How many KNOTS are essential?

[RushMan 31]

How many KNOTS should sailors know, be able to tie in the dark, rain or even under water?

 

I can think of 5 that will do most things but interested in your thoughts.

[RushMan 31]

One.

 

there is one knot that will do all.

Only ONE ?

 

Are you going to share which knot will do everything?

[rigger 47]

The ones I have used regularly in the past.

 

-Round turn & 2 half hitches

-Figure eight

-Bowline

-Buntline hitch

-Sheet bend & double sheet bend

-Reef Knot

-Clove hitch

-Tug boat hitch

 

I think the following might be of most use for most people i you limit it to five knots:

-Round turn & 2 half hitches

-Figure eight

-Bowline

-Sheet bend & double sheet bend

-Reef Knot

[Megwyn 2]

The ones I have used regularly in the past.

 

 

-Buntline hitch

 

-Tug boat hitch

 

 

I don't know these two Rigger?

[PaulR 3]

I use the rolling hitch everytime I put a flag on the backstay except the protest flag that valcros on.

 

The highwaymans' hitch is most useful for spinnaker halyards and mooring lines when warping out and departing alone.

[Rats 28]

I would agree with Riggers list and add only one more that is bloody handy to know.

Rolling Hitch

[wheels 543]

The most important one to learn is the Bowline and to learn to tie it in every conceivable direction and even with eyes closed.

The more knots you learn and use and Riggers list cover most I think, the more you realise how important each one is for specific uses. Many "sailing" knots came about due to specific needs and not because a few sailors were bored and played a game of, "who can come up with the most ways to tie a line".

The reason why the bowline is the most important to learn is, it is the only knot that will never tighten on itself under load, in such a way that it can never be undone again and yet is still a reliable and safe knot to use in many circumstances.

The reason why it is not the only knot to use is because it takes a little longer to tie and untie. Some things need to be tied and untied really quickly, or maybe released while under load and so on.

One real big mistake many make is when hitching to a Bollard/Horn cleat. I see so often, people wrapping the line round and round the bollard till they have a huge heap of line around it. There are time that you need to take a Bollard urgently. Messing around can cost a finger or not get the boat stopped. All you need is one full wrap and one half wrap further. OK, you can go two full wraps if you really must, but NO MORE. Then you bend the line under itself and slip it over the horn of the cleat, then take it around to the other horn and do the same. That's it. This allows a couple of things. You can release it urgently if you need to and you also have room to hitch another line to the bollard/cleat if you need.

[rigger 47]

I would agree with Riggers list and add only one more that is bloody handy to know.

Rolling Hitch

 

Rats that is one I missed, very useful.

 

 

 

On the bowline, a friend found out that when used as an eye in a certain type of line it will pull out under load.

 

I suggest that if you are using the newer synthetic lines check what knots work best as some of the traditional knots.

[rigger 47]

It will...

 

 

join ropes of uneven and even thickness (reef and sheetbend)

 

 

A reef knot is not for joining different ropes together - it is unsafe to do so,

I firmly believe that it should be used for tidying up the reef in a sail (reef ties), and securing the top of a bag and othe uses that the knot failing will not result in carnage. It rates a skull and cross bones by Ashly.

[Guest]

I agree with Rigger with the following exception.

 

Round turn and two half hitches. OK for, say, attaching a fender to a lifeline but better still is an Anchor Bend, which is the same knot except that the first half hitch goes under (inside?) the two parts of the round turn.

 

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ9o4dZw9la3GNxRL6MWqejixpNw3D-SBWckLVKfekr4LG44Zc_

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT2G-SldDO4V6GXwWpSEoxOd7oiUEKh_3_9nRWA56LO3UBQdN_O

 

IMHO people rely too heavily on Bowlines. They are unsafe unless under constant load. For example, I've seen people using a bowline to attach a warp to an anchor chain - potentially expensive

 

As for Reef knots, the whole point is that it will hold under load (as in tying a reef point) but (more importantly) also un-do under load.

[SloopJohnB 322]

Learn a few more.

 

http://www.animatedknots.com/knotlist.p ... dknots.com

[rigger 47]

It will...

 

 

join ropes of uneven and even thickness (reef and sheetbend)

 

 

A reef knot is not for joining different ropes together - it is unsafe to do so,

I firmly believe that it should be used for tidying up the reef in a sail (reef ties), and securing the top of a bag and othe uses that the knot failing will not result in carnage. It rates a skull and cross bones by Ashly.

I did,nt say that (respectively )

 

A reef not is for equal size ropes

 

in modern ropes a reef knot would shake out or loosen in a reef line.

 

reef knots need constant tension

 

I will define further - by different ropes I meant two pieces of rope whether the same or different thicknesses / types.

