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Knot tying books

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OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/18/2011 : 15:57:32

Just ordered the Samson Splicing Manual . . .

Any favorite knot tying books you would recommend?

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NautiC25
Admiral

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USA
957 Posts

Response Posted - 04/18/2011 : 16:31:39

Now there's something I need to learn. Can't wait to hear the responses.

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OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
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Response Posted - 04/18/2011 : 16:36:46

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by NautiC25
 . . . Now there's something I need to learn . . .
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"> . . . and it's something I forget more quickly than anything else!

Edited by - on

NautiC25
Admiral

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USA
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Response Posted - 04/18/2011 : 16:43:06

I tend to use knots all the time at home. And it's always the stupid simple cross thing over and over and over..... I'd love to learn something cool.

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OJ
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USA
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Response Posted - 04/18/2011 : 16:46:48

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by NautiC25
 . . . I'd love to learn something cool . . .
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Splicing can be fun, even a little rewarding - not to mention useful. I'm going to splice braided line on the new traveler controls.

Edited by - OJ on 04/18/2011 16:55:00

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/18/2011 : 16:50:00

I picked up the Handbook of Knots by [url="http://www.despawson.com/index.html"]Des Pawson[/url] almost ten years ago. It's a pretty good and well illustrated. Right now it's sitting on my computer at work along with a short length of rope. Every once in awhile I'll practice a knot or two. The art of marlinspike has fascinated me since my Navy days, especially the decorative canvas work made from unraveling the canvas threads then tying knots in macrame type patterns.

Edited by - dlucier on 04/18/2011 16:51:28

NautiC25
Admiral

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USA
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Response Posted - 04/18/2011 : 17:00:33

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by OJ
 <blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by NautiC25
 . . . I'd love to learn something cool . . .
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Splicing can be fun, even a little rewarding - not to mention useful. I'm going to splice braided line on the new traveler controls.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Splicing? I'm still on step one.

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/18/2011 : 17:18:16

I'll tell you what, I use the crap out of the simple bowline. I even use this knot for stoppers by working the loop out. Easy to untie is a plus in my book.

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jerlim
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1484 Posts

Response Posted - 04/18/2011 : 17:50:21

The Ashley Book of Knots...Clifford W. Ashley
EVERY PRACTICAL KNOT - WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE, WHO USES IT, WHERE IT COMES FROM, AND HOW TO USE IT...

Edited by - jerlim on 04/18/2011 17:55:23

Stinkpotter
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Djibouti
9082 Posts

Response Posted - 04/18/2011 : 18:25:12

Maybe even better, check out [url="http://www.animatedknots.com/knotlist.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com"]this[/url].

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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5408 Posts

Response Posted - 04/18/2011 : 18:57:18

I too love the Ashley Book of Knots - it has every knot you'd ever need, and whole lot more you'd never need.

It does serve as THE reference book for almost every other book on knots. BUT . . . its poorly organized, and the sketches are pretty rough - useability is not ideal.

Nonetheless, it is the authority when it comes to all things knots.

My favorite misconception about the book is that Mr. Ashley looked like the old burly sailor adorning the cover of the book - which could not be further from the truth. In fact, he looks a lot like Cary Grant or Clark Gable in his "black tie" formal, as his actual photo is on the inside back dust jacket cover.

The two more modern books I use for reference are:
1. "The Morrow Guide to Knots: for Sailing, Fishing, Camping, Climbing" by Mario Bigon, Guido Regazzoni, Kennie Lyman and Maria Piotrowska;
and
2. "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Knots" by Geoffrey Budworth

I also like the website http://www.animatedknots.com/ It shows you how to tie a lot of knots. [edit] Dave you beat me to it!

I also find knots in all kinds of books, and invariably, they all reference Ashley's book of knots.

