Practical Knots: A Step-by-step Guide

INTRODUCTION

Rudimentary cord made from plant material has been around for more than 30,000 years and, as rope is little use without at least a simple knot, it is safe to assume that knots have also been around for a very long time. The oldest known rope is from Egypt and has been dated to 4,000 years ago. It is likely that this was used on a ship at the time.

Knots are not ‘invented’, they are discovered and in many cases simply rediscovered, a knot perhaps having been lost as it fell into disuse or was replaced by a gadget of some sort. As anyone who has tried to unravel a tangle of string or wool knows, knots appear like magic all on their own!

So why this book? A knot is only useful if it meets a need and that need may be one normally accommodated by a cable tie (zip tie), Velcrotm or other patent fastening, which is fine as long as you have one handy. However, there are also times when life can be made so much easier or more comfortable with just a piece of cord, a knot and a straightforward guide such as this book.

The development of modern cordage, starting with nylon in the 1950s, has meant that some old seaman’s knots may no longer be as reliable as when they were tied in the materials they were designed for, such as manila or hemp. Of course previously unrecorded knots are being discovered all the time.

KNOT NAMES: Unfortunately, in the world of knots, names can be very confusing. Although over time there is acknowledgement that names should change to avoid this confusion – and here the Internet enables such information to be spread very quickly – the fact remains that there are a huge number of books in print with knots shown under a variety of names. Having learned the names of knots over the years, many practitioners are naturally reluctant to change now. In this book, the names used reflect current usage, but a short cross-reference section is included to help with identification. See here.

KNOTS IN USE: STRENGTH AND SECURITY: With all knots used for practical purposes you have to take two things into account – knot strength and knot security. These are quite different issues and a basic understanding of each is useful.

KNOT STRENGTH: When a knot is tied into rope, cord or tape, the material, which automatically comes under stress, weakens. How much it weakens is often expressed as a percentage of the strength of the rope, cord or tape before a particular knot was added, but this is at best no more than a rough guide. There are two reasons for this. The first is that there is an assumption that the knot was properly tied and dressed – ‘dressed’ means that it should be tightened so that it is not distorted in any way. A badly tied knot may substantially weaken the rope over and above the effect a properly tied knot would have had.

The second reason is that laboratory tests of rope (from which the original breaking strength was calculated) were made on new, undamaged rope. The rope being used may have had considerable wear and tear which may not be obvious, so that it already has a lower breaking point which will be further reduced by the addition of a knot.

Fortunately modern synthetic rope has such a high initial strength that, as long as care is taken not to exceed the safe working load (usually about 20 to 25 per cent of the breaking load), there should not be a problem. But if a load is applied suddenly to a rope or cord, e.g. by attaching a heavy weight and dropping it from a height greater than the length of the rope, then the rope or cord may break because the load has not been applied as a steady pull. This is known as shock loading and its effects can be demonstrated by attaching some thin string to, say, two screwdrivers and pulling hard. The string may break under steady pressure, but if the screwdrivers are brought together or pulled apart suddenly the string tends to break more quickly.

KNOT SECURITY: All knots depend on friction. Knot security is resistance to slippage and in practice this is usually far more important than knot strength. Most knots tend to have some initial slip as the knot fully tightens under load and before friction finally takes over, but some combinations of material and knots will slip easily – for example, any ordinary knot tied in fishing line is unlikely to hold, and some knots such as the Granny Knot may slip or jam tightly and become very difficult to undo. Throughout the text, I have tried to indicate whether a knot generally has good security or not, but as conditions of use are not known this cannot always be wholly reliable as a guide.

One of the most important factors in knot security is the proper tightening of a knot (known as ‘dressing’ the knot). Simply pulling on the end or perhaps the standing parts of a bend rarely works well, leaving the knot prone to distortion and even collapse under load. It only takes a few moments to ensure that all parts of a knot are tightened and all slack removed – the more complex the knot, the more important it is to dress it properly. Please note that, in the instructions for knots which follow, the word ‘pole’ is often used to refer to any solid upright around which rope or cord is tied.

Barry Mault

Chapter 1

BASIC KNOTS AND ROPEWORK

Preventing a rope or cord from fraying

All rope and cord will fray at the end unless steps are taken to prevent this. The options described below are the quick and simple methods to prevent this happening.

Adhesive Tape

Plastic tape (electrician’s or insulation tape) is a quick and easy way to seal the