Page 39 - Peter Randall "The Craft of the Knot.."

very difficult to untie, especially in twine. The Zeppelin Bend can be
untied easily even after being subjected to great strain.

It often happens that the ropes you want to join will be of different
size or material. Take great care because most bends have very little
security when they are not tied with two identical ropes. There are two
ways of dealing with this. One is to use a knot that is somewhat suited
for ropes of different sizes, such as the Sheet Bend or the Double Sheet

Bend, and the other is to treat the join as if it were a hitch.
The Sheet Bend is commonly used when a rope of larger size is tied to
a smaller one. In this case, the larger cord is the one that is bent into a
U-shape, as you’ll see in the instructions for tying the Sheet Bend later in

this chapter. If the size difference is too large, however, this knot will be
insecure. To help the join handle a bigger size difference, you can use a
Double Sheet Bend. These knots are also popular for ropes that are of
different material. For each circumstance, you must tie and test your join
to determine its suitability.

When the size difference of the ropes to be joined is significant, you
may not want to tie them together at all, but connect them with loops or
hitches. A rope can also be tied to a larger rope with a hitch just as if it
were a pole. This is made easier if there is a loop at the end of the larger

rope to which a smaller rope can be attached with almost any hitch. A
loop can also be tied in each end so that they interlock. The Bowline
Bend is such a join and if the loop knots themselves are secure, this join
is secure regardless of the differences of the two ropes.

INTERLOCKING OVERHAND BENDS

A type of joining knot worth learning is the Interlocking Overhand Bend.
In this type of knot, the end of each rope forms an Overhand Knot, and
they are intertwined. Out of the many different joining knots that can be
made from Interlocking Overhand Knots, four are shown in this chapter:
Ashley’s Bend, Hunter’s Bend, Zeppelin Bend, and Butterfly Bend. These

are all excellent bends, each with its own properties and tying methods.
There are two approaches to tying Interlocking Overhand Knots. One

is to tie an Overhand Knot in one end, and then tie an Overhand in the