Know any good Knots?

I can still tie a bowlin in a flash. Also a clove hitch plus a few half hitches to pull a pipe out of the ground.
I think I could still end a rope in a turks head or an eye if I sat down and figured it for a while. I don't think I could tie a merchant's knot any more - where you can give the tail a pull and the whole load comes loose. I could tie a sheep's shank still. Why I'd ever need to I don't know. Tying knots is kind of getting to be a lost art maybe.
I think this would be a crowd where a few good knots get tied still.
By now I don't need to tell you this is OT.
Know any good knots?

I'm sure many people know this one, but here goes anyway (by the way this is great for tying down loads of hay):
1. Tie the rope off on one side, and run it over to where it is going to be tied off on the other side.
2. Make a figure 8 loop in the rope about 3 feet above where it is going to be tied off.
3. Run the end of the rope around a bar or something, and send it through the loop.
4. Pull down on the rope until it is tight, and then tie it off with a clove hitch
This series of knots will get the rope as tight a a ratchet strap!
Also, a retrieval is a really cool knot (but it is hard to explain):
1. Double the rope, so both ends are together.
2. Run it around a post (or something like that), so that the smooth end is a few inches past the post (and right beside the rest of the rope).
3. Next, take one line of rope and run it through the loop you have made, and in doing so, create another loop.
4. Now, when the second loop is made, run the other strand (not the one used on the previous loop) through the second loop to create a third.
5. Continue in this fashion till the pattern continues for a few inches.
This knot will allow you to pull on one end and keep it tight, and, whenever you are ready to untie, simply saw back and forth on the strands!

I hope to hear some more! SF

Funny you mention knots. My 88 year old Dad called me today and told me one of the clips on his American flag on the flag pole broke and the flag was just hanging from one and he wasn't happy about that. I went over and had to do a repair job that I had never done before. Since the rope is through a pulley on top of the pole, the rope is in a circle and if you tie the ends together it won't go through the pulley. So I had to repair it the same way it was put together (after cutting it loose to install a new clip), overlap the rope and wrap good old duct tape around it. Yea, pretty embarassing. The good part, I used my good Intertape brand tape made in the good old USA!

This really isn't a knot but it requires using a rope. You ever heard of a "Flying W"?

It's been awhile since I used it, but the zeppelin bend is a much better knot than the square knot for tying two lines together. It doesn't jam like a square knot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeppelin_bend

Back during my saltwater fishing days, I learned a bunch of knots for fishing tackle. I sure can't remember them now.

checkout http://www.animatedknots.com/ and remember "if you can't tie a knot, tie alot!"

I can tie, bowline, half hitch, munter, several types of figure eight, quick release, noose.
Lots of use on the farm and in search and rescue

willys53allis Posted a good link I didn't know what to call it but a friend showed me the "Cow Hitch"
(see his post) works well with a chain to pull small brush and tree stumps .

Used to know a guy by the name of Wil Knott.... always signed his name "Won't".

There's only two knots I consistently remember and that is the clove hitch and the taut line hitch. The second is one of my favorites, and has more than a few applications.

Kevin

When I was just big enough to reach the clutch on an 8N, they somehow broke the hay rope that was used to hoist the loose hay into the loft. I watched the OLD father of the neighbor splice the broken rope back together while the hay crew ate dinner. The splice had to go through the pulleys. The old man could hardly walk, but was a pretty valuable fellow that day.

I've used that same splice (no idea what the name is) for electrical pull ropes, making a never ending pull rope, kinda like a bicycle chain, that doesn't have to be pulled back each time. My neighbor worked on a riverboat and showed me how to make that splice and also eyes and ends. I think of him every time I use what he taught me. A good old neighbor, now long gone.

Paul

My dad said if I only learned two knots they should be bowline and truckers hitch. I've used the truckers hitch so many times I could tie it with both hands tied behind my back.

I tie a square not - Every morning on my shoes.

Having spent four years in the Navy and 27 yr as a fireman,..I used alot of different knots. The bowline is one of the most used however, lots of other knots were used for quick securing of objects. Half hitches,clove hitches,cats claw,sheepshank,etc. We used alot of different knots for hoisting equipment like saws,pike poles,axes up to roof tops. I can still tie a bowline one handed and if you double a bowline you have a rescue harness.

I"m "afraid not."
Ahem.

Figure 8 for lifelines, Water knot for mending lines

Oxbow. When you show kids how to tie it, their eyes get REAL big.

Since you are headed that way I suggest Wye Knot?

That is the actual name of a bar in Niota, IL. I have never been in there, but have been past it many times.

It is probably getting close to going under water (literally) right about now as it is in the Mississippi River flood plain. DOUG