(ebook - survival) the klutz book of knots

8/6/2019 (eBook - Survival) the Klutz Book of Knots

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Introduction

b o o k a b o u t k n o ts isa b o o kb o u t p e rs on a l o rg a n iz a tio no n th e re a l w o r ld le v e l.w h e re s h o ela c e s u n tie ,

p a c k a g e s fa ll a p a rt , a n dc lo th e s lin e s d ro o p . T h is

is lite 's g ro u n d flo o r , th e e v e ry d a y b a ttlea g a in s t th e s m a ll-s c a le fo rc e s o f c h a o s . Inth e c o urs e .o fa m o d e rn life tim e ,ltis n a tth e s tru g g le th a t re c e iv e s th e m o s t n o tic e ,h u tit is th e o n e th a ts e e m s1 0c o n s u m eth e m o s t tim e .

K no ts a re to o ls e m p lo y e d in th is n o b lec a us e . T he ya re m e a n tto c o n n e c t a n dth u s to s im p lify . D e s p ite th e p o p u la r m is -c o n c e p t i o n ,a p ro p e r ly tie d k n o tls g e n e r -a l.ly d is tin g u is h e d b y its s im p lic ily a n dth e e a s e w ith w h ic h it c a n b e u n tie d , n o tb y its s tre n g th o r c o m p le x ity ..A ny m ix e d -u p t a n u l e0 1ro p e c a n b e re a so n a blys tro n g . b u t it w o u ld b e n e ith e r a p p ro p r i-a te to th e jo b , n o r s im p le to u n d o . IIw ou ld b e , a s m o s l o n e -o f-a -k in d k n o tsa r e . a no v e r-e la b ora te s o lu tio n to th eproblem.A n d a p a in in th e n e c k b e s id e s .

T he re e x is ts , in th e k n o ttin gIi l e ra tu re ,a p p ro x im a te ly 4 ,0 0 0 d iU e re n t k n o ts .In c h a o s in g ,, '\ th e2 4 th a t w e n t in toth is b oo k, .t' -,' I w e k e pt to . a s i.n g le

re m o rs e - / \ '" less c r i t e r i a :B a s i c , r \..I()J~ w o r k - a - d e yn o r-_ _ _ .c ~ \ _ ../ / ; : : .- . .m .a H ife ,9 -ta -5)) ...,._ \""1'- / u llIlty . R e m e m b e r-

.I.. V $;..~;:- ) i...g..' . h .a t m .o S I o f a u .r/ .:U re a d e rs h a v e to rs ak -j "._ J I(,,;'Y, / le n . .1h e s e a , a nd a r et7 ; ~ n e ith e r w o o d sm e n ,

/ .{ \. . w ra n g le rs n o r

i ' / .J ..~ ~~ s o ld ie rs o f fo rtu ne ,~ \ I, ,-:or w e le ft o ff s u c h; \ '* ' ~ '~ .r: th in g s a s m e m ~ le :

. '\~ "" ~ p a c k e rs d la -. ._ ,; m o n d h itc h , a n

. _ _ - -~ e x c e lle n t k n o t

fo r lo a d in g u p tra il a n im a ls , a n d in -c lu d e d th e s h o r t-e n d . s h e e t b e n d , as p e c ia lis t in th e re p a ir o t b ro k e n s h o e -

la c e s . le s s ro m a n tic p e rh a p s , b u t o c -c a s io n a lly w e h a v e to fa c e th e s e k in d so f re a l iii a s .

But Which Is Really theBEST Kftot?

t o r c e d1 0 r e co rn -m e n d th eb o w l i n e(#1).th e s h e e t b e n d(#7), a n d th e c lo v eh i t ch (#2). T h e th re eo t t h e m a re th e classo f th e th re e p rim a ry k n o tc a le g or ie s -lo o p k n o ts , ro p e - to - ro p e k n o ts (b e n d s ) ,a n d ro p e - to -s o m e th m q -e ls e k n o ts(hitches). B etw ee n th e m , th e y s h o u ld g e ty o u in to m o s t b in d s .

In c id e nta lly , th eOppOSite q u e s tio n ,W h ic h is re a lly th ew o r s tk n o t? is fa r

s lm p le r toa r r swe t .A s d is illu s io n in ga s th is s o u n d s , it 's th e s q u a rek n o t , th e m o s t o v e r-h y p e d , u n d e r-s tre n g th k n ot in c re a tio n . C liffo rd . A s h le y ,th e a u m o r0 1th e d e fin it iv e e n cy c lo p ed iao n th e s u b je c t o f k n o ttin g ! s ta te s th a t th es q u a re k n o t" . . . h a s p ro b a b ly b e e n re -s p o n s ib le fo r m o re d e a th s a n d in iu rie sth a n a ll o th er k n o ts c o m b -in e d ."


