Page 76 - Gibson W.B. "The complete guide to knots"

The Sheepshank

The most famous and useful of
rope "shorteners," this also is a
"strengthener", as it supplies triple
strands at any portion of a single
rope.
Take a bight near the center of a
rope and take another bight in the
FORMA opposite direction, one running
DOUBLE
upward, the other downward (fig. 1).
BIGHT
For simplicity, assume that the
upward bight is at the left, the stand-
ing part of the rope at the right.
Twist the standing part to form an
underhand loop and slip it over the
upward bight, pulling the loop tight
fig. 1
so that it is practically locked in place
(fig- 2).
Now do the same with the downw-
LOOP ard bight, but in reverse fashion. To
OVER
simplify this, turn the rope upside
down so that you will be performing
exactly the same operation as before.
The result is simplicity itself — two
opposite bights in the center of the
rope, each gripped by a Half Hitch
(fig. 3). The harder you pull on the
rope ends, the firmer it becomes. If
there is any danger of a slip, insert
two toggles or bars through the loops
that project from the circling Half
Hitches.

REPEAT HERE
fig. 2

fig. 3