses or forms. For example, the main entry for #1249 is in the chapter on binding knots but it is also listed as #176 in a chapter on occupational knot usage.

The Ashley Book of Knots was compiled and first published before the introduction of synthetic fiber ropes, during a time when natural fiber cordage – typically twisted, laid, or braided rope – was most commonly used. The commentary on some knots may fail to address their behavior when tied with modern synthetic fiber or kernmantle style ropes.

And it's available online and downloadable in several formats (including PDF and ePub) from the Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/TheAshleyBookOfKnots
PDF link - https://dn790008.ca.archive.org/0/items/TheAshleyBookOfKnots/the%20ashley%20book%20of%20knots.pdf

[ckissick]

Originally Posted by VINMAN

Barrel knot for connecting two ropes of the same size.

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Another knot for joining two ropes together has the best name: the European Death Knot.

[Steve Carlton]

I prefer tying a Gordian Knot. Difficult to untie, but Alexander the Great showed us the way.

[VINMAN]

Originally Posted by gwmac

buddy was an industrial painter, said "If you gotta trust your life to a knot make sure its a Bowline"
HI HO!

We have pretty much phased out the bowline in the rope rescue world, years ago. It isn't a life safety knot. We will use it to connect a tag line on a litter or something similar., but thats about it.

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[jyl]

Originally Posted by VINMAN

We have pretty much phased out the bowline in the rope rescue world, years ago. It isn't a life safety knot. We will use it to connect a tag line on a litter or something similar., but thats about it.

.

What do you use instead?

My buddy says the double figure 8 (figure 8 on a bight) with a double overhand safety knot on the tag end?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by VINMAN

We have pretty much phased out the bowline in the rope rescue world, years ago. It isn't a life safety knot. We will use it to connect a tag line on a litter or something similar., but thats about it.

.

Originally Posted by jyl

What do you use instead?

Exactly my thought, you can't drop a bomb like "we haven't used the bowline as a rescue knot in years" without telling us what the replacement is.

[VINMAN]

Originally Posted by masraum

Exactly my thought, you can't drop a bomb like "we haven't used the bowline as a rescue knot in years" without telling us what the replacement is.

Lol. Sorry..

The figure 8 and it's many variations are our main go-to.
They are pretty much always our main tie-in knots. We have about five or six other different knots that are the primary ones we use, but a ton of others may come into play.

One of the issues with the bowline is security integrity, in that it can self loosen when load is removed. A figure 8 never will.

There are ways to secure a bowline a little better , one is what's called a "Yosemite finish" , which is a couple additional turns around the rope to secure it.

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[masraum]

Originally Posted by VINMAN

Lol. Sorry..

The figure 8 and it's many variations are our main go-to.
They are pretty much always our main tie-in knots. We have about five or six other different knots that are the primary ones we use, but a ton of others may come into play.

One of the issues with the bowline is security integrity, in that it can self loosen when load is removed. A figure 8 never will.

There are ways to secure a bowline a little better , one is what's called a "Yosemite finish" , which is a couple additional turns around the rope to secure it.

.

So one or more of these?

[911_Dude]

My top five for boat work:

-Bowline: Extremely useful loop type knot
-Cleat hitch: Most obvious sign of a boater hack if the boat is not using a proper cleat hitch
-Clove hitch: Great for hanging stuff up on a rail.
-Figure eight: Easy stopper knot
-Reef (square) knot: Tie up bundles, reef a sail, etc.
-(Bonus #6) Gasket coil: Neatly stow coils of rope.

If you can master those you can do most boat rope work without looking like a hack.

Side Note: I need that "Pocket Ref" book. Surprisingly, the cheapest place to get it is Harbor Freight of all places. On HF's website its listed under Home/Home Security/Toys/Childrens Toys/Building Toys. LOL!



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[VINMAN]

Originally Posted by masraum

So one or more of these?

Yep! That's a couple of them.

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[jyl]

The most useful knot I’ve learned since starting this thread is the Alpine Butterfly Loop (a dropper). Previously I tied droppers by tying a bight into an overhand knot - very crude and hard to untie.

I still need a fast-to-tie , hard-to-screw up bend knot.