Knots
- Thread starter Bob S
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Pick three
Bob,
That's pretty good - seen it before.
My recommendation is to learn three knots well, so you can tie (and untie) them in your sleep. I applied this technique first to fly fishing, and it has worked out well for sail (different knots, of course).
I'm sure this will cause endless debate, but here's my three:
1. Bowline (pronounced Bo-lin). Actually a hitch on a bend. A loop that won't slip (choke).
2. Rolling hitch. To tie a line to a line, for example, to take the tension off a line that is overrun on a winch.
3. Reef or square knot.
(We'll just assume making fast to a cleat, and a stop knot at the end of a sheet.)
I also use the clove hitch a lot, but there's a much simple way to make a clove hitch to a post, by taking two loops and putting one behind the other - good for securing the dinghy painter to a post. And the anchor hitch.
Bob,
That's pretty good - seen it before.
My recommendation is to learn three knots well, so you can tie (and untie) them in your sleep. I applied this technique first to fly fishing, and it has worked out well for sail (different knots, of course).
I'm sure this will cause endless debate, but here's my three:
1. Bowline (pronounced Bo-lin). Actually a hitch on a bend. A loop that won't slip (choke).
2. Rolling hitch. To tie a line to a line, for example, to take the tension off a line that is overrun on a winch.
3. Reef or square knot.
(We'll just assume making fast to a cleat, and a stop knot at the end of a sheet.)
I also use the clove hitch a lot, but there's a much simple way to make a clove hitch to a post, by taking two loops and putting one behind the other - good for securing the dinghy painter to a post. And the anchor hitch.
My favorites
EVERY DAY I GO SAILING:
CLOVE HITCH to hang up my lines on rails and pretty much everything else.
FIGURE 8 knot for my sheets.
REEF KNOT / SQUARE KNOT to tie my main to the boom when I return and to reef if I have to.
EVERY TIME I GO TO ANOTHER DOCK TO TIE UP:
BOWLINE
OTHER POPULAR AND GOOD TO KNOW:
SPLICES
SHEET BEND for tieing up two lines in a hurry or for joining 2 different diam.
lines together, also in a hurry.
I don't think I use much of anything else.
Tony B
EVERY DAY I GO SAILING:
CLOVE HITCH to hang up my lines on rails and pretty much everything else.
FIGURE 8 knot for my sheets.
REEF KNOT / SQUARE KNOT to tie my main to the boom when I return and to reef if I have to.
EVERY TIME I GO TO ANOTHER DOCK TO TIE UP:
BOWLINE
OTHER POPULAR AND GOOD TO KNOW:
SPLICES
SHEET BEND for tieing up two lines in a hurry or for joining 2 different diam.
lines together, also in a hurry.
I don't think I use much of anything else.
Tony B
The hitches I use mostly are
1. The slipped reef knot for reefing my sail.
2. The slipped clove hitch for tying the ropes from my polytarp to the lifelines for quick release.
3. The cleat hitch for tying my boat to the dock.
4. The Highwayman's Hitch for securing my swim ladder and securing my readily tied bow line to my stern rail when approaching the dock to tie up.
5. The figure 8 knot for halyards and sheets.
6. A lineman's Rolling Hitch for certain attachments to wire or rope.
7. A round turn with two half hitches.
8. A round turn with one slipped half hitch for quick release, for tying my tarp ropes.
9. The Bowline for Gennie sheets.
10. The Benson Bend for tying two lines together. (My all time favorite bend.)
I also make up eye spices around thimbles using three strand Nylon rope for mooring pendant lines, for all club members as a courtesy to the yacht club. I do eye splices in braid lines for my own boat with directions, at a slower pace than doing three strand nylon. A lot of the knots and bends that I tie on my boat are the very same knots that I tied day in and day out when I was a lineman for a power company for 32 years.
