UKC

Simples..

What is the coolest knot that 'you' can tie and why is it so cool?

This doesn't have to descend into who knows the most esoteric of concoctions to see who knows the most knots, it can stay a simple personal journey of what you like best.

For me the coolest knot that I can tie is a simple clove hitch. That puppy has so many uses that I'd say it was the mother of all knots.

I used to be able to tie a butterfly knot but I've forgotten how to do it and in truth I only ever used it once out in the real world.

In reply to The Lemming:
Num Num does a cool version of the disappearing Munter hitch, he thinks he's got it right, then once it's weighted, abracadabra! it turns to nothing.

In reply to birdie num num:

Lemming, too, likes that pesky little knot.

In reply to The Lemming: Double figure 8. Not supremely practical (though good for equalising in certain circumstances), but it does look like a rabbit... (I have a very low mental age). Agree with you about butterfly, I'd probably just use a Fig 8 on a bight. I'm sure someone will explain why both these choices are crap in due course

Monkeys Fist...perfect for knocking someone out......

In reply to The Lemming:

I'm rather fond of overhands... Utter simplicity and can be adapted to do just about anything you like. I suppose its more of a group of knots but hey.

In reply to The Lemming:


I'd agree with the clove hitch. As you say, loads of uses and it's so simple

In reply to The Lemming: hitches are not knots.

(someone had to play pedant, so it might as well be me)

In reply to StevieD:

yup, great knot.

In reply to The Lemming:

I'll say prussick seeing as though it hasn't been said yet. Just cause of it's simplicity and ability to ascend or descend the rope safely using them.

In reply to The Lemming:

The zeppelin bend, as popularised by John Bonham.

In reply to The Lemming:

bowline - I use this to tie into my harness, always. Easy to untie even if severely loaded. Can also be tied on a bite (in slings or rope) to form a simpler version of the fig8 on a bite (easier to adjust the rabbit's ears)

In reply to The Lemming: One raher enjoys the alpine butterfly. Last time one asked some SPA dudes how it should be done, stood back and was most entertained by various versions by different SPAs... Fisitcuffs was only just averted.

In reply to The Lemming:
Any knot tied while winter climbing. Usually ends up so cool that it gets completely frozen.

In reply to The Lemming:

I have to say an Alpine Butterfly, its a great knot for when your mate leaves his chalk bag at the bottom of an indoor route aand there is a top rope on the route next to him.

In reply to The Lemming: the double windsor.

In reply to The Lemming:
One handed bowline. Not that I've ever had to use it in anger, but it's good for showing off.

In reply to wayno265:

points.

the coolest climbing knot (rather than social climbing) id agree is the clove hitch - tied with the magic twist method and dressed with 2 confident yanks, before a group of novices.

slip-bowline is very cool - especially during rescue, onto someones harness.

alpine butterfly done single handed is cool to watch - unless its me doing it when it just undermines anyones confidence in my abilities.

In reply to ice.solo: Single handed alpine butterfly?! (falls to knees, chanting not worthy, not worthy)

In reply to Hooo:

Ditto, my scouting world was split into those who could tie a one-handed bowline and those who couldn't. I have used one to tie myself to the top of an abseiling tower while holding a mug of tea.

In reply to Clarence: Sounds character building..

In reply to MonkeyPuzzle:

Yeah, that one for me too.

In reply to The Lemming:

I like the Carrick Bend - its a beatifully symetric knot when tied - although my success rate at tying it correctly are fairly low so I never use it for anything serious.

In reply to The Lemming:

Clove hitch for its simplicity, near symmetry and utility.

In reply to The Lemming:
The Ericson Hopping Hitch aka Jam Sandwich Knot. Except on Tuesdays, when I prefer the Thrappleworth Hitch.

In reply to The Lemming:

Frost knot

In reply to Hooo:

I struggle to tie a bowline any way other than one handed. I guess it's just how I was taught to tie it.

Anyway, my favourite knot is the Strangle Knot, although I've yet to find a use for it when climbing.

In reply to StevieD:

I can tie this too. Took me a while to master but is deffo the coolest knot.

In reply to The Lemming:
sheepshank.

In reply to The Lemming:

I'm a big fan of the alpine butterfly myself. They just look nice

In reply to ice.solo: I'm going to call bullsh!t on that one, alpine butterfly absolutely, but seriously one handed???

