Page 77 - Bob Holtzman "The Field Guide to Knots How to Identify.."

Either way you wash the rope, don’t dry it in a clothes dryer. Hang it in garlands

from a line and allow it to air dry completely before coiling it for storage.

Cutting Rope
Natural fiber ropes must be cut with a knife, while most synthetics can also be
melted in two with a heated blade. Almost any folding or fixed-blade knife will
do, as long as it has a very sharp plain-edged blade. Serrated blades cut more

quickly and are good for emergency and rescue situations, but they leave ragged,
frayed ends.

Many stores that sell rope by the foot or the meter off of reels have electric hot-

knives (also known as guillotines) to cut synthetic rope, and some allow their
customers to use them. (Do not use an electric hot-knife for natural fiber rope.)
To use one, turn it on and wait a minute or so for it to reach operating
temperature. Press the rope gently and squarely against the blade and the heat
will immediately begin melting the fibers. Press slowly so that the fibers are
melted together on both sides of the cut. This effectively prevents the rope from
fraying. Don’t touch the melted ends for several seconds, as they will be hot.
Remember to turn the device off when you’re done.

Electric hot-knives are not practical for outdoor use, but you can achieve the
same results by heating a knife blade until very hot over the flame of a gas
camping stove and then immediately applying it to the rope. This is best done
with a cheap knife with a long blade, heating it mainly near the tip of the blade.
The heat could possibly damage the temper of the blade, so you don’t want to
use a good knife, and it could damage the handle too, so you don’t want to use a
knife with a short blade, like most pocket knives.

Preventing Fraying

Never cut a rope without first securing both sides of the cut to prevent
unraveling. This applies even to cheap, consumable rope, because a frayed end
quickly reduces any rope’s usable length and makes it difficult or impossible to
work with.

Short of a back splice, which we don’t cover, whipping is the only good, nearly
permanent method to prevent natural fiber rope unraveling, and a very attractive
option for synthetics as well. For whipping instructions, see Part 9.

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