Do you Kno your knots ?

3

3rdtimesthecharm

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Jul 29, 2010
Messages
283
Re: Do you Kno your knots ?

I was always told "if you don`t know How to tie a knot,tie alot."
 
64osby

64osby

Admiral
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Messages
6,799
Re: Do you Kno your knots ?

Didn't Quint ask Hooper to tie a Sheepshank in Jaws? Now I know how.

A good bowline always works for me.
 
H

Home Cookin'

Fleet Admiral
Joined
May 26, 2009
Messages
9,715
Re: Do you Kno your knots ?

most knots are a variety of a clove hitch or a square knot. All (legitimate) knots are designed to have a release no matter how tight they have been pulled, and most are designed to lock themselves when pulled.

You can do almost anything if you know a clove hitch, bowline and two half hitches. A sheepshank is just cool. A figure eight is a handy one, too.

It kills me when my helpers wind all the dock line on a cleat. Done correctly, the two wraps is all you need (it is a clove hitch) and you never need more.

Knowing how to handle your lines is a basic part of boating and can be a serious safety or property damage issue. another thing on the list that says a boat owner is not necessarily a boater.
 
S

soggy_feet

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
713
Re: Do you Kno your knots ?

+1 to that HC.

We had a big storm roll in at the end of the season last year. There were 2 types of damages at the marina.

1. People don't know how to tie their boats up, and the broke free and destroyed other boats, or the docks, and/or themselves.

2. People don't check on their boat for a month, they fill with rainwater, and then a few hours of big waves over the transom finish it off and it sinks at the dock.

And this was in probably the most protected bay on Lake Champlain.

Either one is easily preventable.
 
QC

QC

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Messages
22,783
Re: Do you Kno your knots ?

Home Cookin' said:
You can do almost anything if you know a clove hitch, bowline and two half hitches. A sheepshank is just cool. A figure eight is a handy one, too.
Click to expand...
Yup!! Clove hitches are so misunderstood and deserve so much more respect. My favorite use is as a fender hangar off of a bow rail for amidships. Perfectly, simply, height adjustable and they will not slip as so many think.

Edit: Take a look at the Angler's Knot, I use it a lot for joining two lines. So simple it makes me smile every time I tie it . . . ;)
 
S

ssobol

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Messages
503
Re: Do you Kno your knots ?

Animatedknots.com shows how to tie a wide variety of knots (sorted by category) in step by step fashion.
 
sea_goin_dude

sea_goin_dude

Seaman
Joined
Mar 15, 2011
Messages
55
Re: Do you Kno your knots ?

64osby said:
Didn't Quint ask Hooper to tie a Sheepshank in Jaws? Now I know how.

A good bowline always works for me.
Click to expand...

YES and you remember his big eyes when he said "YOU'RE GONNA NEED A BIGGER BOAT"
 
freelancer

freelancer

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jun 2, 2009
Messages
300
Re: Do you Kno your knots ?

On my boat the most used knots on my boat are the Bowline and the Clove Hitch.
 
64osby

64osby

Admiral
Joined
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6,799
Re: Do you Kno your knots ?

sea_goin_dude said:
YES and you remember his big eyes when he said "YOU'RE GONNA NEED A BIGGER BOAT"
Click to expand...

Brody said that. Yes I just saw it a couple weeeks ago with my kids.

A clove hitch, that takes me back to stuff I learned in boy scouts. Now I have to go and look at it. I know I tie quite a few different knots but I can't put a name to them anymore.
 
sea_goin_dude

sea_goin_dude

Seaman
Joined
Mar 15, 2011
Messages
55
Re: Do you Kno your knots ?

NOTE on the bowline. This is a very useful knot and easily tied. It is also easily untied. May be a bit too easily untied. If you are using some of the sythetic (almost plastic) ropes/lines, you might want to be sure the end is secured, maybe using a wire tie etc. you can also leave this end/tail a bit longer than normal. Due to the slick finish/surface of this type rope, it can slip loose if not careful. This synthetic rope will sometimes tend to untie itself !!! because it is so stiff and slick. A few years ago a female mountain climber fell of McKinley when her knot connecting her to the rest of the climbers came untied. She still had her harness on but the rope came loose from her harness ring. Also, some of this plastic like rope is very hard on the hands if you must handle it a lot. it will also take a set if tied for a while and won't straighten out like other rope does. I like cotton or nylon as it seems to be more user friendly
 
H

Home Cookin'

Fleet Admiral
Joined
May 26, 2009
Messages
9,715
Re: Do you Kno your knots ?

very good point; bad quality line will defeat knot tying skills. The slick plastic stuff is only good for ski lines that are already factory spliced.
 
T

TEutis

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Oct 28, 2010
Messages
31
Re: Do you Kno your knots ?

Agree about the bowline - we no longer use it in the fire service for life safety because it was designed to be used with natural rope. Now that we tend to use synthetic rope we stay away from it. With the synthetic rope the family of 8's tends to work much better and they're easier to tie in my opinion.
 
QC

QC

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Messages
22,783
Re: Do you Kno your knots ?

I like the Eights too ^^^^^
 
sea_goin_dude

sea_goin_dude

Seaman
Joined
Mar 15, 2011
Messages
55
H

Home Cookin'

Fleet Admiral
Joined
May 26, 2009
Messages
9,715
Re: Do you Kno your knots ?

the figure eight and its varieties are the type that I mentioned as qualifying as a proper boating knot, as it won't slip or slide and can be "unlocked" after being pulled tight. Compare the basic figure eight to the simple overhand in this regard, or a square knot to a granny.
 
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