Last bit of advice: there are about 6-10 of the most frequently used knots. Try them and learn them -- it is a wonderful investment of your time:

At the minimum, try the square knot, sheet bend, bowline (BO-lun), clove hitch, figure 8-stopper knot, blood knot, cleat hitch, fisherman's knot (good for tarp), rolling hitch on a line, a half hitch on a rail, the constrictor knot to tie a cloth bag, the thief's knot (reverse square knot), the carrick bend to tie two lines together, and the icicle hitch. A monkey's fist is handy for tossing a line to the dock or another boat, and a Turk's head is quite decorative on a twisted dock line.

Have fun, learn and practice. Learn to tie knots without watching, especially the bowline and square knots.

Edited by - Voyager on 04/18/2011 19:02:44

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 04/18/2011 : 22:48:33

I still have my "Ashley" my parents gave me when I was about 15. I agree that it's poorly organized, and his descriptions are hard to follow, and I never could learn to tie a monkey's fist from his description, but now I can tie one in about 40 seconds (that's not drawing it up tight, just the basic knot). It's still "the" book to have as a reference, I wouldn't ever let mine go. Probably the single most useful knot I learned from that book was the constrictor knot. I use it all the time for various things. I've also tied some turk's heads out of his book, but those are some of his more confusing drawings (unless you get into the macramé chapters).

One of my favorite books is [url="http://www.amazon.com/Directory-Knots-John-Shaw/dp/0785816291"]John Shaw's Directory of Knots[/url]. It's full of practical, whimsical, and fun knots. Some are easy to tie, some not so much, but they all have a story and what they're used for. I gave a copy to one of my nieces who expressed an interest in macramé and knotting in general. I've also taught kids how to make dream catchers (far easier than you might imagine).

I don't remember where I learned to do three strand splices, might have actually been in the USN, but I was a rock climber a long time before that. That's where I learned to tie figure eight follow through's, bowlines, prussics, dolfer-sitz (something I don't wish to ever experience again), and star knots for webbing. I've since learned how to do eye splices in braided line as well, which is quite satisfying, if a lot more complicated. I've made up a number of them for lines on SL.

I'm working on one of these for a step down into the cabin in 1/2" black line:

.
This one is made from 1/8" braided nylon, so it's only a bit wider than your hand. These take a long time to tie, and I have to use a pin board to do it to keep everything straight. I made a bunch of trivets out of these one year for xmas out of 1/4" line. Made a nice pot sized trivet. Wish I had one of them, but I guess I can just make another one, I still have the pin board with the tying instructions.

Rita has some interest in knotting, but mostly from a practical point of view, so we keep contrasting bits of line around and I school her on bowlines mostly. If that's the only knot she ever learns, I'll be happy. She's fascinated by monkey's fists, but not enough to learn how to make one, she just likes the way they look. We have one I made up to bend onto a heaving line if we need it. I back spliced it so it looks like it's a single piece of line all the way through. Mostly just to show off. I've made others for friends for garage door pulls, knobs for canes, etc.

Edited by - on

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 04/19/2011 : 06:07:38

There's an app for that...

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Prospector
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
3159 Posts

Response Posted - 04/19/2011 : 09:49:10

David, Don casey suggests those as pads under blocks to preven marring the deck of the boat...

We picked up a deck of these: http://www.knotplayingcards.com/ or http://www.rei.com/product/687139 at our local Girl Guide Store. (SWMBO is a guider) and they are pretty decent as both playing cards, and for the knots you can learn from them. Buy a deck and toss it in your ditty bag for a rainy day. When Euchre gets boring, you can switch to knot tying.

I also have an old Sea Cadet manual that goes into pretty good detail on simple knots and then goes into more advanced stuff like load handling, strops, splicing, whipping, rigging shears, rigging gins, rigging derrecks, etc. Here is a link to the British Cadets knots - a pretty good handle on all the basic knots you'll need: http://www.igkt.net/beginners/sea-cadet-knots.php

The clove hitch is great for fenders incidentally. A clove hitch around a lifeline will hold them in place as you approach dock, but allow for quick and easy adjustment, then you can put a couple half hitches on them once you are tied off to hold them in place.

