Page 82 - Peter Randall "The Craft of the Knot.."

Chapter 5

SIMPLE LASHINGS

For our ancestors, a simple lashing meant the difference between
swinging a sharp rock and swinging an ax. This skill remains important
today, if not for axes, for lashing together poles and tying up packages
and bundles.

You can use lashing bundles to secure a single object, like a box or
rolled-up sleeping bag. Or you can group a stack of items, like books or

newspapers. The rope or string itself can serve as a handle to lift the
object. String or small cordage is often used in place of wire to bundle
items in industrial applications, because wire can do more damage to
any machinery it gets caught in.

Lashing two or more poles together can be very useful for both
construction and repair—to give more length or to make scaffolding,
ladders, or makeshift furniture. Poles can be lashed parallel to each
other or at right angles.

Key to making a pole lashing is the concept of the frapping turn—that
is, tight wraps of the cord around the pole. While the multiple wraps
around two poles provide the structural strength that a lashing needs,
the frapping constricts the wraps and creates the tension that holds them
in place. If the poles are tied together parallel to each other as in the

Sheer Lashing, the wraps must be loose enough to allow a couple of
frapping turns to pass between them.

If you’re attempting to lash poles that are not exactly parallel or at
right angles to one another, position them parallel and loosely tie a
Sheer Lashing. The lashing will tighten as the poles are twisted open.
You can do this with three poles to make a tripod.

DIAGONAL LASHING