User Panel
Quoted: The zeppelin bend (b-q knot) is a useful bend. The barrel knot is a great self tightening hitch. Knowing secure finishes for a bowline is necessary in life support work. Munter-mule is great for simple load releasing applications. View Quote I like the water bowline and yosemite bowline for secure loops, personally. To add to the list of useful knots, probably also good to have stoppers in one's toolbox, like the stevedore knot or Ashley stopper, but a figure-eight works there, too. |
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Used most frequently:
Blake's hitch Prussic Tautline hitch Figure 8 Double fisherman's For fishing: Uni to uni Palomar I know more, some by name and some not, but these are most common for me. |
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Page 3 and no sheepshank? Sigh commies have destroyed GD
Mast head For those of you with iPhones there’s an app called animated knots 3D that has a long list of knots and what they’re good for and not good for and animations to show how to tie them |
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The question was knots that everyone should know, not how many knots do you know or which knot is not the best knot.
Top 5 should know knots in no particular order: 1. Bowline 2. Clove hitch 3. Truckers hitch 4. Square knot 5. Slip knot |
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It does many things very well. It's a bend, a bowline substitute, a way to put a loop in the middle of a rope, a quick fix to isolate frayed rope from loads, etc. Between it and the round turn and two half hitches knot, you can do almost anything you need a rope to do. |
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Clove hitches suck.
They will, absolutely, fail you. Instead use a round turn with two half hitches. Round turn with two half hitches |
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Slip Knot and two half hitches are the two that I use constantly.
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I suggest INCREASING TO 26 KNOTS
but: figure 8 / follow through fisherman's clinch bowline clove hitch Uighur knot |
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Quoted: There's a pretty strong argument to be made for just learning the figure-eight, as it can be used to bend two lines, make a loop, tie into a harness, and tie to an object with minimal variation. View Quote I second this. I know all of the OP's knots and bends and almost exclusively use the family of 8's. Throw in a butterfly and you have the vast majority of what we use in tech rescue. Clove hitch is pretty useful as well. |
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Bow line (bight)
Truckers hitch Figure 8 (night) Butterfly Clove Fisherman’s These will get you through life. |
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Quoted: What the heck are you guys doing constantly that necessitates tying a variety of knots? You just like to mix things up every morning when tying your shoes? View Quote |
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Quoted: Clove hitches suck. They will, absolutely, fail you. Instead use a round turn with two half hitches. Round turn with two half hitches View Quote Haha, you say clove hitches suck, but the knot you advocate is a round turn topped off by a clove hitch. |
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As a sailboat owner, these get used the most, from most frequent to less:
#1 Cleat hitch.... (ties boat to dock) #2 Bowline.... (ties sheets to sails and many other uses) #3 Clove hitch.... (ties bumpers to boat or dock, also useful for sunshades) #4 Rolling hitch.... (ties bridle to anchor rode, and can remove tension from another line under load) #5 Stopper knot.... (keeps lines in fairlead and generally on the boat) |
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Outside of fishing my most used are:
Bowline Trucker's Hitch Clove Hitch The Prussic is handy too, but I don't have much need for it regularly. For fishing: San Diego Jam Alberto Palomar And know how to tie a proper cleat hitch. The idiots that tie up their boats with a mess that takes forever to untie are infuriating. |
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Trucker hitch is the perfect knot to cut a rope with itself.
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I know a few knots but in keeping with the original intent of the thread, IMO, there are just a few that will get everyone by who isn't in need of special knots as in for climbing or boating.
Truckers hitch Bowline Taught line (or your preferred substitute) Square knot Two half hitches (also slippery half hitch which is what I secure a trucker hitch with) |
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Quoted: What the heck are you guys doing constantly that necessitates tying a variety of knots? You just like to mix things up every morning when tying your shoes? View Quote I don't tie my shoes every morning. Lock Laces FTW. I do use a utilty trailer once in a while and everything gets tied down. |
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I pretty much only use the bowline.
