Page 52 - The Pocket Guide to Outdoor Knots

Bungee jumpers, left, and around-the-world yachtsmen, right, must know their ropes and their
knots.

Modern synthetic ropes and cords are often so immensely strong, however,
that knot strength is a less significant factor than it used to be. Indeed, it is a

common practice (and it is one that must delight rope sellers) to buy much
thicker lines than are strictly necessary for the job envisaged, because the one

that could actually cope would be too thin to grasp comfortably by hand. Even
so, where it is considered useful to be aware that a knot is significantly stronger

or weaker than another, the fact will be mentioned.

Knot security

Some knots that are considered fairly strong under a steady load, such as the

bowline (pages 70–71), may be decidedly less dependable when subjected to
intermittent jerking or shaking. In other words, they are insecure. Security of

knots is a separate consideration from knot strength. Smooth, slippery and slimy
materials, as well as any that are likely to shake or be pulled in all directions by

wind, wave or rough usage, require secure knots.
As some knots featured in this book are both strong and secure, why use any

other? The simplest knot for the purpose should always be preferred. Knots may
have to be tied in difficult conditions, in the dark, when hands are numb, or body

and brain exhausted, and then simple and familiar knots may be all that will
work. Often, too, a knot is tied by one person but then untied—perhaps to be cast

off in a few life-saving seconds—by someone else. For these reasons, it tends to
be the simplest and commonest knots, bends and hitches, a compromise blend of

strength and security, that are preferred by cautious knot tyers. Of course, there
are occasions when only a more complicated knot will do. Then use it.

Knots are like tools. One might go a lifetime using, misusing and abusing a

saw, a hammer and a screwdriver; but craftsmen and women collect as many
different ones as they can, so as to be able to put their hands on precisely what
they need when they need it. And knots—unlike tools—cost next to nothing to

acquire, and (as they are carried around in one’s head) weigh nothing and need

no large toolbox to hold them.