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nfortuna te ly, it's aproblem that illustra-tions can only helpwith a hm e. becauselt's such a general,,pulling-together"kind of process ..Whatit requires is a reason-

ably c l e a r idea of where the knot is going.My best advice is to work the ropesgradually at the final stage, pulling all theloose ends in tum until you discoverwhich pullO f which tug shapes the knot Half ..Kitch.in the ways that you want.

The reason is that the square knot "cap-sizes," i.e.It unties uselt. Acouple ofquick tugs on the rope, or an inadvertentbum p, and the honest square knot turnsinto thin air, an unhappy result that dem -onstrates th e difference between a"strong"knot, one that weakens therope th e least, anda "secure" knot, onethat resis ts unraveling. In the norm alcourse of th ings,it's "security" that'llcarry the d a y, not "strength,"

How to use this book

This is a tool-book,that is to saY,it ismeant to be more than just read, Allthose knots which are designed to betied to something, can be tied to theboard pages of this book, next to theiriHustrations.

A word of general advice, To the tying: ofany knot. there are two parts: one,crossing the ropes in the right order; andtwo, working the knot closed~tighten-ing it . This second part is occasionallym ore difficult than the first, and alm ostalways as crucial.O n som e knots, thes h o e / a c e bow for instance, all youn e e dis a simple tug to bring the knot intoplace, But on others, the short-end sheetbend or the bow tie, tor example, work~

ing the knot shut is pracncally theentire problem,

AGlouaryoITena..

Knot. Any lump inBend. .Aknotjoln-the rope, ing two ropes,

IUtch. A knot

jOining a rope tosomething else ,

Loop. A knot join-ing a rope to itself,

-------,

OVerban.d.

Slipped. A "quickrelease" modification.


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1 TheBowUne

If you were m arooned on a desert island andcould only take one knot with you, this would bethe one. Properly lied in ordinary rope, there islittle d an ge r 0 1 th e b ow lin e s lip pin g b efo re th ebreakin g po int of the rop e itse lf is re ache d-acom forting th oug ht if yo u sh ou ld ever h ave to tiea rope around your w aist. And nearly as im por-tant, the bowline is easy to untie, even after hav-ing been dunked in w ater and put under load.

Like m ost knots, the bowline's origins w ere onb oard th e full-rigge d sailin g sh ips w here it w asused alm oslto the exclusion 01 all other loopk no ts , a nd w he reit was said thai" ... the devilhim sell would m ake a good sailor, if he couldonly lie a bow line and look aloft."If you sho uld ever h ave to d eal w ith pa rticu larlythick o r stiN m ateria ls-a ro lled -up be dspre ad fo rexam ple , or a nything cab le-like , one o f the be slways to join them is w ith tw o interlocking bow -lines.


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z The Clove HitchMy favo rite nea rty -a ll-p urp ose h itc h. S im pleto tie, sim ple to untie,and won't jam underslra in . T he re are

b eH er h itc he s if y ou 'ree spec ia lly c once rnedabou t security, a nd ilyo u're aH ach in g a ro peto a square shape-like a piece 01 lum-ber-the clove is notapp rop ria te , bullo ryour run-ol- the-mill ,

The only other con-tender for the title ofA ll-Pu rpose Hitch.M ore com mon than thec lo ve , p ro ba bly b e-cause it seem s easierto lie (allhough itre ally is n'I). N ev erth e-less, on shapes and inplaces w he re the clovewon't go, two halfhitches is p ro bab ly thebest choice, both fors im p lic ity a nd s ec urity.

T he s lip pe d v aria tio nis p articu la rly im po r-lant, since this knot

can often be tough1 0untie w ithout it

4A specialist. but a par-ticularly good one. Thetautline hitch is used

m ainly when you need10 keep a rope lightthat tends to sag overtim e (c lo th es lin es, te ntguys, e tc.). T he tau t-line holds in one di-rection, but can be slidin the other, whenslack has to be takenout. It's a one-w ay"ratchet" knol, thebest 01 its ki nd.

t ie- th is- th ing- to - that-p ost kind of problem ,the clove is your bestchoice.

N ote the slipped varia- ~tion for quick rele ase.

The Two Half Hitches

The Tautline Hitch


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5You on lythinkyou knowhow to tie your shoes.The bener bow untieswilha simple tug,. justlike the seen-to-be-cut-

dated model you haveon your shoes rightnow, but the differenceis-it doesn't jiggleloose. Learn ltandyou'll never go back, .1promise.

As theilluslrationsshow, there's only onecrucial difference be-

tween this knotal1d theold s ty le .ll1sleaeollaking a single lurnaround the middle 01Ihe loops, you'll taket w o .Be sure to w rapb oth th es e tu rn s a ro un dth e end of y ou r fing er.W h'en you w itM ra w

6This may come as am inor revelation, butIhe knot you tie on yourshoes (old slyle) is thesame knot you tiei:1.ft)undyour neck-atleast the finished prod-uct is the same. Thedifference is how youget there .