Edited by - Prospector on 04/19/2011 09:53:52

piseas
Former Treasurer

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USA
2017 Posts

Response Posted - 04/19/2011 : 13:22:13

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Stinkpotter
 Maybe even better, check out [url="http://www.animatedknots.com/knotlist.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com"]this[/url].
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Dave, Love animated knots and there is a link to our Association. Its one to support.
Steve A

Edited by - on

Peregrine
Admiral

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830 Posts

Response Posted - 04/19/2011 : 15:17:35

Three knots every sailor needs are the clove hitch, the rolling hitch and the bowline.
But if you are looking for decorative knots try "Tying it All Together" on You Tube.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TyingItAllTogether
I use the "Solomon" or "cobra" bar for lanyards, shackle pulls and bracelets, and have wrapped my tiller with a "Turks Head" a "Rope Wrap" and another "Turks Head" for a classic look.
His videos are clear, slow and easy to follow.
He does have a book but the videos are teriffic.

Edited by - on

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5408 Posts

Response Posted - 04/19/2011 : 17:42:07

I like the fisherman's bend to hold down my tarps - this will even hold polypropylene line snugly:
http://www.2020site.org/knots/fishermensbend.html
It remains snug forever, however you need a fid sometimes to untie the knot.

Give a look-see at this Australian site where they demonstrate the trucker's hitch.
The trucker's hitch is very useful when you need to tighten down a load on your roof rack, or want to tighten up a bundle of sticks or tent poles for storage:
http://www.holidaysallover.com/travel_about_aus/articles/lines_ropes_splicing.html

Edited by - on

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 04/20/2011 : 06:31:30

That animated guide rocks.. and its an app...

Edited by - redeye on 04/20/2011 08:27:42

JohnP
Master Marine Consultant

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1520 Posts

Response Posted - 04/20/2011 : 10:00:00

The animated online knot tying guides beat the books hands-down, unless you're on your boat without a computer!

I like to put a bowline-on-a-bight near the bitter end of my anchor rode as a simple bridle to use both bow cleats for anchoring.

It seems most boaters use lots of wraps of dock line on their cleats, instead of the simple clove hitch tied just once!

Using the right knot is really fun!

Edited by - JohnP on 04/20/2011 10:18:05

Stinkpotter
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Djibouti
9082 Posts

Response Posted - 04/20/2011 : 10:58:37

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by JohnP
 ...It seems most boaters use lots of wraps of dock line on their cleats, instead of the simple clove hitch tied just once!<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">I agree, although an important component is making a 3/4 turn around the base of the cleat before doing the hitch. That makes the hitch much easier to release.

The animation site suggests no clove-style locking turn for a dock-line on a cleat--just three or more crossing turns on top of each other so there's nothing to make releasing difficult. You can read a discussion there... For the lines I leave on my dock, I use the simple clove, which is essentially what they show for a halyard.

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 04/20/2011 10:59:19

JohnP
Master Marine Consultant

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Response Posted - 04/20/2011 : 11:45:16

Using the small diameter line shown in the online guide, I'd be worried about a simple clove hitch on that big cleat they show. However, in my experience, with 1/2" docking line on a C-25 deck cleat, a turn then a clove hitch alone holds well and is easy to untie.

[url="http://captnmike.com/2011/02/27/is-this-your-cleat/"]This web page [/url]describes some sensible options for small line on a big cleat.

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Dave5041
Former Mainsheet Editor

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USA
3758 Posts

Response Posted - 04/21/2011 : 09:15:55

Technically a cleat hitch: a full turn (many of us would think of that as a 3/4 turn) plus what amounts to a clove hitch. While I like and use a variety of knots, the square knot, half hitch (the clove hitch is really just two opposing half hitches), figure eight, bowline, and the rolling hitch cover almost everything you will ever need to do

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Stinkpotter
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Djibouti
9082 Posts

Response Posted - 04/21/2011 : 11:46:34

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Dave5041
 ...the square knot, half hitch (the clove hitch is really just two opposing half hitches), figure eight, bowline, and the rolling hitch cover almost everything you will ever need to do.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">...except making trivets.

I like the icicle hitch for a dockline around a piling... and then there's the "all-purpose, quick release seaman's hitch"--I've been using it since about age four.

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