Notable Knot Index (2016)
knots.neocities.org
Notable Knot Index (2016)
1–10 of 15 posts
Re: Notable Knot Index (2016)
#2Charming old site!
It would be neat to see it updated to something along the lines of:
That said, most folks would be better served by:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16086997-why-knot-how-to...
or some other text with clear illustrations and instructions, or if one wants something comprehensive:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/816629.The_Ashley_Book_o...
(note that in the literature, knots are referred to by their ABOK#)
Re: Notable Knot Index (2016)
#3Agree with the other commenter - this is very charming! I find it a wonderfully romantic idea to contemplate that, at some point in human past, studying and developing new knots (or even stumbling upon new knots and sharing that idea) would have been a realistic endeavour that expanded the boundary of human knowledge and gave us newer or safer ways of building and achieving things.
Re: Notable Knot Index (2016)
#4Animated Knots by Grog[1] and 3D Knots[2] are oft-cited places to learn knots on the internet, but OP's is such a nice throwback. Don't miss the "requested entries" page with 28 more knots![3]
[1]: https://www.animatedknots.com/
[2]: https://knots3d.com/
Re: Notable Knot Index (2016)
#5Agree with the other commenter - this is very charming! I find it a wonderfully romantic idea to contemplate that, at some point in human past, studying and developing new knots (or even stumbling upon new knots and sharing that idea) would have been a realistic endeavour that expanded the boundary of human knowledge and gave us newer or safer ways of building and achieving things.
It isn't a hobby of the past. Arborists are professionals still using knots and studying them (especially with the modern rope materials changing the old knowledge around knots). Rock climbing is a hobby but knots are life-or-death for them.
Knots are still being invented nowadays. Or variants of existing knots.
Here are PACI's systematic studies on a few vital knots:
https://www.paci.com.au/knots.php
Here is a recent (2025) paper on the stability of the bowline:
https://www.epfl.ch/labs/flexlab/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/...
Re: Notable Knot Index (2016)
#6Agree with the other commenter - this is very charming! I find it a wonderfully romantic idea to contemplate that, at some point in human past, studying and developing new knots (or even stumbling upon new knots and sharing that idea) would have been a realistic endeavour that expanded the boundary of human knowledge and gave us newer or safer ways of building and achieving things.
You would be surprised. New useful knots are still being found. E.g. The Zeppelin bend is exceptionally good and was invented in the 60s. The icicle hitch is from the 90s. Some fishing knots are less than 20 years old.
Re: Notable Knot Index (2016)
#7Agree with the other commenter - this is very charming! I find it a wonderfully romantic idea to contemplate that, at some point in human past, studying and developing new knots (or even stumbling upon new knots and sharing that idea) would have been a realistic endeavour that expanded the boundary of human knowledge and gave us newer or safer ways of building and achieving things.
It isn't a hobby of the past. Arborists are professionals still using knots and studying them (especially with the modern rope materials changing the old knowledge around knots). Rock climbing is a hobby but knots are life-or-death for them. Knots are still being invented nowadays. Or variants of existing knots. Here are PACI's systematic studies on a few vital knots: https://www.paci.com.au/knots.php Here is a recen…
Thanks! Oh I have every confidence we are still studying this, and that it's a thriving field – forgive me for implying that it wasn't.
I was (badly) getting at the fact that back then, as a function of the totality of knowledge we had, discovering a new knot could be quite transformational – whereas now it's just one of many professional fields of modern research. Not implying it was then, or now, merely a hobby.
Re: Notable Knot Index (2016)
#8Pioneering was my favorite merit badge in scouting, and it was the only place I was exposed to the engineering discipline of knots before discovering them again as a college student.
Re: Notable Knot Index (2016)
#9Agree with the other commenter - this is very charming! I find it a wonderfully romantic idea to contemplate that, at some point in human past, studying and developing new knots (or even stumbling upon new knots and sharing that idea) would have been a realistic endeavour that expanded the boundary of human knowledge and gave us newer or safer ways of building and achieving things.
NASA uses knots instead of cable ties, for example on the Mars rovers [1] so they remain with us (I use a half dozen regularly myself)
1: https://www.planetary.org/articles/20120905-knots-on-mars
Re: Notable Knot Index (2016)
#10Agree with the other commenter - this is very charming! I find it a wonderfully romantic idea to contemplate that, at some point in human past, studying and developing new knots (or even stumbling upon new knots and sharing that idea) would have been a realistic endeavour that expanded the boundary of human knowledge and gave us newer or safer ways of building and achieving things.
You would be surprised. New useful knots are still being found. E.g. The Zeppelin bend is exceptionally good and was invented in the 60s. The icicle hitch is from the 90s. Some fishing knots are less than 20 years old.
> The Zeppelin bend is exceptionally good and was invented in the 60s.
I'm not so sure about that. The history of the Zeppelin bend is incredibly contentious and apocryphal.