Knot Funny

[MicHughV]

surprisingly, when I was learning to tie fishing knots, I used a known weight to hang from the end of the line to test the ability of the knot to hold at least to the line's known breaking strength....fishing line, especially, the nylon variety can be quite slippery as most people know...my first few attempts were laughable...in addition, fishing line is amazingly "stretchy"..a lot more than I anticipated...

braided fishing line is another matter completely....a knot made in braided fishing line is there forever...it can't be undone...letting a braided line " free spool" on a reel is asking for a spiderweb tangle that defies untanglement...

knot tying is an interesting endeavor....to do correctly...

[danstanford]

Originally Posted by doctorbill

One great knot no one has mentioned is the EDK (Euro Death Knot).
It's KISS simple and gets the job done. We use it in rock climbing for rappelling all the time (the name is a misnomer).
Safe simple, easy to untie. Very useful.

https://www.climbing.com/skills/in-d...an-death-knot/

I would knot have thought that knot was easy to untie.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by danstanford

I would knot have thought that knot was easy to untie.

The load is on the two “standing ends” not one or both of the working ones, and for an overhand knot to seize the load needs to be on a working end I think.

This is in contrast to most other bends (eg Alpine Butterfly bend, Zeppelin bend, Sheet bend etc) where the load is designed to be on the two standing ends.

I am surprised the European Death Knot is considered safe for climbing, especially as the article states it needs to be carefully dressed and pretensioned before use or it risks capsizing. I would personally run a mile from this knot for climbing purposes, but then again, I am a “safety girl” when it comes to knots .

[Macblaze]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

I am surprised the European Death Knot is considered safe for climbing, especially as the article it needs to be be carefully dressed and pretensioned before use or it risks capsizing. I would personally run a mile from this knot for climbing purposes, but then again, I am a “safety girl” when it comes to knots .

Hence the name

Its primary purpose is to join two 60m ropes together so you can rappel (abseil) down the rock face. Its primary virtue is that when pulling on one end (to retrieve your rope) it presents a relatively flat face to the rocks and is the least likely to get hung up on rocks halfway down. Because the only thing worse than your knot coming untied is no longer having a rope to use to get down

[lestersails]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I use this for most shackle attachments instead of eye splicing.

To be clear, I didn't really consider a cleat hitch as a knot -- not one worthy of thinking about. Honestly... it's just so obvious when it's done right, or when it's done wrong. I realize it's often done wrong, but honestly... I don't get it.

I second that Mike. It's just an attachment, not a knot. And to my mind, most of the attachment is attributable to the cleat, not to how the line is done (acknowledging that you can do it wrong).

[MicHughV]

I'm surprised I don't see the "monkey's fist" mentioned here..

[JoeRobertJr]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

I'm surprised I don't see the "monkey's fist" mentioned here..

I have a line with a monkey's fist permanently tied on one end. I've used it to cast a line over my spreaders, but I don't think I could count that in a "top 5 useful" list. Definitely not a knot to tie quickly. Mine is a 5-strand fist, with a 3-strand fist inside that, and a figure 8 as the core of the 3-strand ball. I used it a lot when camping.

[MicHughV]

I was gifted a " knot" book, and I learned to make a " monkey's fist" and ended up using it and all its various adaptions all over the boat, some decorative, others practical.

Didn't have anything to do one day while at anchor....sipping a rum and coke (or two, or was that three ?)...and one thing just led to another...

[Sylph VI]

Funny, big discussion about the cleat hitch. Personally, I never use it and don't like it because it just seems so many people make a mess of this simple hitch ending up with a jammed line, and in any event it is in my view a superfluous knot. Just put several turns around the cleat and finish with a locking turn, ie one full turn around the base. I have never had a line secured in this manner look even close to slipping. The only time I use a cleat hitch is when I find the tail of the line a bit short and then it is time to find a longer line.
Consequently the cleat hitch doesn't make it onto my list.
Clearly most people on this forum will disagree with me and that is fine.

[MicHughV]

ok.....here's one....you pull up to a dinghy dock in your inflatable......ready for a few beers at the beach bar...

you arrive at the dinghy dock and there are already a dozen dinghy's tied up there, but only 2 dock cleats.......and gulp....some dinks have their engine up....a story for another time...

mr. newbie was first to arrive...his dinghy is tied to one of the dock cleats with a super duper double twist inverted triple upside down "no name" knot stainless steel cable with a lock....off course, his engine is up as well.....

subsequent arrivals have woven their dink lines in and out of this morass, so that now the dock cleat looks like an alien from mars...and you have yet to tie up.....

what to do....what to do....what to do ....

[doctorbill]

Great discussion of cleat hitch and different size lines vs different size cleats. I found this very informative. I do not like spaghetti hitches.

"For every 1/16 inch diameter line you get 1 inch of cleat length...." May be a little too much, but the concepts in this video are GREAT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBqsF72xNSU

[doctorbill]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

The load is on the two “standing ends” not one or both of the working ones, and for an overhand knot to seize the load needs to be on a working end I think.

This is in contrast to most other bends (eg Alpine Butterfly bend, Zeppelin bend, Sheet bend etc) where the load is designed to be on the two standing ends.

I am surprised the European Death Knot is considered safe for climbing, especially as the article states it needs to be carefully dressed and pretensioned before use or it risks capsizing. I would personally run a mile from this knot for climbing purposes, but then again, I am a “safety girl” when it comes to knots .

Yes and you hit upon the issues that relate to the name. Only thing is relatively extensive testing by Alpine Institute's as well as years of experience have shown it to be safe and secure for the intended purpose. It is also very easy to tie in the dark and hard to do wrong (though important NOT to do wrong).

I shared for informational purposes. Until this thread I had never come across the Zepellin Knot which I learned about from this post. Definitely looks more secure but I can tell you is NOT routinely used in American rock climbing. In climbing instances when a very secure end-to-end tie is needed most will opt for the double fisherman's.

I enjoy knots as I see them as tools, and "the right tool for the job..."

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Wotname

Meanwhile below decks, knots are all the rage.

These are modified constrictor knots, essentially a standard constrictor with a thumb knot added 'on top'.

Wottie, that is just beautiful... but mate, ya sure want to be sure that ya have it really, really in the final configuration before doin' up the loom! Changing one of those wires would be a daunting task indeed.

You can come do wiring on Insatiable any time ya want!

Jim

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Wottie, that is just beautiful... but mate, ya sure want to be sure that ya have it really, really in the final configuration before doin' up the loom! Changing one of those wires would be a daunting task indeed.

Do it once and do it right!


You can come do wiring on Insatiable any time ya want!

Unfortunately I'm a bit tied up at the moment!

Jim

Thank you for your kind words Jim.

The accepted wisdom is to incorporate a service loop in each wire but I discarded the service loop years ago; the thing is - for some reason, neat well dressed wiring looms rarely need repairing.

However when things bit my bum, I don't post pictures of it .

[StuM]

Originally Posted by PetrelHead

Wasn’t it Dennis Connor, multiple Americas Cup winning skipper, who said:

“ If you can’t tie good knots, tie plenty of them. “

???

It's generally attributed to Gary Jobson.