1. The slipped reef knot for reefing my sail.
2. The slipped clove hitch for tying the ropes from my polytarp to the lifelines for quick release.
3. The cleat hitch for tying my boat to the dock.
4. The Highwayman's Hitch for securing my swim ladder and securing my readily tied bow line to my stern rail when approaching the dock to tie up.
5. The figure 8 knot for halyards and sheets.
6. A lineman's Rolling Hitch for certain attachments to wire or rope.
7. A round turn with two half hitches.
8. A round turn with one slipped half hitch for quick release, for tying my tarp ropes.
9. The Bowline for Gennie sheets.
10. The Benson Bend for tying two lines together. (My all time favorite bend.)
I also make up eye spices around thimbles using three strand Nylon rope for mooring pendant lines, for all club members as a courtesy to the yacht club. I do eye splices in braid lines for my own boat with directions, at a slower pace than doing three strand nylon. A lot of the knots and bends that I tie on my boat are the very same knots that I tied day in and day out when I was a lineman for a power company for 32 years.
My favorite hitches and knots
1. The slipped reef knot for reefing my sail.
2. The slipped clove hitch for tying the ropes from my polytarp to the lifelines for quick release.
3. The cleat hitch for tying my boat to the dock.
4. The Highwayman's Hitch for securing my swim ladder and securing my readily tied bow line to my stern rail when approaching the dock to tie up.
5. The figure 8 knot for halyards and sheets.
6. A lineman's Rolling Hitch for certain attachments to wire or rope.
7. A round turn with two half hitches.
8. A round turn with one slipped half hitch for quick release, for tying my tarp ropes.
9. The Bowline for Gennie sheets.
10. The Benson Bend for tying two lines together. (My all time favorite bend.)
I also make up eye spices around thimbles using three strand Nylon rope for mooring pendant lines, for all club members as a courtesy to the yacht club. I do eye splices in braid lines for my own boat with directions, at a slower pace than doing three strand nylon. A lot of the knots and bends that I tie on my boat are the very same knots that I tied day in and day out when I was a lineman for a power company for 32 years.
1. The slipped reef knot for reefing my sail.
2. The slipped clove hitch for tying the ropes from my polytarp to the lifelines for quick release.
3. The cleat hitch for tying my boat to the dock.
4. The Highwayman's Hitch for securing my swim ladder and securing my readily tied bow line to my stern rail when approaching the dock to tie up.
5. The figure 8 knot for halyards and sheets.
6. A lineman's Rolling Hitch for certain attachments to wire or rope.
7. A round turn with two half hitches.
8. A round turn with one slipped half hitch for quick release, for tying my tarp ropes.
9. The Bowline for Gennie sheets.
10. The Benson Bend for tying two lines together. (My all time favorite bend.)
I also make up eye spices around thimbles using three strand Nylon rope for mooring pendant lines, for all club members as a courtesy to the yacht club. I do eye splices in braid lines for my own boat with directions, at a slower pace than doing three strand nylon. A lot of the knots and bends that I tie on my boat are the very same knots that I tied day in and day out when I was a lineman for a power company for 32 years.
Any suggestions on a knot for the painter line?
The Bowline and the square knot are the two I've used. I am trying to add a few more but until you really master one it becomes confusing to try to learn a bunch at a time. I'm commissioning an old inflatable that was my dad's. Any suggestions on a knot for the painter line?
The Bowline and the square knot are the two I've used. I am trying to add a few more but until you really master one it becomes confusing to try to learn a bunch at a time. I'm commissioning an old inflatable that was my dad's. Any suggestions on a knot for the painter line?
The bowline I think is the most valuable Knot.
Learn to tie it in frongt of you and behind you, so that you can do it in any situation.
The bowline is a knot that is easily untied by pulling on the bitter end.
It can be used in a line for a quick loop over a cleat, a sliding loop where you tie the bowline and pass the bitter end through it to form a lasseo type effect. Learn to tie one around your waist and if applicable you wife or childrens waist.
The bowline is the most aux. knot I use.
The true Cleat Knot is something that many people just don't understand. It is the most important knot at the dock, unless you are at pilings, then the bowline /lasseo is the #1.
