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.

NAPO TO BABAG TALES XXXIII: Camp Red Training Day

IT IS SO HOT today. A perfect Sunday for training. Camp Red takes the trail of Napo to the Babag Mountain Range. Coming along is Dr. Abe Manlawe who is preparing himself for the Mount Apo climb with the Cebu Mountaineering Society come June. It is May 23, 2010.

I am the trail master for today. Boy Toledo and Ernie Salomon will assist me and we will have two low-frequency handheld radios for this occasion. New guys Niño Dizon, Brady Betonio, Daveson Uy, Ian Betonio, Marco Albeza and Marlon Ponce will be physically tempered under the brunt of the sun.

Going also with us is Johnson Luym of Jungle Wild Adventures and Paul Ceniza of Ridge Outdoor Shop. Both will assess the quality of the trail and they will be in for a surprise later.

I lead the pack as we walk on the road from Guadalupe to Napo. Ian and Marco are behind me singing along with their iPods. After the half-way mark both were still alright and we were a couple of a hundred meters ahead of the rest of the party. I hasten the pace and both stopped singing especially along the vicinity of Sitio Arcos which is steep.

We arrive at Napo after forty minutes of walking and waited for the rest. Last to arrive were Niño, Marlon, Brady and Daveson. Everybody rehydrated themselves, except me. I will drink water once I will arrive in the last river crossing where there is a natural spring.

We were now following the trail after crossing the Sapangdaku River. Dr. Manlawe is carrying a heavy training load and exchange conversations with Johnson. Boy T and I run downhill when we could and swarms of sweat gush forth in endless rivulets from my body especially after a 45-second sprint down to the natural spring area.

Boy T, who was ahead of me, is already lying down on a big granite stone on the river while I gasp for air to stabilize myself from the extreme exertion. Getting my drinking bottle, I fill it up, drink and refill it. One by one, the rest arrive and enjoy this very shady spot which is a natural resting area for the locals.

It's time to move again after a 20-minute rest for the knoll where there is an ancient tamarind tree that host the home of the Roble family. The place is the last natural rest area before embarking the last stretch of the trail to Babag Ridge. You could rehydrate there with water from green coconuts provided you notify them early. Quite possible and here is the number: 09335164999.

By the way, a steep trail lead to there and I towed the rest of the party for a well-deserved rest. Immediately, everyone helped themselves to drink young coconut water and eat its soft white meat. Meanwhile, Boy T and Ernie became instant chefs and cook food provisions we bought from Guadalupe like pork meat, dried fish and milled corn.

As we were busy, Dr. Manlawe opt to cut short his training after receiving a call from a patient and retraced his path back to Guadalupe. I bring a rope for this climb and teach the newbies the four most important knots for bushcraft and survival: slip knot, square knot, figure-of-8 knot and the bowline knot.

Lunch time came at exactly one in the afternoon and the food served were pork in sinigang soup, dried fish cooked in tomato sauce and pork adobao while cooked milled corn remain as Camp Red's main staple. Others dished in their canned food to supplement the meals.

After an hour of siesta, time to move again. I divided the group into two: the strong climbers and the weak ones. Ian and Marco will come along with Ernie, Johnson, Paul and me going by way of the difficult Ernie's Trail while Boy T will lead the rest through the Babag East Ridge Pass.

The downhill part of Ernie's Trail down to the creek is not affected by the extreme summer heat. Right after crossing the dry creek, the vegetation is brown and sparse. Many trees wilted and their leaves go brown. A parcel of farm gnawed itself into the route and erasing a part of it, leaving me to look for the rest of the trail.

By the time we assault the main crux of the trail, the soil is very loose. Brutal! That's how Johnson describe it. Balance is of prime importance here and you have to use both your hands. 4 by 4! Paul added his to Johnson's remark. Inwardly, Ernie and I are elated at the guest's comments. Ian and Marco did themselves well. My compliments.

