[TowerTalk] Need a Knot Expert

[jimlux]

On 11/27/19 10:35 AM, Richard (Rick) Karlquist wrote:
> On 11/27/2019 7:44 AM, jimlux wrote:
> 
>> Or a figure 8 on a doubled rope.
>>
> 
> I am NOT a knot expert.
> 
> That is why I can highly recommend the figure 8
> knot in general, and specifically here
> with a doubled rope, and specifically
> with 3/16 inch dacron rope.  I have
> tied hundreds of these.  I use the
> figure 8 for everything.  I don't need
> to be an expert to tie it.

Exactly..

> 
> I could never learn to correctly tie
> a bowline.  The mnemonic such as the
> rabbit comes out of the hole, goes
> around the tree, and goes into the
> hole doesn't uniquely describe a
> bow line. 

And, worst of all, you might meet your demise at the jaws of a big fish 
named Bruce.


  The figure 8 is completely
> fool proof, doesn't untie itself, yet I
> can always get it untied.
> 
> It is easy to double up the rope and tie
> a figure 8 with a loop as the original
> post asked.  But what if the loop has to
> good around a tower leg, etc?  You can't
> just tie the loop and drop it over the
> tower leg since the bracing gets in the
> way.  However, if you are clever, you
> still tie the loop around the leg and the
> end result looks just like you had
> dropped it over the leg.  Too complicated
> to explain here how to actually do it.


Make a loose single figure 8 with a long free end.
Take the end of the free end and follow the rope back through the figure 8.

As a check, take a doubled rope and tie a figure8 (to make a loop). 
Check if it looks right.

That is the huge virtue of the figure 8 - It has a specific, simple 
look, and if you're unsure, you can untie and retie. And, it has a shape 
that is easy to feel in the dark.

Between the figure 8 and a variety of half hitches (some with multiple 
turns), you can do just about anything you need.



> 
> 
> Rick N6RK
> 
>