9 thoughts on “Knots”

  1. When we are sailing with friends with less experience we like to say, “if you can’t tie a good knot then tie lots of them”.

  2. As a Boy Scout, I had to learn the first 10 by heart. After the 10th one on this list, the only one I recognize is the sheepshank (the very similar shawshank has some redeeming features). But, like semaphore (which I learned in half an hour and won that part of our Jamboree), I can remember only the names. I remember how to tie maybe three or four of them.

    1. Is that by rote?

      I’ve had 0.002378 slugs per cubic foot stuck in my head ever since I was little. One day I’ll learn it in metric.

        1. Yes, that’s it. Using slugs/ft^3 let me calculate lift and drag from area in square feet and velocity in feet per second. I ran sea level air density through my pocket calculator so many times that it got stuck in my head.

    1. I used to use the running knot all the time on our farm because it holds well when drawn tight and can be undone with a single pull and an unwrap. My ex-Navy Dad taught me that one. His Blue Handbook was full of cool stuff, like how to coil a rope into a perfect spiral on the deck, etc. I’ve forgotten it all and the book was tossed in a family move when I was a kid.

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