Page 41 - The Pocket Guide to Outdoor Knots

of picking up a previously discarded rope and being able to put it to immediate
use. It must be coiled.

Methods of securing a coil are described and illustrated elsewhere in this
book. The golden rule, with laid line, is that right-handed rope must be coiled

right-handed (clockwise), if it is to be kept tamed and ready for work. The
reason for this is that, when a rope is uncoiled preparatory to use, any unwanted

latent twist (present by the very nature of its construction) will tend to be
absorbed by the strands opening up slightly. For this reason, left-handed rope—

not often encountered—should be coiled counter-clockwise. Furthermore, as
each turn of a clockwise coil is made, a subtle clockwise twist must also be

inserted into the rope itself (roughly 360° of twist for each individual turn) to
ensure that it lies flat.

Do the reverse with left-handed lines. Otherwise, at worst, a hard-laid rope
will deform itself into a series of figures of eight; and, if that is allowed to

happen, a real bird’s nest of a tangle will result. In theory, deliberately coiling
ropes in a succession of figures of eight would neutralize all possibility of

unwanted torsion; but the reality is that such coils are awkward to make and
handle; nor, in practice, are they necessary.

Braided rope may be coiled either clockwise or counterclockwise but, so
ingrained does the habit of coiling clockwise become, that most rope workers

keep the faith and coil it clockwise too.