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Essential knots?

10K views 56 replies 35 participants last post by  jackdale 
#1 ·
Last night as I was unpacking some boxes from my recent move, I came across a book of knots/ropework. So I got to thinking, what would you consider the essential knots a beginner should know and why are they so important? What's their application?

Mike
 
#35 ·
Need to know not only the knot and or hitch but when to use it, or not, and why. bowline for a heavy load that won't need to be untied while under said load. Round turn (I take 2) and two half hitches for a heavy load that may need to be untied while under a load. That is a great start for any body. A standing eye (never a truckers hitch), rolling hitch come after one is proficiant in the first 2. reef knot, sheet bend, etc. all come in time.
 
#37 · (Edited)
What I know to be a truckers hitch, is: take a bend in the line, wrap around and pull through. this enables you to have some purchase to pull tight the line when lashing. put a load of body weight on it and it is very difficult to un-do with out a spike ( or impossible). A standing eye, you make a loop, not a bend, and take three wraps around the loop, pulling the after part of the eye through itself. A considerable load can be applied and the eye can be removed with ease, much like a bowline. Could be my understanding of what we are calling a truckers hitch is different.
 
#39 ·
I wish I had access to the tech. to display a standing eye. I can, and have applied 100's of pounds of force to them and untied with one hand. I use it all the time. As long as you can tie it quick in the dark and get the eye out easily with two fingers it's a worthy knot and not a tangle.
 
#42 · (Edited)
I use most of the ones that have already been listed. The only other one I use fairly regularly is the carrick bend. Good for joining two lines of different sizes together.

I make my trucker's hitch differently than what has been described here. I'll see if I can find an illustration of how I tie it. Nothing ever jams (there is no loop that jams)and it's extremely quick and easy to tie. I've used it thousands of times for tying down beehives on a truck.

This is how I tie the truckers hitch that can never jam, most of the time I don't even use the second hitch he puts in on top.

You can get even more tension by forming a loop in the live end and using your foot and jumping on it (like a stirrup).
 
#44 ·
Agree agree. in order of importance :

1. Bowline
2. square knot (reef)
3. clove hitch
4. rolling hitch (my favorite.. the way it locks one way but moves the other, yet soo simple.
*** Of course the cleat, and although technically this is a knot, in my mind it is just wrapping.

**** If the cleat hitch is to be considered a knot (which i know it technically is) then it should be the #1 most important. because without it, you may not be able to properly secure your boat, and if you have no boat..... then it really doesn't matter how many other knots you know how to tie !! ;-)

---tapske...
NIF
 
#47 ·
*** Of course the cleat, and although technically this is a knot, in my mind it is just wrapping......
If you do a cleat hitch correctly (two rivers and a bridge), it not only looks professional, but it is extremely secure with just two turns. It may be that doing in correctly is more essential than anything else. I can't stand seeing the amateur versions that do the hitches upside down, which can pull free, and go back and forth over the horns a half dozen times to make up for it.

The beauty of a proper cleat hitch is the cleat can probably still be used to tie another on top of it. Very helpful at dinghy and other crowded docks.
 
#45 ·
Yes.... The cleat hitch/knot tells quite a story. The last boat I bought had plastic thingys on the fender lines to hook over the life lines. They are going in the trash and I will go back to the tried, true and trusted clove hitch, which can be tied slippery for fast untying. The bowline is one of my favorite sturdy knots as it hold very well and is always easy to untie. And, agreed, the truckers hitch is handy as is the aircraft tiedown hitch..... Babble, babble babble.....
 
#46 · (Edited)
Using a clove hitch, which requires a constant pressure, to attach fenders is an invitation to losing them - I know. A round turn and two half hitches around the base of the stanchion will keep them on your boat.
 
#48 ·
Clove hitch for tying fenders.... Tie a slippery clove , then tie a half hitch around the standing end with the bight. Looks good, is fast to tie and untie and haven't lost a fender in over 40 years.
 
#50 ·
You guys are killin' me with all your confident knot talk. I'm over here patting myself on the back for being able to handle FOUR basic ones at this point while you're talking about nuclear fusion slip knots and ninja super duper hitches with triple clove slip whatchamacallits and such. You're all my hero.
 
#51 ·
Truth be told Terral - I can't tie a bowline without practice. 10 years of sailing.

I can take a line, double it and tie an overhand knot with one hand, a easy bowline replacement for a temporary eye. The rest I fake. I even wear loafers because I can't keep my shoelaces tied.
 
#53 ·
Lots have mentioned the sheet bend... double sheet bend is handy when securing two lines of different diameter. (the larger one is the bite, the smaller makes the double wrap)

Also, figure 8 has been mentioned as a great stopper knot... agreed. A figure 8 on a bite is also the preferred knot for tying into a safety line for climbing (rock, ice, mountains, or masts). It's assumed you're using a harness.. you can use a locking carabiner to secure the figure 8 on a bite to your harness, or tie a figure 8 with a long working end sticking out, feed that through the tie-in point on your harness, and then follow the figure 8 back through with the working end. Leave at least an 8" tail, or if it's longer you can tie the tail off with numerous knots (the 8 is tested secure; tying the tail off if it's long is just to keep it out of your way). Just make sure the knot is dressed properly.
 
#54 ·
The climbing figure 8 is a great knot. I just use a bowline with a safety hitch and then clip the shackle to the harness when I ascend. Two halyards (or the topping lift) of course.
 
#56 ·
....I just use a bowline with a safety hitch and then clip the shackle to the harness when I ascend.......
Since this reads funny, I'm sure you don't mean that you tie the line to a shackle and then clip the shackle to the harness. Your line has a pre-spliced shackle on the end. You tie the line directly to the harness. The shackle is on the bitter end of the knot, which you clip to the harness for safety so it can't back through and undo the knot.

I'm sure that's what you meant, just thought clarification might help.
 
#55 ·
@jack: bowlines (with a safety hitch) are perfectly fine for ascending a mast really... especially if you're being hoisted up. The weight delivery to the knot is constant and doesn't necessarily take on a sudden load as with climbing and sustaining a fall.

As a side note, I think it's interesting how most rope companies, like New England Ropes, sells to different populations. They make low stretch lines for halyards, and then very high stretch ropes for climbing. So the low stretch line that will break you in half in a fall climbing is great for a halyard... The super stretchy rope for climbing would be a POS halyard. Either way they'll both cost you an arm and a leg.
 
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