It's all about the Rope...

[Torch]

Great example of a flashy knot, Hud3.

[toddedger]

After watching the movie Jaws it became apparent that I wasn't a seaman until I learned how to tie a "sheepshank". Never did figure out how long though.

[SkiprJohn]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

To each his own terminology, but for many, a rope becomes a line (or a sheet, or a halyard, etc.) once it is in use, not when it goes on board.

There goes another 50 years of tradition. Learned that when rope goes aboard a boat or in my case ship it becomes line when I was 18 aboard a Navy Destroyer. If I continued using the term rope I'd get a cuff on the ear so I became careful when I used the term "rope" which referred only to stranded wire.

"To each his own terminology" did not apply in the Old Navy.

Some lessons are hard to unlearn.

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by GILow

That looks a lot like what I have always called a truckie's hitch, and dad was a truckie, so I am comfortable with it.

The sheepshank gives two loops, one of which I use as a pulley to cinch down the load.

MAtt

As stated before the only place I have ever seen a full sheepshank ( as shown at E) used is for grablines on lifeboats... not the poncey loops around the gunwhale but ones that went under the boat from port to starboard ( or v/v ) and supposedly used to assist in righting an upturned boat....

For a truckies hitch I simply do what is shown at B..... but with that loop at the left a lot smaller.... the end shown lower right goes around the rail or whatever and back through loop at left and then back down to rail and hauled tight.

I live with just a handful of knots but the 'Boys Own Book of Knots ' would be a very slim volume indeed if that was all they described.
Does anybody else use buntline hitches?

[savoir]

Originally Posted by MoxieGirl

All opinions are correct.
All opinions are equally wrong.
And that's my honest opinion.

Honest opinions are no good around here. Have you thought of a career in politics ?

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by SkiprJohn

There goes another 50 years of tradition. Learned that when rope goes aboard a boat or in my case ship it becomes line when I was 18 aboard a Navy Destroyer. If I continued using the term rope I'd get a cuff on the ear so I became careful when I used the term "rope" which referred only to stranded wire.

"To each his own terminology" did not apply in the Old Navy.

Some lessons are hard to unlearn.

Well, no one is asking you to unlearn anything! If you were really taught that in the Navy, then of course, that's a great reason to use the terms that way.

I would be really surprised if the U.S. Navy refers to a coil of rope in a locker as a "line", but if you say so, I'll take your word for it, as I surely did not serve in the U.S. Navy. In the Royal Navy, at least, a coil of rope in a locker would definitely not be called a "line".

But I think in general, the aversion to the use of the word "rope" seems to be more of an American thing. Here is what young sailors are taught in the UK: http://www.sccheadquarters.com/Data/...20Ropework.pdf. You can see that the word "rope" is used everywhere except when talking about a very specific function of the cordage. So although I wouldn't say "haul on that rope there"; the Sea Cadets clearly would.

So I say again -- to each his own terminology in this particular case. It varies from community to community.

[poiu]

Originally Posted by Stumble

Everything else is optional, a bowline should be able to be tied hanging upside down..snip..

The knot books and online guides don't tell you that and it's true. The consequence is crew can often only do a bowline one way. Give a lot of people the rope upside down or where they can't reorientate it the way they know and they get stuck. When you have to be made fast quickly there may not be enough time to work it out. (You can be presented with the bight in the left or right hand and the standing part running to you or away from you).

I have tried to show people how to do it using the method that works for me but it is no good as everyone looses attention or forgets. The rabbit/tree thing also fails. (Which one is the tree and which way does bugs' hop around)?

Has anyone seen a good way to teach this knot, universal for the 4 different orientations it comes in?

[poiu]

Need to know: bowline - all orientations, clove hitch, half hitch, rolling hitch, figure of 8 inc threaded, cleat hitch.

Nice to know: alpine butterfly, trucker's hitch, sheet bend, double fisherman's etc.

[Scott Berg]

Five (5) pages and no mention of the Buntline Hitch?!
Stronger than a bowline and the favorite knot of Rod Stephens... Great for halyards...

http://bwsailing.com/cc/2013/03/20/t...ot-in-seconds/

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Scott Berg

Five (5) pages and no mention of the Buntline Hitch?!
Stronger than a bowline and the favorite knot of Rod Stephens... Great for halyards...

Tie This Super Sailing Knot in Seconds | Cruising Compass

Great knots, but once loaded up they are bloody hard to untie.

Jim

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by Scott Berg

Five (5) pages and no mention of the Buntline Hitch?!

Ahem.... refer to #64.

Re the line v rope debate. Every bit of cordage in my focsle is 'rope'.... when it leaves the focsle it becomes either 'line' as in headline, sternline, breast line, possibly even a spring, or a 'halyard' or a 'sheet' or a 'painter' or whatever.

[StuM]

> Great knots, but once loaded up they are bloody hard to untie.

Yep, liable to jam and also cannot be tied under load the way a number of other hitches can.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by HappyMdRSailor

I've found that practicing one of these in the cockpit will keep a crew in line...

The hangmans noose was traditionally tied with 13 wraps...for good luck. ;-) I once taught a friend's wife and daughter to sail...the knot they most wanted to learn was the hangman's noose...I think they had a plan.

Re the others. As posted you only use about half a dozen knots (and hitches) on a regular basis. Here are some of the most common for the OP.

Bowline
Stopper Knot (there are several variations. Good old figure 8 being one of the most common)
Clove Hitch
Square Knot

You can rig all the running rigging on a small sloop rig, and tie reef points, and secure fender whips, with just the knots above.

A few more I use regularly.

Round Turn and 2 Half Hitches
Truckers Hitch
Rolling Hitch
Prusick Hitch

Animated knots as posted is a very well done site. If you really want to go OCD on knots then get "Ashley's Book of Knots". Over 3,000 knots as I recall.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by StuM

> does it matter if a knot is sloppy and difficult to untie

Yes - some knots can jam so tight that you can't undo then without damaging the fibres. Whether a knot is "jamming" or "non-jamming" is critical in selecting the appropriate one for a given situation.

Yes Moxie it matters much. Always use standard knots and hitches. When on the foredeck in the dark, howling wind, and driving rain, and limited time to make something right then it is very important to be able to work knots and hitches by mostly physicsal memory...if some yahoo tied a mongolian-cluster-f-knot to something then you've got a time wasting and safety decreasing problem.

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

.... Here are some of the most common for the OP.

Bowline
Stopper Knot (there are several variations. Good old figure 8 being one of the most common)
Clove Hitch
Square Knot

You can rig all the running rigging on a small sloop rig, and tie reef points, and secure fender whips, with just the knots above.

A few more I use regularly.

Round Turn and 2 Half Hitches
Truckers Hitch
Rolling Hitch
Prusick Hitch

Surely you would tie your reef points in with a reef knot?
i don't know why everyone includes the clove hitch... half the time that its used at sea it needs to be made secure with a half hitch any way so why not just stick to the round turn and two half hitches ?

You have a nice concise list of knots and hitches but no bends... how are you going to join two warps or shore lines without a bend... preferably a sheet bend which as stated before is just a bowline stood on its head and tied in two discrete bits of rope.