51–60 of 139 posts
My favorite, as many others are sharing here, is the figure 8. For climbing, it's a super versatile knot and there's lots of variations for specific use cases. It's also a great knot for discussing the properties of a good knot. I also have found the trucker's hitch really useful from time to time. It allows you to tie down a load, for example a kayak on top of a car. You tie the initial hitch, and then you get to cr…
The article doesn't mention fishing knots; in case anyone's curious anglers care a lot about knot strength but strength changes based on whether you lubricated the knot when tying and what kind of line you used to tie it (braid vs smooth fluorocarbon for example).
My favorite fishing knot is the uni knot, which is a slip knot that can be used to join lines (double uni) or tie things to line. It's super strong but fishing knots aren't designed to be untied and always cinch down (vs climbing knots which can't collapse / strangle a person). Slipknots are very useful: I use a 3-wrap uni when I'm trussing thankgiving fowl for the oven!
There are some really cool fishing knot strength testing videos on YouTube. The line-to-line joining knots are my favorites -- people get heated debating the merits of the FG knot vs the alberto vs the double uni.
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> I'm somewhat fascinated by people's ability to tie knots that are more complicated than the basic shoelace one. > Even that reef knot gif eludes me -------- These statements are in contradiction. The reef knot IS your shoelace knot. If you can tie your shoelaces, you can tie a reef knot, by definition. Specifically, a "shoelace tie" is the slipped reef knot. "Slipped" means that you leave little loops so that its e…
I think many use the granny for their shoes.
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> I'm somewhat fascinated by people's ability to tie knots that are more complicated than the basic shoelace one. > Even that reef knot gif eludes me -------- These statements are in contradiction. The reef knot IS your shoelace knot. If you can tie your shoelaces, you can tie a reef knot, by definition. Specifically, a "shoelace tie" is the slipped reef knot. "Slipped" means that you leave little loops so that its e…
I think many use the granny for their shoes.
For standard knots the Klutz book of knots is really excellent! https://www.amazon.com/Klutz-Book-Knots-John-Cassidy/dp/0932... The article doesn't mention fishing knots; in case anyone's curious anglers care a lot about knot strength but strength changes based on whether you lubricated the knot when tying and what kind of line you used to tie it (braid vs smooth fluorocarbon for example). My favorite fishing knot is…
I personally prefer the Palomar Knot as it is probably the strongest knot that is also easy to tie. The Improved Clinch Knot and its brethren are also handy to know since there are so many variants that have high breaking strength; I typically teach the Improved Clinch Knot to folks new to fishing.
My favorite, as many others are sharing here, is the figure 8. For climbing, it's a super versatile knot and there's lots of variations for specific use cases. It's also a great knot for discussing the properties of a good knot. I also have found the trucker's hitch really useful from time to time. It allows you to tie down a load, for example a kayak on top of a car. You tie the initial hitch, and then you get to cr…
The two loop shoelace knot almost qualifies as life changing. Such a small change to something I learned as a child makes such a big difference. Not only do your shoes not come undone, but they don't loosen.
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The bowline is fine for non-safety-critical uses, but cyclical loading causes it to slip, so I'd suggest anyone who's learning the bowline to learn a "safer" variant and just always use that one (examples are Yosemite Bowline, End Bound Single Bowline, Double Bowline, Bowline on a Bight).
Been using bowlines for safety(fire dept) and sailing 35yrs. Never ever ever seen a proper bowline "shake loose". Can tie it weakside one-handed, upside down, behind my back, in the dark, underwater, while brushing my teeth.
My list of favorite knots: 1. Square Knot / Reef Knot -- This is the shoelace tie, and its one of the simplest knots. Learn this knot backwards and forwards you'll use it a lot. Avoid the granny knot (a mistaken reef knot). Beginners will often tie the granny knot instead of the square knot. If you can do a square knot, the "Surgeon Knot" is a useful variant which is more secure. 2. Figure Eight -- Superior to the ov…
If you want a fun one, look up Somerville Bowline. Great take on a bowline that is non-directional, non-collapsing, very hard to get wrong, small, quick to tie, and cannot be undone under tension. Oh and it’s completely symmetrical so you can pull on either end.