The two groups arrive at the ridge by just a few minutes of each other. We follow the Babag Ridge Road until we stop at a store to rehydrate. Boy T ordered two big bottles of cold San Miguel Beer to get optimum minerals and electrolytes lost to the exertions. I am very tired. Not from the climb but from the scene of cut trees.

Niño, Daveson, Brady and Marlon decide to part early with the rest of the party following the road to Upper Busay to attend to some important commitment. It is already almost four when we, the rest of the party, went down to Kalunasan via the No-Santol-Tree Trail. We ran and walk intending to reach Guadalupe before dark. We arrive at 5:30 PM and finish our after-activity rituals with four big bottles of Red Horse Extra Strong Beer at “Camp Red”.

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THE ART OF "FALLING"

THE YEARS 1992 TO 1998 were, without a doubt, my finest years as a mountaineer and an outdoor enthusiast. I was caught in a vortex of outdoor activities that my club, the Cebu Mountaineering Society (CeMS) have organized, starting from my initial climb at Mount Pangasugan in Leyte, which was very unforgettable, reaching a high crescendo with the ascent of the country’s highest peak in Mount Apo on 1994 and tapering off on a cave exploration at Nug-as, Alcoy.

In between, I was fascinated in learning the art of the rope. I learned the mechanics of SRT or single-rope technique during an orientation. It was very useful in traversing and climbing difficult obstacles without adequate (or slippery) handholds and footholds like caves thru the use of a 11-millimeter rope and a pair of jumars - a mechanical ascender.

For this purpose, CeMS purchased a dynamic rope, carabiners, a figure-8 descender and a harness. Dr. Abe Manlawe provided himself a pair of jumars, a static rope, carabs, descenders and some harnesses to complement the club equipment. Later on, some of us owned a harness, a set of carabiners, descenders and other accessories. (Mine were a Black Diamond Onsight Bod harness, three REI carabs and one Russian-made locking snap link in anodized pink color.)

One of those that I learned, or have perfected, was rappelling. Back in 1988, I learned rappelling at Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal. But it was done with crude equipment. Sliding sown a rope with proper tools is sheer joy, mind you!

CeMS were so obsessed with rappelling right after completion of the Land Navigation and Jungle Survival Course conducted by the 7th Regional Civil Defense Unit (7RCDU) and the 3rd Army Training Group (3ATG) of the Visayas Command (VISCOM) from March 22 to May 8, 1993. Every weekend after that were spent for training and perfecting this craft, to include knot-tying skills. We either anchored our ropes over roadside cliffs in Maria Luisa or on the railings of the abandoned 4-storey high air-traffic control tower in the old Lahug airport.

Those days I practiced on my own on some weekdays to really master that craft and on some occasions, in Phase 8 of Maria Luisa, I would lower myself in a 130-foot drop on a cliff doing just three bounces. Repeating the process, I would flip myself in mid-air right after clearing my feet off the cliff and do a lizard rappel down to the bottom. Other times, I would bring a rope when I have a chance to practice my gun skills at the CPRA firing range in Lapulapu City and practice rappelling there and at times I train the whole Cebu City SWAT team.

When my skills and confidence level began to peak, I set my sights for the limestone cliffs at Cantabaco in Camp 8, Toledo City to go rock climbing. Honestly, only a few of us took to cragging seriously. Once in a while, Ramon Vidal, Nanding Mercado and me would spend some weekends at Camp 8 to try the different routes and pitches that Cantabaco could offer.

Snakeskin and Fields of Gold were some of the known routes I can still remember that we took on and Devil’s Ledge was something to think about gravity when you start for another pitch. I never thought I could imitate verbatim the life of a lizard back then. I lost all sense and fear of heights and vertigo. One thing that never escaped my mind back then is that safety should not be compensated with anything else. It should always be safety, safety and safety!

I did strength training on my own for this purpose. My gym were either my home or the outdoors. No special offers or stupid machines! Just plain common sense and sheer practicality complemented my interest and skill. I have built my own legend for my own consumption. A memory that I need to share with to those who wanted to learn the art of “falling”.

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