2021-034 | SIMPLICITY IN KNOTS

OUTDOORS COMMON SENSE TIPS: Simplicity is beauty. I used the same couple of knots over the years for my shelters and for other purpose: the overhand and the slip knot. It worked perfect for me in stressful times and in total darkness. No fancy knots that took years to bind and unwind.

 

First seen in Facebook

May 4, 2018

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KNOT-TYING IS A DIMINISHING skill just like good handwriting. You would lose your finesse and dexterity when you are dormant for a long time. Knot-tying is also cruel to people who has short attention spans or lacking patience and find most complex knots comparable to a layman memorizing scientific plant names. Nuts! 

A certain knot has a certain purpose and so many knots could count of stories as to their origins. Knots make the world go round and tying a knot also means walking the church aisle with your fiancée. A knot could be a hitch, a bend, a shank or a grim noose but a knot in the stomach is not.

There are 4,000 knots and if you can memorize and perform all of these then you are one hell of a nut. Sailors, mountaineers, high-angle rescuers, Boy Scouts, lumberjacks and longshoremen are known to muster more than a hundred knots in their repertoires. If you can do beyond the 200-mark, you are one exceptional ropemaster. 

Knots are principally grouped according to their purpose: Splicing; Weight Bearing (Stoppers); Anchoring; and Packing (Wrapping). Be guided always with these so you could place all your knowledge in knot-tying in a good system for efficiency, accuracy and memory retention. 

Seriously, my knowledge in knots are not that good. Practice makes perfect, they say, but ropes have not been my constant companion and so it left me with lesser time to tinker with knots. Nevertheless, I used just a few practical knots which I find very compatible in bushcraft that I made it into a system. 

All are very simple knots where even kindergarten kids can accomplish. Since my favored shelter system is the hammock and canopy sheet, I am exposed all the time with the flat rope and cords which I complement with a combination of two basic knots: an overhand and a slip knot.

 

In less than five minutes, I can set up my shelter with this crude system in daylight or in half-light. In less than two minutes, I could remove my shelter from its anchor points, which includes the unraveling of the knot which have taken a load of 200 pounds for the whole night. 

I do not need fancy knots to accomplish my tasks. I just use common sense to complement my knot combo used on the flat rope that bear my weight. It is called friction. Friction takes care of the load while the two knots secures the rope from feeding out. A quick tug from the working end of the slip knot unravels the rig quickly. 

As protection against pranksters on myself and against the shifting winds upon my canopy, I always place a safety feature on all the slip knots so it will not be loosened easily. That is the beauty of simplicity. It could never go wrong and it saves you time untangling a tightened knot. Bring a pliers next time else you lose a tooth. Nuts!

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WARRIOR PILGRIMAGE BLOG, personified by this writer, is synonymous with the Outdoors, since Bushcraft and Survival is its niche. Safety and Security are its bedrock when it ventured into organizing outdoor events that involved people as in adventure/pilgrimage guideships and seminars; and explorations and expeditions.

 

Through tutorship, experience, folk knowledge and good old common sense, this writer was able to collect useful information which he is currently documenting in a book titled, ETHICAL BUSHCRAFT. He shares some of this information and knowledge in his training sessions; in his social-media account; and in this blog.