You can practice withcord, as per Ihe illus-tratinn, but1 0 really getthe idea, you need flatmate ria l, idea l~ ly Ihereal th.ing. Follow thes te p s a sil.lustratedw hile rem em ber.ing thatthe trick is in the laststep-pulling the w holething into shape.

The Better Bow

your linger., the "hole"illeaves is the placewhere you push thesec ond loo p through .

The Bow Tie


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7 The Sheet Bend

Doubled Variation

This is the knot that you thought the squarew a s -a s tro n g .simple, h on es t , e as y -to -tie c on -neeuon, One that youc a . "trust. In the same wayt h a tthe clove andb o w l i n eare, th e s h e e tbend is

8 The Square Knot

a n a u -s ta rk n e t . th ebasic o f I ts c a te go ry .The doubled va,ri.a lion Isa bit m ore secure. I'du s eHil something lmpertantw as on the line.

O r. i g i n a l l ythis was known as the reel knot, usedon boardship ta secu re thefurled-in sails" nolapartieula r lycriticalap plication ...Somewherea l o n gthe w aY,lhough, ilpicked up a!reputationfor r e l i ab i l i t ythai it most certainlyd o e s n 't d e -serve . Asmentioned in the introduction, itis ara th er u nsta ble kn ot, ca pab le0 1capsizing.ifbum ped or jiggled in the w rong w ay, particul.arlyif tied in d issimi laJ m a t e r i a l s .OffsettingIhese qualities isthe fact thatjnu a t-ready know how to lieil. As a result, I includeithere for all the lightw eight applications, bundlean d parcel wrap.pingfa r exampl e.

The su rg eo n 's v a r ia tio n . in c id e n ta lly .is the o n eto use when there's noo n earound 1 0 lend a Ih irdhand w h e nyou've g o t th eknot half- liedo n top o fs o m e b o x .

The Surgeon's Variation


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\

9TheFisher an'sKnot

As its nam e suggests, the fisherm an's knot isused Q uite frequently to join tog ether tw o piecesof fishing line-Io form a leader, for example.W ith cold or wet hands, it is far simpler 10 tieIhan the sheet bend. In larger m aterials it m akesa strong, clean and neat looking connection. Ihave used it in places where it will be both visi-b le a nd p erm an en t.

10

The Grass Bend

Another specialist. Tied in rope or cord this iscalled the whatnot and ranks near the bottom interm s of security. B ul in tlat sem i-flexible m ate-rial (seat belt w ebbing, leather belts, etc) itchanges its character entirely. It is, in fact, thebest, if not the only, useful knot for joining thisk in d o f h ard -to -k no t m ale ria l.


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11 The Trucker's Hitch

T he ' tru cke r's h itch is a ctu ally a co mb in ation01knots put together in order to get som e leverageo n th e tig hte nin g p ro ce ss.II is a super knot forc inch.ing downa load .. Properly lied,youcan gela line guitar-strlJm ming light w ith this hitch,

In order to practice this knolhere, start with abowline. Tie it behind Ihe boa rdpage and insert

hall of the resulting looplhrough the slot. Theother end of the cord com es through the holepunched in the board andis th re ad ed th ro ug h th eexposedpa.rt of the boW line loop. Follow the illustrauons for Ihe rem ainder of the process,nut-ing that the final slep is two half hitches.

12 The Constrictor Knot

C lifford A sh le y in ve nte d th is a rra nq em en t o f ro pe ,making it one of the very few knots with anIden-tillable source.II is a suprem ely goodknotfor"seizing"bundles 01 loose materia l. orto r clos-ing the necks0 1 bags. I've used it ina 1 0 1ofplaces as a substitute lor tape to bundle thingsup .. S im ple to H e,it will not work loose, possess-ing a ra tch et-like b ulldo g g rip .. A sa re su lto fihese fine Q ualities Ihough,irs besl untied withasharp knife .


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ProbablY most 'amiliaras the knot you use witha rubber band, the ringknot is the ultim ate inse cu rity w he n yo u're d ea l-ing w ith a closed loop,

b ut ii's also used occa sion-ally with a loose end,a s it is illustra ted h ere.

14

The Ring Knot

The Prusik Knot

T his is a clim be r'skno t, an d yo u'll prob a-bly never need it. Buton the other hand.ifyoure ever faced with avertical ro pe tha t yo uhave to clim b, the pru-sik could be a potentiallilesaver.

I S

Deceptively secureifyou tie it around aro ug h su rfa ce , th e tim -b er h itc h is c hild is hlyeas~ to t ie and n e v e r -la ilin gly sim ple toundo. It 's parlicu .larlya pp ro pria te if th e ro peis going to be under aco nsta nt stra in . O n th eother hand, don't use itwhen security is a highpriority. or w hen the di-rection of the pull islia ble to ju mp a ro un d.

