Page 53 - The Pocket Guide to Equine Knots

sling rope from tending to cut the manty in half by pushing down between items when the
pressure of the manty ropes is applied.

Manty, step 2.

Manty, step 3.

It also works well to build the manty on a piece of plywood approximately eighteen inches
by thirty-six inches, which tends to keep small items in place and create a neat platform for

the bundle. I’ve also used open-top plywood boxes built for me many years ago by a friend.
These are well-built of half-inch plywood and measure thirty-six inches long by sixteen
inches wide and ten inches deep. The friend who built them had worked for the US Forest
Service and found this size accommodated most pieces of gear they used, including folding
woodstoves. Because their tops are open, the boxes aren’t restricted to cargo ten inches

tall, but I’ve found it best not to let items protrude too much above the top; slimmer manties
ride better.
I’ve also added three hardwood legs, easily removable with bolts and wing nuts, so that

one of the boxes doubles as a table in camp. For more than twenty years now, these boxes
have bounced off trees and taken other sorts of abuse, and they’re still serviceable.
The manty ropes are distinct from the sling ropes. Sling ropes hitch your load to the
pack-saddle. These stay on the saddle. Manty ropes tie the manty into a bundle and play
no part in holding the load on the packsaddle, and since their role is different, they can be

lighter weight. I make manty ropes about thirty-five feet long of three-eighths-inch poly
rope. Normally I build an eye splice into one end and a back splice in the other (we’ll look at
these in chapter 7, see page 158), but a honda knot would work as well as the eye splice.