The cleat knot is so often miss tied. I have seen it miss tied on masts, docks, booms, you name it.
I think the third knot is the truckers hitch. If you can't find it, let me know and I will shoot a picture and atempt a discription. I think this is my most used knot because I use it in my working enviorment.
A few others, a figure eight tied through the open portion of the cleat on the mast will keep the halyard from going over the top.
Knots are great, it isn't how many you know, it is that you know how to use what you know.
r.w.landau
Learn to tie it in frongt of you and behind you, so that you can do it in any situation.
The bowline is a knot that is easily untied by pulling on the bitter end.
It can be used in a line for a quick loop over a cleat, a sliding loop where you tie the bowline and pass the bitter end through it to form a lasseo type effect. Learn to tie one around your waist and if applicable you wife or childrens waist.
The bowline is the most aux. knot I use.
The true Cleat Knot is something that many people just don't understand. It is the most important knot at the dock, unless you are at pilings, then the bowline /lasseo is the #1.
The cleat knot is so often miss tied. I have seen it miss tied on masts, docks, booms, you name it.
I think the third knot is the truckers hitch. If you can't find it, let me know and I will shoot a picture and atempt a discription. I think this is my most used knot because I use it in my working enviorment.
A few others, a figure eight tied through the open portion of the cleat on the mast will keep the halyard from going over the top.
Knots are great, it isn't how many you know, it is that you know how to use what you know.
r.w.landau
Any knot will be more secure if you seize the tail to the
standing part of the line. A knot is just a study in friction and some rope is so slippery that common knots won't hold and special knots have been developed. I think that the most secure knot is the Buntline hitch. Very useful is the constrictor knot. The bowline can be tied with an extra wrap like a sheet bend. I probably use the rolling hitch most frequently. For extra security I half hitch the tail around the stand parts of any knot. For heaving a seizing taut a marline spike hitch is best.
standing part of the line. A knot is just a study in friction and some rope is so slippery that common knots won't hold and special knots have been developed. I think that the most secure knot is the Buntline hitch. Very useful is the constrictor knot. The bowline can be tied with an extra wrap like a sheet bend. I probably use the rolling hitch most frequently. For extra security I half hitch the tail around the stand parts of any knot. For heaving a seizing taut a marline spike hitch is best.
Funny, Stu....
...I used a Bowline. I should have spliced it, but didn't. I did seize the end and wrap it with seizing line to be sure it didn't slip off. And, once enough dirt and salt get into it, most likely it isn't going anywhere anyway
. At least that's the best excuse for not splicing it I can come up with right now. I still put a hitch on it before attaching the shackle. I REALLY don't want to chase any more dinghies!
...I used a Bowline. I should have spliced it, but didn't. I did seize the end and wrap it with seizing line to be sure it didn't slip off. And, once enough dirt and salt get into it, most likely it isn't going anywhere anyway
. At least that's the best excuse for not splicing it I can come up with right now. I still put a hitch on it before attaching the shackle. I REALLY don't want to chase any more dinghies!
Another thing to consider....
What kind of line are you making the knot in? different lines hold knots better than others.
r.w.landau
What kind of line are you making the knot in? different lines hold knots better than others.
r.w.landau
Painter line
Bob,
It really depends on the thickness of the painter line. I tow a 9' kayak behind my boat which has a 1/4" braid painter line about 20' long, attached to it. I run the line around the first Port stanchion and back to a horn cleat and tie it off with a cleat hitch. If your painter line can be tied off to your stern cleat, you can adjust the length of it anytime. You could tie a Bowline in your painter line, or put an eye splice in it to slip over the cleat, but remember that eyes slip over cleats easy and they can slip off them just as easy, especially mooring pendant lines. I always tell our club members that if they're going to use an eye splice on their pendant lines, they should also use a thinner diameter line to lock it on to the cleat. We've had our share of boats slip pendant lines because of eye splices. I like Bowline knots. It was the first knot that I ever learned how to tie, but I've seen them come untied a few times. I use an anchor knot to attach my painter to my kayak. I've never had an anchor knot come apart, yet.