S tart w ith tw o sh ortpieces of cord, ofsm a lle r d ia me te r th anth e ro pe yo u're in te nd -ing to clim b. These w illbe you r"tecthoids."M ake the two cords intotw o lo op s w ith sing le

second loop. II the cordyou've tied the prusik inh as a sm aller dia me terthan the rope you'll beclim bing on, you'll beable to slide this foot-hold up, step in it, andnot have to worry aboutit sliding back dow n.

sheet bends, as per theillu stra tio n. (O r, e ve nb eH er, u se th e d ou ble dvariation .) Take o ne o fthe loops and tie whatam ounts to a twice-thro ugh ring kno taro und the vertical rop e(see the illus trat ion).

U o the sam e with the

The Timber Hitch


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16

A ctu ally just an app lication of th e tim ber hitch,the killeg is designed for big m essy bu~dleso rodd shapes-a rock for example. or a duNel ofsom e kind. The killeg is the universal tie-on,ada ptable to m ost any shap e.

17 TheSheepShank

A knot designed1 0 solve the problem of too m uchrope, the sheepshank will take up slack and holdit, a s lo ng a s there 'sa s tra in on the ro pe .Whenth e job is over, you can shake it out with a cou-p le o f flip s.


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:IS The RoDing HitchA near cousin to thetaut I ne hitch, the ro ll-ing hitch is about thebesl knot lor staying putona pole when the pullon il Is t,englhwise, upor downwards. It's alsothe knot ofchoice w henyou're tying one. r opetothe middle 0 1another.

19 TheCoilNol reallya knot, but a way tokeep and arrangerope so it stays tangle-Iree. It's simp'le to form ,keeps the rope neat, and comes undone ina sec-ond when you needit.

Incidentally,. the key, once again, is pulling thew.hole Ihinysnuyal Ih e end'..


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20

The aepartm ent-slare-certltled system -a neat,no-slipcombinalion of knots.

Start witha bow line and w rap the corda r e u n dthe page asth e illustration indicates.O nthebacks .ide of I.hepage , c ross the cords as iUustrated. It'll keep everything from sliding off thecorners . Finishu p w ith the baslc tw o hall hitches.


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[II

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21 The Harness Loop

A.sim plelittle knot lor putting a loop in the m iddie 01 a rope when you can't use the ends. Ash.ley stales thai Ihe knot w as originally used in

h au ling fie ld a rtille ry in to p la ce . S oun ds e xc itin g.PersonalIy.I use ilthe m ost w hen lying thingsonlO Ihe lop 01 m y car, .

22 The Short End Sheet BendA su a-sa ee ialls t in th e fie ld o f b ro ke n sh oe la ce s,the short end sheet bend is the~knolto use w henone 01 the lace ends is so irritatingly short thatyou can barely get a hold 01 il.

The only real trick. to this is Ihelast slep, pullingit all together. You have to w ork ,it a bit slow lyhere, keeping an eye on w here the w ho[e th.i.ngiss up po se d 1 0 b e h ea .d in g. N ote , to o,Ihat Ih e fin alproduct is Ihe lam Hiar sheel benel-you've jusltaken an alte ma live ro ute in g etting Ih ere.


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S lo pp erk no ts a re n oth ing m ore than lumps inthe ro pe. d esig ned tom ark. a spot, or to keep

th e ro pe fro m s lip pin gthrough som e kind oftight spo t. The s implestis th e o ve rh an d k no t ..d .escribed on page2,but l u s t a bou t as sim -p le, and ea sier10 untiea fte r h av in g b ee n re allylig hte ne d. is th e F ig ure8 stepper,

The Figure 8 Stopper

24 The Incredible Magic Loop


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I

II '

II,I

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hen it comesto knot-tying,

are you missing

the boat?Don't just read this bookYou are holding in your han ds a fully illustrated step-by-steguide to the tying of the w orld 's 2 4 m ost useful knots.C arefully selected from a total of over 4,000,these are theA ll-S tars, the knots you need in the daily battle w ith the se

u nty in g sh oelace, the dirt-level clo th es lin e, th e p op -u p tru nklid and the rest of the m odern everyday forces of chaos.

.... ButThe Klutz B ook of Knotsis m ore than just aw ritten guide. It's also a tool, m eant to be used

as well as read. Each of the board pages isspecially die-cut so that the knots can bep ra ctice d d ire ctly n ex t to th eir illu stra tio nsIt is, in short, a book you can really getw rapped up in .

u.s. $10.95peel off

Can. $18.99ISBN 0-932592-10-4 UPC 7-30767-92104

KLUTZ~

(ebook - survival) the klutz book of knots

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