 

A reef knot is not to be used for joining two ropes of equal thickness together.

 

Even in manila rope a reef knot can pull / trip out.

If you need to join two ropes together use another knot more suited to the purpose. several have been mentioned by a number of people on this thread.

 

 

My apologies for not making myslef clear, been a long day.

[rigger 47]

I agree with Rigger with the following exception.

 

Round turn and two half hitches. OK for, say, attaching a fender to a lifeline but better still is an Anchor Bend, which is the same knot except that the first half hitch goes under (inside?) the two parts of the round turn.

 

 

In a lot of applications the anchor bend does not have the properties that make the round turn and to half hitches such a useful knot - it can if really needed be undone under load but is exceptionally unlikely to come undone of its own accord - as long as you leave a tail.

 

The anchor bend cannot be undone under load as it locks itself.

 

IMHO people rely too heavily on Bowlines. They are unsafe unless under constant load. For example, I've seen people using a bowline to attach a warp to an anchor chain - potentially expensive

Agree with people relying too much on the Bowline.

Do not totally agree re-needed to be under constant load - in all my year of sailing when bowlines attached sheets to headsails and got flogged on every tack / gybe I only saw a few come undine and that was to do with the knot being poorly tied to start with - either the tail on the outside or the tail too short. Also some of the modern ropes a bowline it the wrong knot to use.

Never use a bowline on an anchor chain - that is what an anchor bend can be used for

 

 

As for Reef knots, the whole point is that it will hold under load (as in tying a reef point) but (more importantly) also un-do under load.

 

Constant load - have also seen reef knots pull out under constant load when the knot got dragged across a fitting and the knot tripped out. Was proving a point to another guy about lowering a weight from aloft. He went for a swim - proved a point.

[PaulR 3]

The most important one to learn is the Bowline and to learn to tie it in every conceivable direction and even with eyes closed.

 

Learning to tie a bowline around yourself with one hand may just save your life oneday. (Lessons are available, most people only need to be shown three times )

 

In heavy weather, I put an extra half hitch using the tail of a bowline and have not had jib sheets come off yet. Even a little lashing will stop the bowline comming undone but is easy to break apart.

 

Using a rolling hitch on boom awnings, fenders etc means that the tension / height can be easily adjusted WITHOUT having to untie and then re-tie the knot.

[wheels 543]

IMHO people rely too heavily on Bowlines. They are unsafe unless under constant load.

You beat me too it Paul.

In heavy weather, I put an extra half hitch using the tail of a bowline and have not had jib sheets come off yet. Even a little lashing will stop the bowline comming undone but is easy to break apart.

If you want to make a bowline secure, the half hitch is excellent and I do that often.

 

As for synthetic lines pulling through a knot, well yes they will. But then, that means you are using the core only and those kinds of lines should never used in such a situation. They are designed for a specific purpose for extreme loads and are designed to be spliced. The knot severly reduces the load capability of these lines and should never be knoted.

[rigger 47]

As for synthetic lines pulling through a knot, well yes they will. But then, that means you are using the core only and those kinds of lines should never used in such a situation. They are designed for a specific purpose for extreme loads and are designed to be spliced. The knot severly reduces the load capability of these lines and should never be knoted.

 

 

Except in an emergency when the line parts. As an example: line fails you need an eye quickly in the remaining end or that ship is going to investigate something it shouldn't........ That was how a friend found a bowline would pull out under load, they then did an overhand knot with a bight forming the eye - that did not pull out.

[RushMan 31]

The most common knot for bendiing sheets onto a Spinnaker clew (that allows the Spinnaker pole to "get" closest to the Clew) is ...

 

Tie a standard HALF HITCH thru the eye of the clew - then tie a HALF HITCH in the end of the Sheet - then pull it all tight up against the Clew eye.

 

Brilliant knot that replaces Bowlines etc and "locks tight" but is easy to undo.

 

Most dingy sailors use this.

Interesting, do you have a photo of that?

[PaulR 3]

A double bowline (= twice around the standing end, need to check for its propper name) before going back in the hole is better still, but knot as quick to tie, and hard to do one-handed.

 

I think a hitch or clove hitch on the standing end would become much harder to undo later, but I've never really tried that.

Instead using a second line would be my choice for double strength and:

 

to be sure

 

to be sure.

[Guest]

Anyone got any thoughts on the Eskimo Bowline? A knot book I have suggests that it is better than a Bowline when using modern synthetic line.

[Island Time 1,239]

Wheels, the bowline is not the only knot that does not bind under load. Try the alpine butterfly - to make a loop in a line when you don't have access to the ends.... Climbing knot to attache a karabiner to.. and there are others.

 

The English bible for knots is the Ashley Book of Knots. Over 3800 knots and their uses listed. Want to get a horse aboard??