Rope & Knots

You can do a lot with rope. If you have a mechanical problem in the garden or your house, I'm pretty sure rope can handle the strain of the problem.

I think it's good to know how to work with rope. I think Urban Homesteaders should know how to work with rope, specifically.

Knots categorise pretty readily. There are bends, loops and hitches.

• bend: to join two ropes together.
  
• loop: well that's obvious.
  
• hitch: to attach a rope to an object, usually a post or a ring.
  

There are thousands of different knots. They've evolved over roughly a squillion years. Some have more than one name. Some are called knots when they really should be called hitches, that kind of thing. If you come across a knot that has more than one name, just remember the one that you prefer.

There are plenty of beautiful dorks out there who know hundreds of knots. I know enough to give me options. Here is a list of good knots to know:

HITCHES
• round turn and two half hitches
  
• clove hitch
  
• fisherman's bend/anchor hitch
  
• rolling hitch
  
• buntline hitch
  
• constrictor knot
  
• timber hitch
  
• cow hitch
  
• pedigree cow hitch
  
• prusik knot
  
• marlinespike hitch
  
• tautline hitch (ABOK #1855)
  
• klemheist knot
  
• stunsail halyard hitch
  
• draw hitch
  
• magnus hitch
  
• lighterman's hitch
  
• picket-line hitch
  
• gripping sailor's hitch
  
• icicle hitch (the CORRECT version)
  
• Siberian hitch (fast method)
  

LOOPS
• bowline
  
• bowline on a bight
  
• man harness knot/artillery loop
  
• figure of eight loop
  
• angler's loop
  
• french bowline
  
• double dragon
  
• lineman's loop/alpine butterfly loop (ABOK #1053)
  
• double splayed loop in the bight (ABOK #1100)
  

BENDS
• reef knot
  
• surgeon's knot
  
• sheet bend
  
• double sheet bend
  
• Carrick bend
  
• alpine butterfly bend
  
• fisherman's knot/Englishman's knot
  
• Zeppelin bend
  
• Hunter's bend
  

LASHINGS
• trucker's hitch
  
• Japanese square lashing (links to .pdf)
  
• Gleipner Knot (awesome new knot)
  

You might want to learn all of these. You might only want to learn one from each category. But I would recommend trying a few from each category to get the idea. As well as the decorative knots, there are fishing knots, lashings and bindings, whippings and splicings. If you're looking for areas to apply what you learn then check out climbing sports, martial arts, survivalist stuff and shibari. I would recommend a couple of books. Knot Know-How is one of the better books that got me started fast. It doesn't bog you down and it will teach you the basics very quickly. On the other hand, if you want to know almost everything about knots, their history and applications, then you want to get your hands on a tome called Ashley's Book of Knots. This is an encyclopedia of knots with historical info. It's an awesome book to browse through and open in random places. You can get that on Amazon too, but if you'd rather spend that $50 on food or weed (very wise), then there is a torrent file of the book online so you can read it for free.

If you know absolutely nothing about knots, start at the top of any list and work your way down. The ones at the beginning of the lists are the easiest. But to be honest, most of these are easy. If they weren't, I wouldn't remember them.