Not a 'knot' but a twist bridle is very handy. Rope tied to something/looped on both ends, find the center, give a loop in each hand a twist, put D-ring or receiving line through. Nothing to untie and easy to undo. I am always amazed around docks at the lake how no one knows how to tie a bowline, or cleat properly. Also how people seem to think that using as short of a length of rope as loose as possible makes their boat the most secure. |
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I have some kind of learning disability when it comes to knots. It doesn't matter how many times I tie them, if I don't tie them frequently enough, and often enough, for it to become habitual, I need a guide. It's like rope dyslexia
Animated Knots by Grog was the first Android app I ever paid for the full version of and it was worth every penny |
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Quoted: Well, pretty much any set of lashings starts with a clove hitch, which is why I threw it in there. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Of those 5 I basically never use the clove hitch. I use the other four pretty regularly, enough that my wife makes fun of me for it. Well, pretty much any set of lashings starts with a clove hitch, which is why I threw it in there. That's true. I don't do much lashing on the day to day anymore. |
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Quoted: I have some kind of learning disability when it comes to knots. It doesn't matter how many times I tie them, if I don't tie them frequently enough, and often enough, for it to become habitual, I need a guide. It's like rope dyslexia Animated Knots by Grog was the first Android app I ever paid for the full version of and it was worth every penny View Quote It's a thing. Having taught a bunch of boys their knots over the years, it comes much easier to some than others. Same with retention. Then, there is my daughter. She is some kind of knot phenom. Showed her a one handed bowline ONCE. She tied it correctly first time. I never had to show her any knot more than twice. And she can tie them a year later without having practiced. Some needed a pointer but not much. I've never seen anyone else get it like she did/does. Including me. |
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Quoted: That's true. I don't do much lashing on the day to day anymore. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Of those 5 I basically never use the clove hitch. I use the other four pretty regularly, enough that my wife makes fun of me for it. Well, pretty much any set of lashings starts with a clove hitch, which is why I threw it in there. That's true. I don't do much lashing on the day to day anymore. Just remember, if your frap is crap, your lash is trash. |
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Quoted: It's a thing. Having taught a bunch of boys their knots over the years, it comes much easier to some than others. Same with retention. Then, there is my daughter. She is some kind of knot phenom. Showed her a one handed bowline ONCE. She tied it correctly first time. I never had to show her any knot more than twice. And she can tie them a year later without having practiced. Some needed a pointer but not much. I've never seen anyone else get it like she did/does. Including me. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: I have some kind of learning disability when it comes to knots. It doesn't matter how many times I tie them, if I don't tie them frequently enough, and often enough, for it to become habitual, I need a guide. It's like rope dyslexia Animated Knots by Grog was the first Android app I ever paid for the full version of and it was worth every penny It's a thing. Having taught a bunch of boys their knots over the years, it comes much easier to some than others. Same with retention. Then, there is my daughter. She is some kind of knot phenom. Showed her a one handed bowline ONCE. She tied it correctly first time. I never had to show her any knot more than twice. And she can tie them a year later without having practiced. Some needed a pointer but not much. I've never seen anyone else get it like she did/does. Including me. But I look at any knot more complicated than a square knot and all I see is a writhing ball of snakes I can't begin to unravel in my head |
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Quoted: I’m getting that “Tie however many half-hitches it takes until the knot holds” vibe from your reply. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: I never use those two, and would add a double half hitch. I’m getting that “Tie however many half-hitches it takes until the knot holds” vibe from your reply. If you can’t tie a knot, tie a lot |
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Quoted: What the heck are you guys doing constantly that necessitates tying a variety of knots? You just like to mix things up every morning when tying your shoes? View Quote camping, climbing, boating and fishing are all improved with knowledge of knots. heck, i used to practice securing claymore mines with a clove hitch knots are really useful |
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I can tie a passable slip knot of sorts - I don’t know the name, but it’s easily adjustable as long as there is not tension. With tension inside the “loop” it’s very difficult to loosen. A slight variant of this knot makes passable handcuffs from a single length of rope. I’ve also used it to make a makeshift harness for stray dogs and such that I’ve found without collars.
Beyond that, I mostly use square knots, “surgeon’s knots” (a slight variant of a square knot), and the “Farrimond Friction Hitch” mentioned earlier, though I’ve never had a name for it. I like the idea of knowing a rope work, but I don’t have much use for it day to day, so I tried to keep it simple and learn a few knots that were multi-purpose. My wife has shown a passing interest in shibari, so it’s likely that I’ll know a lot more knots by heart eventually. ETA: The”handcuff knot” that I mentioned above is actually a modified Prusik. Tie a loose Prusik hitch in the center of your length of rope, but leave it loose. Take the bights and pass them through the hitch, being careful to keep the lines parallel (not crossing over one another ) inside it. Pull the hitch tight around the bights, making sure to leave enough loop to pass over whatever you’re wanting to secure. For the dog harness I mentioned, from the top of the dog put each front leg through one of the loops then pull tight enough to keep the harness in place. leave one bight much shorter than the other, and tie an adjustable hitch to the longer line. As long as the shorter side takes the burden, it won’t loosen and everything stays in place. It is possible for the dog to pull hard enough to tighten the “handcuff” portion, but in my experience it isn’t enough to actually hurt them and they stop once it gets reasonably tight. |
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Curios why prusik shows up so many times? Outside of some rescue training I’ve not ever used one. Tree stand hunters? I mean, it’s useful and all just not something I’ve needed.
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Quoted: camping, climbing, boating and fishing are all improved with knowledge of knots. heck, i used to practice securing claymore mines with a clove hitch knots are really useful View Quote I’d argue that knots are less useful than they once were, given that most men are only going to be using them when securing a load - and that role has largely been usurped by ratchet straps. The concept of being prepared is still very valid, but I’ve not run into many situations that aren’t well-suited to a .50 ammo can full of ratchet straps. In the few cases that all I has was cordage, a square knot on one end and a simple friction hitch on the other to easily adjust the length has been more than enough to get by. Granted, I don’t camp often and when I do I’m not usually limited by weight. ... yeah, come to think of it, I should put a bit of effort into learning a few more techniques and keeping that knowledge fresh. Carrying a couple of feet of thin cord in a pocket or as a bracelet would give me something to fidget with while maintaining a valuable skill. |
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Quoted: I vote: 1. Bowline 2. Taut-line Hitch 3. Clove Hitch 4. Sheet bend 5. Square Knot What say you? View Quote I'm an Eagle Scout. That's Tenderfoot level stuff. |
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