[TowerTalk] Knot tying

[W7TMT]

Doug et al,

As you noted the Prusik is another excellent choice. It should easily meet
most amateur mast lifting requirements and is actually a bit easier to tie
than the Icicle Hitch. (The Icicle Hitch is the extreme - no fail option.)
The Rolling Half-hitch is also used a lot on the waterfront. The Prusik is
used a mostly in the rock and mountain climbing arena (as you no doubt
discovered in your research) but is usually tied against another line rather
than a hard slick object like a mast/pipe. 

As a sailor (both recreational and commercial) over four+ decades I've come
to understand that knots are important. On more than one occasion I was
faced with simply selecting the one (and I only had one chance to get it
right) that either my or my shipmates life would depend on. Given a little
thought that scenario changes everything. (The same rationale should apply
in amateur tower work but of course until the errors show up on the front
page of some local newspaper and then eventually on the reflectors few make
that connection.) I am not (knot) some walking encyclopedia of knots. In
fact as I was just thinking about this I realized that my repertoire is
perhaps limited to maybe a dozen different knots that I use regularly and
most of those I would (or have bet) my life on. Each and every one of those
are etched in my memory because they work each and every time without fail
if applied in the right circumstances. The folks that are advocating a
"couple of half hitches have always worked for me" and then a "clamp"
(whatever that means) to keep it from slipping are saying in essence "I
don't want to do it right". Sorry, but the requirement for the clamp would
be eliminated if they used the correct knot/hitch in the first place. 

Thanks for your well worded and carefully considered response. As often is
the case I hope that readers might look past the "old school" half hitch
approach and realize that with 10 minutes of practice they can actually do
it right. Whether we want to admit it or not we do make life defining
decisions every time we work with this stuff. Accidents and tragedies do
happen. To think that one occurred because of a misplaced half hitch seems
unconscionable to me. But that's just me.

"One hand for the ship and one for yourself". (That by the way, is the very
best reason to learn how to tie a "one-handed bowline" - the bowline being
the single best knot that one can stake his or her life on and yes, it can
be tied with one hand.)

Of course if everything else fails then "tangle it until it jams". That
always works.

With all due respect... fair winds, calm seas, and bountiful sunspots for
all.

73/Patrick
W7TMT
 

 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com 
> [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Doug Grant
> Sent: Monday, December 29, 2008 6:01 PM
> To: towertalk at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Knot tying
> 
> K7LXC said:
> 
> >    Ah, amateurs vs. knots. Unfortunately most hams  don't 
> know any knots.
> 
> Sad but true. Most of the time, a bowline and a couple of 
> end-to-end rope-splicing knots will go a long way for most 
> ham antenna work. Good knots are easy to tie, stay tied when 
> you want them to, and easy to untie when you're done with them.
> 
> >    The knot I would use is a clove hitch. It's  pretty simple and 
> > self-tightening. It's in any knot book or website.
> 
> Yeah, but one of the Web pages that the "icicle hitch" 
> Wikipedia entry led me to showed several vastly superior 
> knots for this purpose, such as the Prusik knot:
> 
> http://www.animatedknots.com/prusik/      and here:
> 
> http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/prusik.htm
> 
> Incidentally, if you look at the entry for the clove hitch on 
> the animatedknots page, it says:
> 
> "In many situations if you feel an urge to use a clove hitch - resist!
> Choose something else"
> 
> I would consider that a "Prime Directive".
> 
> It really is not a good choice for lifting a mast. The pull 
> when lifting a mast is in the wrong direction to make a clove 
> hitch self-tighten. I've used it successfully for lifting a 
> boom that is parallel to the ground, though. However, these 
> new knots that this thread (no pun intended) has turned up 
> look lots better, and I expect to use them from now on.
> 
> >    But the even simpler solution is to use nylon  slings. I always 
> > carry 6-8 of them when I'm doing tower work and sometimes I 
>  use all 
> > of them. They are 1" nylon webbing that's sewn together 
> giving you an  endless loop 12-18" long.
> 
> Turns out I saw (on a page that I unfortunately didn't 
> bookmark) a Prusik knot made with a nylon sling - basically a 
> choker with the free end looped through 3 or 4 times. The 
> pull on the mast DOES tighten such a knot. I have seen 
> another well-known tower climber/installer use it without 
> calling it by name. The free loop can take a carabiner and 
> you're good to go.
> 
> >    And I recommend putting a muffler clamp above the  rope 
> to act as a 
> > stopper in case the rope slips.
> 
> This is a good idea.
> 
> >    Installing big, long heavy masts does  produce a 
> good-sized pucker 
> > factor.
> 
> Very true!
> 
> > Be careful in any case.
> 
> The Ultimate Prime Directive!
> 
> 73 and Happy New Year to all,
> 
> Doug K1DG
> _______________________________________________