How
LD

In reply to The Lemming: I learnt a versatackle knot some years ago, and I am goig to see if I can tie it again this weekend

In reply to davidbeynon:

I used to be able to tie a figure 8 by flicking the rope catching a bit then flicking my wrist again and magically appeared a figure 8 - couldn't do it now, but might practice to show off at the wall.

In reply to sutty:


To be honest I thought this was going to be a joke thread with something like that as the punch line.

A bit like 'who's the best person in the hospital?' - The ultra sound guy.


To the OP - ok, put me down for clove hitch too.

In reply to The Lemming: I like the look of a hangmans noose although it looses it's intimidating factor when tied with multi coloured climbing rope.

In reply to The Lemming:

Alpine Butterfly... because I get to make little rope spectacles and a droopy nose whilst tying it.

In reply to The Lemming:

Unlikely to ever have a use in climbing, but I like the Harvester Hitch - creating a mechanical advantage without a block and tackle..... very cool (I should get out more....)

In reply to The Lemming:

Has to be the bottle/jar knot.
Cool because it has so many uses (usually associated with bottles of jars!!) and not many people have come accross it.

In reply to sdw7300:

You have a point though - quite funny to watch a mate trying to tie something to a trailer or roof rack. Why use one knot (harvester hitch) when thirty thousand half hitches do just as well!

In reply to wrapped in bacon:

"Why use one knot (harvester hitch) when thirty thousand half hitches do just as well!"

If you can't tie knots, tie lots!

In reply to The Lemming: new to climbing and new to this site so thought I'd
start with one of the itellectual debates. The knot you use to tie your shoe
laces (whatever it's called) used by millions every day.

In reply to johnnyslowfeet:


You are actually tieing a figure of eight knot. Just don't use the figure of eight knot for joining ropes for an abseil though, as it is dangerous.

Hopefully this subject won't denigrate into the Knot of Death flame.

In reply to The Lemming:

"You are actually tieing a figure of eight knot"

Aren't your laces tied using a double slipped reef knot?

In reply to The Lemming: It's a toss up for me between the clove hitch and munter hitch.

On a less sensible note, my favorite fictitious rope contortions are the Torq Break and Corny Hitch.

A few years ago a group of us where chewing the cud over dinner in a Swiss Hut and one of our number (one of those gullible, all-the-gear-no-idea types) went for a piss so we concocted a wind-up. He'd not been climbing for a few years and we decided we needed to give him some pointers as to what we were going to be doing the next day and so the discussion turned into knots / hitches.

I decided to try and catch him out by making up some names and I all had to draw inspiration from where a Torq energy bar and a Corny cereal bar laying on the table! Obviously not wanting to appear to not know what he was doing, when questioned, he clearly remembered using the Corny Hitch and Torq Break many years earlier!! Oh how the rest of us laugh to this day; the chap in question is still none the wiser!!

Cheers,
Jamie

In reply to Jimbo C:

http://www.student.virginia.edu/~brmrg/knots/FTL/frost.html
http://www.climbing.com/print/techtips/ttaid216/

In reply to Jimbo C:
Although if he's unavailable the hip replacement guy's pretty cool as well.

Having googled one handed alpine butterfly that's the one I'm going for. But my vote doesn't count for the OP as I can't tie it.

In reply to Lurking Dave:

dont call it till you see it.

sadly i cant do it well enough to impress people, but it goes something like this:

grap bite with thumb & forefinger.
two big loose twists to make to big loose loops.
reach and grab the bottom cross-over, pulling the loop you are holding below it.
using your middle finger, stick it thru and hook the loop youve bought down and and pull it thru (thats the tricky part).
dress by yanking the two non-loop bits, which in real life hopefully would have tension going to one to pull against.

terrible description, but its not actually hard - try it.
whats hard is doing it for real when the ropes not nicely laid out across your lap.

In reply to The Lemming:

I enjoy showing off tying a bowline with one hand, or even throwing it into shape. Usually done when sailing rather than climbing though.

In reply to Clarence:

I can do one of them behind my back! oooo yeah!

In reply to The Lemming: A double Windsor.

If one is going to wear a tie, one should make the effort to tie it correctly.

Climbing-wise, I've always thought the figure 8 knot, though ubiquitous, to be a fine-looking thing if done properly.

T.

In reply to The Lemming:

After using it in anger for the first time, having fumbled my belay device off of great ledge, I have to say the munter. Thanks to the UKC "what happens if you drop your belay device" thread for clueing me into that one.

