How to tie a Diamond Knot

[Seaworthy Lass]

Many people are put off making soft shackles simply because they think a Diamond knot is complex to tie.

It is not .

The trick is simply to learn to tie a Carrick bend first. Do this over and over with the intial loop made all 4 different ways until you are super comfortable with it. There are no short cuts when it comes to engraining any knot in your muscle memory.

TIPS:
- When you are learning to tie new knots it often helps to use two different colours for the two strands.
- To tie the Carrick correctly the tails need to finish diagonally opposite each other.
- When tying a Carrick for a Diamond, the initial loop the tail lies below the loop, not on top of it.
- Remember the tails continuously wind anticlockwise when tying a Diamond (if you start the initial loop as indicated).

This is how a Carrick bend is tied at the start of a Diamond knot:

Step 1. Hold the standing legs between your fingers like this (in the case of a soft shackle, the taped legs this will lie just below this). Create the first loop exactly the way shown. You don't touch this strand again to make the Carrick itself:

[Seaworthy Lass]

Step 2. Lay the other tail (red) below the initial loop (blue) exactly in this manner. This allows you to easily weave the Carrick correctly. Note how the tails are winding anticlockwise:

[Seaworthy Lass]

Step 3. Weave this second tail (red) anticlockwise over and under every part of the first tail (blue) that is encountered until a Carrick is formed. See how the tails come out diagonally opposite each other:

[Seaworthy Lass]

Step 4. Create a Diamond knot simply by winding each tail anticlockwise until is passes around the adjacent standing leg (the red cord goes around the blue standing leg and blue around the red one), then bring it up through the centre of the Carrick.

It doesn't matter what order you do this in:

[sea-bee]

Any tips for getting it tight by hand, without the 4x4 and vice options that are offered elsewhere? I've tried a few and find they are difficult to remove all the slack.

Chris

[Seaworthy Lass]

Step 5. The last thing to do is tighten it all up. Tug gently on both tails at first. Then start at one standing leg (next to the tape if you are making a soft shackle) and work your way around tightening up the strand neatly bit by bit.
Repeat with the other leg.

This is how it ends up looking:

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by sea-bee

Any tips for getting it tight by hand, without the 4x4 and vice options that are offered elsewhere? I've tried a few and find they are difficult to remove all the slack.

Chris

Yes .

I tighten it all up lightly by hand first, starting at one of the standing ends at the base, right next to the tape marking the top of the twin legs of the soft shackle. Work all the way around carefully, not randomly. Repeat with the other standing portion next to the tape.

You then need a marlingspike or awl (or strong metal knitting needle). Repeat the above procedure, poking the marlingspike under each bit you tightened before by lifting it up with your fingers. Again, work systematically around.
Don't initailly tug too hard as you will pull the strand out of the tape, from then on though, pull with all your might.

I find if I do this carefully and I am only using 5mm line, the knot barely shifts when then further tightened in a vice. If you are stronger, then this should work quite well for 6mm dyneema as well. 8mm needs to be pulled against something.

[UNCIVILIZED]

SWL, have you throught about starting a self help group for splicers? Sorry, couldn't resist
Thanks for sharing this.

When it comes to tightening things, what's your opinion as to using de-cored line to make an "enhanced" Prusik Knot around the long portion of the cordage, in lieu of a vise, & a marlin spike to tension the "legs" of the knot. And when I say enhanced Prusik Knot, what I mean is one which has an extra turn or two around the bit to be gripped, prior to cinching the knot down. Or doing something similar with an Icicle Hitch, or Rolling Hitch.

As I've done similar things to pull round, galvanized fence posts out of the ground, using either line jacket, or chain, & a fork lift. So properly done, such knots exert quite a bit of grip. I'm just not sure if Spectra would be too slippery for this or no ???

Although I suppose that in lieu of a vise, with the aid of an assistant, one could perhaps park a car tire on top of things instead? Then again, maybe not, my brain's yet to receive it's morning dose of caffeine. So I may be thinking crosseyed

Also, when it’s time to make a bunch of soft shackles, like say, enough for 2-3 jibs, as hanks. Do you construct them “assembly line” style at all, & if so how? Meaning doing only step X to each one, until you’ve done said procedure to them all. And then doing step Y… etcetera, etc.
Basically I’m wondering what the quickest & easiest way to make a bunch of them is.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by sea-bee

Any tips for getting it tight by hand, without the 4x4 and vice options that are offered elsewhere? I've tried a few and find they are difficult to remove all the slack.

Chris

I work each leg though by hand first then choke the shackle round something strong and use mole grips on the tails, clamp the mole grips onto one tail about halfway up the jaws then wrap the rest of the tail around the jaws then use that as a sort of tee bar so you can get a good grip to give it a really good pull. Then usually attach the shackle between a couple of winches with some line and crank it right up.

