Page 19 - Peter Randall "The Craft of the Knot.."

work in several different capacities (for instance, to moor a boat), but a
knot like the Reef or Square Knot is unreliable when not used as a
binding knot. Once you understand the function of the knot you learn,
you will know whether it will work in any particular application.

When choosing a knot for a given application, ask yourself the
following questions:

Will the rope be under steady or changing strain?
Will it need to be untied?

Will it need to be tied or untied quickly?
What knots do I know?
How secure does it need to be?
Will others need to tie or untie it?
Will the tension in the rope need to be adjusted later?
Will others have to use it?
Is damaging the rope a concern?

These and many other questions can come into play when you choose
a knot. You will, of course, need to limit your choices to which knots

you know, just as you must choose from your toolbox only tools that are
in it. This leads us to another question you may have been wondering
about: “Which knots should I learn?”

CHOOSING WHICH KNOTS TO LEARN

Many people are quite intimidated by the thought of learning more than
just a couple of knots, or think that it is difficult or time-consuming. So
here are some things to ponder when deciding which ones you want to
learn.

The first thing you may wonder about is how many knots you will
need to know or what is the smallest number that you can get by on. The
number is up to you and may vary depending on your needs. Here is a
possible progression you might consider: A loop knot like the Bowline or

Overhand Loop can serve a number of different applications, and thus
gets you the most mileage from a single knot. Next you should consider
learning other knots from different categories, like bends, hitches, and