How to make a Monkey's Fist knot with paracord

I was going to say “what about the Girl Scouts” but google says they still don’t let boys join. They should just call it the Feminazi TERF Cookie Militia

1 Like

interesting. the only knot i know is a granny knot, lol. i should learn some others, clearly.

1 Like

Or, at a minimum, forget the granny knot.

hey, that knot has served me well so far – i’m not going to abandon it now! haha

3 Likes

Having lulled you into a false sense of security, the inevitable betrayal will come at the worst possible time.

Suggestion :stuck_out_tongue::

4 Likes

It can fail spontaneously under tension and can just fall apart when not under tension. Square knots are better and it’s literally the same knot but with alternating twists instead.

I’ve been meaning to brush up as I have forgotten how to tie most of the useful knots.

2 Likes

truth be told, i was in boy scouts, and all i remember us doing is tying knots. did i remember any of them? nope.

2 Likes

interestingly enough, I didn’t do any rope tying during my (short) tenure in the boy scouts. went hiking and camping a bunch of times, but never really did any ropework. I know a couple basic ones, but I learned those largely myself. I’ve also got a figure 8 follow loop down pat; that’s used to attach you and your harness to the rope when you are climbing. (I was doing top-rope at one of the local gyms until the 'demic hit; once things back to normal I’m going to have to go back in and get climbing again.)

And a square not isn’t useful as anything but a binding knot, for instance, tying a string on packages (a surgeon’s knot does better, it doesn’t need a finger to hold the partially-completed knot in place). Sailors call it a reef knot because its only use on shipboard is binding up a reefed sail. The Boy Scouts love it and teach it because it’s part of their symbolism - the ‘square’ symbolizes honesty and fair dealing. (They probably got that from the square and compass of the Freemasons.)

The reef knot is useless as a bend. For bending two lines together, I prefer the Flemish bend if I’ve time to tie one, a sheet bend weakens the line too much. Either can work in lines of different diameter, while a carrick bend is a good alternative, but only for lines that are well matched. Be careful which way you tie any of these in a laid rope - a left-handed knot in a right-laid rope, or vice versa, is much weaker. With kernmantle line, it doesn’t matter, since the braid runs both ways.

The grief knot isn’t all that strong or safe, but it’s useful on rare occasions as a bend that you can release suddenly with the line still under load.

Good choice. But it’s not safe if you have to drop a loop in the middle of a line that will then be under load below you - use a bowline-on-a-bight for that and run both loops through your 'biner. Even better, throw a Prusik or Munter around the line and clip in with a utility cord.

Hmm. nowadays, with webbing harnesses and suchlike, I wonder if I could still tie a Swiss or Studebaker seat. I haven’t done one of those in years. (Probably - I bet the muscle memory is still there.)

Any bend or loop requires safety knots on the running ends. (A double-overhand tied around the standing part is generally enough.)

If you’re joining two lines (or a line to itself), and it doesn’t need to be adjustable, or to be broken once joined, don’t use a knot. Splice. Yes, you can splice kernmantle: https://www.samsonrope.com/docs/default-source/splice-instructions/12strand_c2_whoopie_sling_amsteel_amsteel-blue_web.pdf has the basics.
Even if it does need to be adjustable, consider Whoopie slings (also in the linked document) for adjustable things that don’t have to be dismantled such as hammock suspensions. Better than taut-lines or trucker hitches.

2 Likes

Apparently has tons of awesome rockclimbing, though. That’s how I learnt most of my knots.

3 Likes

This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.