Sam Fury - Emergency Roping and Bouldering: Survival Roping, Rock-Climbing, and Knot Tying

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Anyone can tie lots of knots, but a proper knot will be stronger and easier to untie.

There are many knots, far too many for the average person to remember. Fortunately, there is no need to remember them all. Just being able to tie a handful of knots is enough to see you through any situation when a knot is needed.

This section explains how to tie 10 knots that are discussed throughout the rest of this manual. They are also useful in everyday life.

These knots are from The Useful Knots Book by Sam Fury.

www.SurvivalFitnessPlan.com/Useful-Knots-Book

KNOT TYING TERMS

For ease of explanation when describing how to tie knots the following terminology will be used.

Any bend in-between the ends of the rope which does not cross over itself.

The point where the rope crosses over itself.

Refers to the weight of the object being secured, e.g., if you are pulling a log then the log is the load.

Similar to a bight but the ends cross over, hence creating a closed circle.

An overhand loop is when the running end lies over the top of the standing part. An underhand loop is opposite (the standing part lies on top of the running end).

A generic term used in this book that refers to cord, rope, string, twine, or whatever material which is being used to tie a knot.

The part of the rope used to tie the knot. Also known as the working end.

The part of the rope other than the running end.

Shock load occurs when there is a sudden increase in load. In such a case the load will be much more than the actual weight of the object. An example of this is when a climber falls and his/her weight suddenly loads the rope.

A single wrap of the rope around an object. A round turn (pictured) is where the object is completely encircled.

10 USEFUL KNOTS

This is the simplest of knots and is the basis of many other knots. An overhand knot is difficult to untie once its tightened.

Make an underhand loop by taking the running end of the rope and passing it under the standing end. Pass the running end though the loop from the front to the back.

Pull both ends to tighten it.

The overhand knot can be made bulkier by passing the running end through the loop more times. Push the first turn into the middle of the knot.

Doing it twice makes a double overhand, and doing it three or more times creates a blood knot.

A bowline is a fixed loop that will neither tighten nor slip under strain. It is good to tie around things you want to secure/tether, such as a raft or a person.

Hold the rope in your right hand, with the standing end at the rear. Make an overhand loop so that the loop faces to the left. Pass the running end up through the loop you made and then around the back of standing end.

The running end then goes over the crossing point and back through the original loop.

To tighten the knot, pull the standing end and the doubled-up running end in opposite directions.

You can finish the bowline off with a stopper (overhand) knot tied against the side of the loop.

Once you can tie the bowline, practice doing it around things. It changes the orientation, so practice is needed.

The butterfly loop (a.k.a. alpine butterfly or linemans loop) is useful for creating a fixed loop in the middle of a rope. Its secure, can be loaded safely in multiple directions, and remains relatively easy to untie even after a heavy load.

Among other things, the butterfly loop is a very good knot to use to shorten a rope or to exclude a damaged section. Doing so is preferable to cutting a rope, since a rejoined rope has less strength.

Get a bight of the rope and twist it twice in the same direction, so you have two crossing points and therefore two loops.