[Dockhead]

This is encouraging and I'll give it another try. I was totally flummoxed by this knot when I tried it last year.

Meanwhile I used Evans Starzinger's un-knot for my last batch of shackles, which involves simply repeatedly capsized brummel eyes instead of a knot, and this has worked superbly well.

So while I think the diamond knot is more elegant -- and I intend to give this another try -- people shouldn't think that this is the only way to make a soft shackle. I have a number of soft shackles in extremely hard service carrying many tons of load for thousands of miles -- which are performing beautifully with no signs of wear or stress.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

This is encouraging and I'll give it another try. I was totally flummoxed by this knot when I tried it last year.

Meanwhile I used Evans Starzinger's un-knot for my last batch of shackles, which involves simply repeatedly capsized brummel eyes instead of a knot, and this has worked superbly well.

So while I think the diamond knot is more elegant -- and I intend to give this another try -- people shouldn't think that this is the only way to make a soft shackle. I have a number of soft shackles in extremely hard service carrying many tons of load for thousands of miles -- which are performing beautifully with no signs of wear or stress.

I'll have to look up that "unknot", sounds interesting. And when it comes to soft shackle options, if somethings going to be in place for a long time, I "cheat", & either use strops or lashings. Both of which, like soft shackles are usually reusable, as well as being KISS. And take rediculously high loads with zero problems.

[conachair]

Not to easiest of knots but not that tricky with some practice, I keep this image in evernote for reference which is basically steps 1 to 4 then each tail goes "Under everything anticlockwise round the nearest leg then up through the square hole"

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED

SWL, have you throught about starting a self help group for splicers? Sorry, couldn't resist

Yes, Knotaholics Anonymous .

I am posting these instructions by specific request though (at least that's my excuse ).

Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED

When it comes to tightening things, what's your opinion as to using de-cored line to make an "enhanced" Prusik Knot around the long portion of the cordage, in lieu of a vise, & a marlin spike to tension the "legs" of the knot. And when I say enhanced Prusik Knot, what I mean is one which has an extra turn or two around the bit to be gripped, prior to cinching the knot down. Or doing something similar with an Icicle Hitch, or Rolling Hitch.

I don't think you need this, as you have a noose at the end that could just be looped around something if you wish to pull on the tails using pliers or vice grips. You could insert a soft shackle through the noose to attach it to something strong, such as security bars on a balcony. Pulling on the tails individually with vice grips using all your body weight is an excellent way of tightening up the knot. It does need the marlingspike treatment first though, as pulling on the tails will not tighten the whole structure. It will post a photo in a moment of how I am currently improvising tightening at the standing legs end without a vice.

Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED

Also, when it’s time to make a bunch of soft shackles, like say, enough for 2-3 jibs, as hanks. Do you construct them “assembly line” style at all, & if so how? Meaning doing only step X to each one, until you’ve done said procedure to them all. And then doing step Y… etcetera, etc.
Basically I’m wondering what the quickest & easiest way to make a bunch of them is.

I usually make them in batches of about half a dozen, but I make one first, as I often decide after the first I want to modify things a bit. This also shows me exactly how much line I need.

The rest I do assemply style: cut all, make a noose (and generally a small amount of bury below this) in all, tape the required length, then tie all the knots, then tighten them all up, first by hand, then between winches. I am usually making high strength ones using Brion Toss's Button stopper, so the tails then need to be buried.

Sometimes they are not all the same length, but I still follow the same routine. I find that streamlines "production".

SWL

[UNCIVILIZED]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

Yes, Knotaholics Anonymous .

SWL

Thanks for this. Now all day, whenever someone catches me with a silly grin on my face, & asks why, my answer will be "interesting". To say the least. "Hello, my name is... & I'm a Vectran addict/Spectra'holic".
And please, don't anyone go taking offense at what perhaps is my poor taste.

Also thanks for the "assembly line" tips. And for those new to soft shackles & such, one can make them (the legs) long enough to loop around/through the items to be secured, twice (at least), should you so desire, in order to make shackles made from small diameter cordage X times stronger. Where X is the number of times the shackle is looped around/through things, prior to cinching it down.


EDIT: The below was posted while I was editing the above. But in lieu of a vise, or railings to brace said block against, one's boot soles work reasonably well for such chores. I've used said technique for more tasks than I can begin to recall. Splicing especially.

[Seaworthy Lass]

In lieu of a vice, this is what I am currently using to tighten stopper knots after the marlingspike treatment and before pretensioning them on a winch. This is placed behind the balcony railings. The hole in the wood serves as the gap between the jaws of a winch. The soft shackle is inserted through a large washer first.

In both cases nothing other than the vice grips and washer are touching the soft shackle. The jaws of the vice are not used to grip the knot, they simply create a narrow opening that prevents the stopper pulling through.