Joe
Bob,
It really depends on the thickness of the painter line. I tow a 9' kayak behind my boat which has a 1/4" braid painter line about 20' long, attached to it. I run the line around the first Port stanchion and back to a horn cleat and tie it off with a cleat hitch. If your painter line can be tied off to your stern cleat, you can adjust the length of it anytime. You could tie a Bowline in your painter line, or put an eye splice in it to slip over the cleat, but remember that eyes slip over cleats easy and they can slip off them just as easy, especially mooring pendant lines. I always tell our club members that if they're going to use an eye splice on their pendant lines, they should also use a thinner diameter line to lock it on to the cleat. We've had our share of boats slip pendant lines because of eye splices. I like Bowline knots. It was the first knot that I ever learned how to tie, but I've seen them come untied a few times. I use an anchor knot to attach my painter to my kayak. I've never had an anchor knot come apart, yet.
Joe
Shackle
Stu,
For a shackle to attach to a pad or bow eye on the dinghy, I would make an eye splice around a metal thimble, and mouse the shackle to it after it's attached to the dinghy. In my case, I have a rope handle on my kayak, and I tie my painter to it with an anchor knot. Eye splices in three strand rope aren't that hard to make up once you've done a few. I use a set of directions to splice braid. It takes me a while to make them up, but I can do them. There's a site on the web that has all the different measurements for the thicknesses of various braid lines. I heard of a guy in Wareham Ma. up the Cape that could splice any braid line just using a coat hanger. I tried it and it works, but I would advise anyone who wants to learn how to splice braid to get the proper sized fids along with the directions, then try to experiment later on after you get good at it.
Joe
Stu,
For a shackle to attach to a pad or bow eye on the dinghy, I would make an eye splice around a metal thimble, and mouse the shackle to it after it's attached to the dinghy. In my case, I have a rope handle on my kayak, and I tie my painter to it with an anchor knot. Eye splices in three strand rope aren't that hard to make up once you've done a few. I use a set of directions to splice braid. It takes me a while to make them up, but I can do them. There's a site on the web that has all the different measurements for the thicknesses of various braid lines. I heard of a guy in Wareham Ma. up the Cape that could splice any braid line just using a coat hanger. I tried it and it works, but I would advise anyone who wants to learn how to splice braid to get the proper sized fids along with the directions, then try to experiment later on after you get good at it.
Joe
Painter line
I plan on towing a 10.2' West Marine inflatable. I'm still patching her. She holds firm for about 3 days but slowly leaks. Been tough finding all the leaks. It has an inflatable keel and floor which doesn't leak at all. I planned on using an anchor hitch to the center bow eyelet for the painter line. I bought a tow line witch shackles to the three eyelets and has a float to reduce the possibility of fowling in the prop. Someday, when time permits, I'd like to work on making an eye splice to the eyelet. After reading this post I will try an eye splice to a shackle
I plan on towing a 10.2' West Marine inflatable. I'm still patching her. She holds firm for about 3 days but slowly leaks. Been tough finding all the leaks. It has an inflatable keel and floor which doesn't leak at all. I planned on using an anchor hitch to the center bow eyelet for the painter line. I bought a tow line witch shackles to the three eyelets and has a float to reduce the possibility of fowling in the prop. Someday, when time permits, I'd like to work on making an eye splice to the eyelet. After reading this post I will try an eye splice to a shackle
Painter line
If you are talking about a painter for the dinghy I would strongly recommend you not use nylon, use polypropylene instead. The reason is that nylon line sinks, polypropylene floats, and one of the big hazards of a dinghy painter is getting it caught in the propellor.
If you are talking about a painter for the dinghy I would strongly recommend you not use nylon, use polypropylene instead. The reason is that nylon line sinks, polypropylene floats, and one of the big hazards of a dinghy painter is getting it caught in the propellor.
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