Useful knots

[metridium]

The knots and applications below could be quite useful for any OW diver who's trying to make things a bit easier and simpler, as well as those thinking of transitioning to a more technical configuration.

The single most useful knot I've found for rigging gear is the Zeppelin Bend. It's ideal for making loops and use with shockcord/bungee. For instance, I used it to

• Replace the strap on my SK-7 wrist compass with two loops of bungee. Getting the compass on over my drysuit and gauntlets is sooo much easier now, and it's more secure, too.
• Secure my inflator hose to the left chest D-ring. The Zeppelin bend seems impervious to the tugging stresses that did in the manufacturer's original knot. Are you listening, Halcyon?
• Create two sturdy loops in my drysuit pocket for clipping off items like shears, SMB, and spool, etc. I simply burned two holes with a soldering iron, tied off the loops, and was finished in a couple minutes.

The Fisherman's Bend is excellent for adding boltsnaps to equipment. Just run three loops through the eye of the snap and around the item you're connecting it to, tie it off, and then lock in the knot with superglue. I used it on my:

• backup lights
• SPG hose
• long hose primary

The Figure 8 Knot and the Multiple Overhand Knot* were very useful for replacing the strap on my wrist computer. Unlike my compass, there was no way to use loops, so I snipped the strap and burned two holes on each end of the remaining strap with the soldering iron, then ran two bungee segments between them. The Figure 8 is fine by itself if that's all the bungee you'll need.

If you might be moving to a thicker wet- or drysuit, though, you could leave the bungee strips longer, and use the Multiple Overhand Knot* to take up the slack in the meantime.

*I haven't found a good site for this knot using a single line yet. Instead, follow these directions from the Morrow Guide to Knots, p.38: "Start with an overhand knot, make three or four additional turns with the end, wrap snugly. This is very important to the success of the knot. Draw the knot up well by pulling both ends with a sharp jerk.

 

[Ontario Diver]

Don't forget knots for being on boats...

Clove hitch, Bowline (and the one-handed bowline!) , the correct way to tie off to a cleat, sheetbend , and the round turn with two half hitches.

Whee - Time is scouts is never wasted.

ut:

 

[metridium]

Ontario Diver wrote...
Don't forget knots for being on boats...

Whee - Time is scouts is never wasted.

Testament of a misspent youth: I missed out on both scouting and boating.

 

[Genesis]

lots of people use it for tying off around a piling.

That is a VERY bad idea; I've seen boats float out into the middle of the fairway at the marina that way or get bashed during a storm when it slipped on them. The worst part of it is that there are only about a half-a-hundred better ways to do the same job. :bonk:

For a temporary tie-up instead take the pre-spliced end, push the line through (making a loop) and toss that around the piling. Pull tight and then secure the bitter end on the cleat. Now neither end can come loose.

For a permanent dockline I take a couple of turns around the piling and then secure the end with a couple of half-hitches. Make sure you have the length right, then wrap the flying end with electrical tape, cut it to length, and sear the end. The pre-spliced loop is the boat end. The load is taken by the wraps and the line, not the knot (the half-hitches just keep it from slipping); this costs you almost nothing in line strength, which is important if you expect to survive a storm on those lines. This is excellent (and far faster for inexperienced people on your boat to handle when you come back in) provided you don't need to be able to make significant tidal adjustments. If you do, then see above; you need the bitter end on board in that situation.

 

[Bob3]

Here's a very handy page for learning how to bend a line properly: http://131.230.57.1/knots.htm

 

[The Chairman]

but they leave out the grape knot, which is my knot for securing equipment. Also, I still love the reef knot, and the rewoven figure-8. Add the Trucker's hitch for lashing things down and you have the knots that I use most often. Yes, I have been known to teach knots during the safety stop... :tease:

Of course, I belonged at one time to the Knothead Patrol...
Knot here, Knot now, Knot ever... Knotheads!!!

 

[metridium]

I should add that the Morrow Guide to Knots has been very helpful in demonstrating these knots, especially if you don't have a nautical or scouting background. I picked the book up on sale in a mall bookstore, and it's great having a hardcopy reference always on hand. It doesn't have the Zeppelin Bend, though, so you'll just have to memorize that one.

 

[metridium]

Pete, is that grape knot the same as the grapevine/double fisherman's knot?

Also, how's the rewoven Figure 8 different from the original?

 

[leadweight]

Hey Met,

thanks for the good info on knots. Sorry, I cant say more right now, but I am all tied up

 

[The Chairman]

is also known as the Double Fisherman's knot. The fisherman's knot is really only two overhand knots that run into each other... Here is an URL for Climbing knots .

This More Climbing Knots URL calls the rewoven figure 8 a re-threaded figure 8. It is different from a double figure eight, in that it is usually threaded through something before the reweaving takes place. This is far superior to the bowline in that it does not weaken the line as muchl.

Here are some links to the Trucker's Hitch and another trucker's hitch

Knot Here, Knot Now, Knot Ever... Knotheads!!!