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Posts: 6478 | Location: New Orleans...outside the levees, fishing in the Rigolets | Registered: October 11, 2009
When tying something like that together, I first use a series of half hitches along the length of the bundle, but most important is to finish off with the “parcel bend” knot (extremely useful for other purposes as well):
A couple lengths, about 1/3 in from each end, square (aka: reef) knots. Easy, fast, and functional.
Understand the difference between a square/reef knot and a granny knot--the latter of which a double-slipped version is how most people tie their shoes and is not stable. (Which is why their shoes don't stay tied.)
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe "If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
The "Constrictor Knot" is ideal for this purpose. It consists of a half hitch with an additional bend over the hitch that holds it in place. Tying it requires two loops around the bundle.
I have also used a bowline on the end of the cord and loop the free end through in a rudimentary pulley arrangement. This aids in getting things nice and tight, but puts a lot of strain on the cord due to the two 180 degree bends where the loop bight and free end cross.
A Turk's head would indeed be very attractive, but tying a sizable TH takes a lot of time. The TH's I tied on the ends of my bike handle bars (17 x 8 IIRC) took 40 hours each to tie, double and tighten. This was just to cover the area from the brakes to the end. There are much simpler sennets (e.g. the common braid) that will look almost as decorative, but require far less work.
Posts: 8092 | Location: NoVA | Registered: July 22, 2009
One piece of rope with a clove hitch on each end of the bundle would keep it together and serve as a carry handle.
"The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people." "Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy." "I did," said Ford, "it is." "So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?" "It honestly doesn't occur to them. They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates the government they want." "You mean they actually vote for the lizards." "Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course." "But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?" "Because if they didn't vote for a lizard, then the wrong lizard might get in."
Posts: 3775 | Location: Two blocks from the Center of the Universe | Registered: December 30, 2004
Love bowlines, use them all the time. Use a bowline on the end and a trucker’s hitch to tie down the tarp around the hay stack, but I wouldn’t get that fancy for bundles to sell. Twine tied with square knots should do fine.
Posts: 7850 | Location: Lost, but making time. | Registered: February 23, 2011
Originally posted by drill sgt: "Hatchet Knot"...... requires the use of a "hatchet" to release.... Chuckle / Chuckle........... drill sgt.
Aka: "If you can't tie a knot, tie a lot"
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe "If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
Originally posted by henryaz: Every piece of rope that I own has a bowline on one end.
May I ask why? I like a bowline and can tie one blindfolded with one hand, but really only use it to tie a line around something. I use a figure eight if I want a nonslip loop at the end of a line. If I want to tie a line to something and don’t want to slip, I use a clove hitch followed by two half hitches. Tying a hammock to a tree for example.
Posts: 14778 | Location: SWFL | Registered: October 10, 2007
Originally posted by henryaz: Every piece of rope that I own has a bowline on one end.
May I ask why?
First, I'm not that good [can tie one blindfolded with one hand]. Makes it very easy to start a tie down or bind, then finish the other end with a variety of knots, like clove hitches, constrictor knots, etc. Almost all of my use is binding or tying down a load (same as tying around something). I also use square knots quite a bit.
When in doubt, mumble
Posts: 10887 | Location: South Congress AZ | Registered: May 27, 2006