Page 24 - Des Pawson "Pocket Guide to Knots & Splices"
P. 24
Equipment
some detergent if it is available. Coil run the rope through your hands
and hang rope up to dry out after several times to get out all the
washing. Even though synthetic rope unwanted twists. If, when you are
will not rot, it is better that it is stored making a coil, the rope starts to build
dry. up a lot of twist, it will help to spin the
Some people find that rope has a whole coil held in your hand to get rid
mind of its own and likes nothing of the kinks as they start to develop.
better that to get into a complete Having made your coil, there are a
tangle. Much of this is due to the way number of ways to keep the coil tidily
that rope is coiled and uncoiled, in its place, so that when the time
because when doing this a degree of comes, it is easily used. The coil can be
twist is imparted to the rope. It is, tied up in three or four places with thin
therefore, important to coil and uncoil pieces of line or “stops.” This is often
the rope in the appropriate manner to how rope is delivered from the makers.
keep this twist to a minimum. Always The tail end of the rope may be used to
uncoil a new Z-laid rope in an self-stop the rope, giving a round coil.
anticlockwise direction. Likewise, The buntline or gasket coil is another
whenever the rope is coiled up, do that way of storing the rope in a tidy and
in a clockwise direction. Of course, accessible manner, this time in a
should you ever come across S-laid “hank” form. Whether you use the
rope, deal with it in exactly the oppo¬ self-stop coil or the buntline coil, if the
Pocket Guide to Knots & Splices
site manner. For braided rope, either tail end is used as a bight to make the
use the special figure-of-eight method stop, you will be left with a convenient
of coiling or the flake method. These loop from which to hang the coil. For
coiling methods balance the twist in illustrations of these techniques see
the rope. If for some reason you must pages 24-25.
make a plain circular coil with braided There is an old seafarers’ saying
rope, make absolutely certain that that goes something like, “every hair a
when the coil is uncoiled it is done in rope yarn, every finger a marlinespike,
the opposite way to which it was their blood is Stockholm tar.” The tar
coiled. Whatever method you use, if used for preserving the rope was used
you get kinks and twists in any rope, so much that a sailor would always
22
