Page 95 - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

made and drawn up by completely different meth- Not content merely to make incisive comments,
ods for completely different purposes. Although the Fud set about experimenting with two-strand lan-
Wall and Crown Knot (see Chapter 4, Figure 4-7, yard knots to see if he might surprise another worth-
and Chapter 10, Figures 10-14 and 10-15) predates while bend. Sure enough, the accompanying knot
this bend by centuries, no one had ever considered resulted, which I hereby christen the Benson Bend
using it as anything but a lanyard knot. I’m certain (Figure 3-33). It is secure, has a perfect lead, and
that even Ashley never realized this coincidence of draws up readily; these qualities, combined with its
structure, since his knot was the result of trial and extraordinarily handsome appearance, compensate
error with similar configurations. for a slight tendency to jam—no worse than the
In a subsequent conversation, Fud pointed out Sheet Bend.
that this situation was something Ashley stressed:
The tendency for dormant or underused knots to The Strait Bend
find new uses as time goes on. In this case the devel- My own contribution to the world of bends is this
opment of slippery synthetic rope brought the Ash- one (Figure 3-34), named after the Strait of Juan de
ley Bend to the fore. Fuca in the Pacific Northwest.
This knot, structurally analogous to the Alpine
Butterfly Knot (Figure 3-16), neither slips nor jams.
Figure 3-33. The Benson Bend. Make an Overhand These and other virtues mentioned in connection
Knot, then pass each end over the other’s standing with the previous knots are hard to find in com-
part and up through the middle of the knot. bination, but they must be part of any reasonable

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