Clove is still an absolute winner though.

In reply to Pursued by a bear:
If one is a Bootneck then the half-windsor is the knot of choice.

In reply to Pursued by a bear: The only tie knot is a peel knot.

In reply to ice.solo:

"alpine butterfly done single handed is cool to watch"

Ha, but can you tie a Trefoil or a Gordian knot?

In reply to The Lemming: clove hitch one handed my vote

In reply to The Lemming:

Monkey's fist's the most fun to tie.

(Also, to nobody in particular, it's 'bight of rope', not bite.)

In reply to PM:

Could be a bite of rope if you're biting a bight of rope (as frequently done when clipping by folk who don't value their teeth)...

In reply to The Lemming:

Monkey's fist gets my vote

In reply to StevieD:

This.For the exact same reason!

In reply to The Lemming:

Just to be pedantic (I know Henwardian already has been) a hitch is not a knot. The key difference is that a hitch will fall apart if it is not tied around something. A knot will stay in place with only the rope.

As for my favourite, my vote goes for the Monkey's Fist as well. I used to enjoy tieing it but haven't done for years.

Mehmet

In reply to The Lemming: I had to learn a tautline the other day for my tarp - cracking knot and I'm sure I'll use it for loads of things

In reply to Mehmet Karatay:

Just to be pedantic, that's not quite true. A half hitch is tied around something, but take that something away and the half hitch does not fall apart, it becomes an overhand knot.

In reply to The Lemming:

Single handed clove hitch, even better when hanging from a hold.

In reply to The Lemming:

ermmmm, depends on how you tie it! rethreading it inline is ok

In reply to The Lemming:

I can tie a double figure eight in my man parts.

In reply to anonymouse: Pfft, I can do a monkeys fist- painful, but has its uses

In reply to JBlackout:

That just sounds soooo wrong.

In reply to anonymouse:

I bow to the master

In reply to The Lemming: You've got to love the no Knot. It's almost magic and doesn't reduce the strength of the rope. I love it. (maybe not for climbing though!)

In reply to The Lemming:
Mrs. Num Num's favourite knot is a Tongue Lashing

In reply to MJ:

nice.

the trefoil. easy once youve consulted either schrodinger or the book of kells for directions.

the gordian im great at tying - untying? just cut it.

In reply to The Lemming:

The one that works.

ALC

In reply to The Lemming: How about a Spurlash?

In reply to The Lemming:


Not really a knot... the Jug Sling.

See... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jug_sling

It's "cool" because I haven't a clue how it works; i.e. how the cord remains around the top of the bottle despite considerable force being applied.

In reply to The Lemming: well the coolest knot for me would have to be the one that my rope gets in every time i get it out my rope bag! its nay un bullet proof and you need to be a bondage expert to untie it

In reply to climbtherock: No one has mentioned prusiks yet? The French prusik is a favourite.

In reply to riddle:

Ha ha I was waiting for that one, I hear it gets used alot in sailing?

I have to say my vote goes to the wonderfully named European Death Knot! I take a perverse pleasure in trusting everything to that simple overhand on every abseil I do. It actually makes alot of sense to use it and I'm sure its as safe as it needs to be, but it still makes me giggle every tme I tie it.

In reply to The Lemming: A shoe lace

In reply to The Lemming:

I just googled the monkey fist cos I had no idea what it was and I just found this website:

http://www.animatedknots.com/fig8join/index.php?Categ=climbing&LogoImag...

I thought you shouldn't join 2 ropes together with fig 8?

In reply to staceyjg:


OK if the ropes are the same diameter; if not, use the double fisherman's.

...used it many a time in caving (to join SRT ropes mid-abseil); you leave the lower tail over-long and tie an overhand knot (or fig8) as a safety clip-in.

In reply to The Lemming:

I can tie a bowline round my waist one-handed in just over a second. I always though it'd be handy if you have to jump from a plane/bridge/cliff with a rope in the hand a-la Bond, but in 25 years i never had the balls to attempt it...

If anyone fancy trying jumping on a bridge swing unroped here is how it's done youtube.com/watch?v=nANgddfbkb8&

As a side note, how anyone would let their kids alone with this guy is beyond me.

EDIT- Ooops, just seen it's been mentioned before.

In reply to rock gobbler: I teach knots as part of my job and can't help giving this knot out for homework!

The Matthew Walker Knot is a great knot as has a very cool story behind it.

In reply to The Lemming:

forgotten your full body harness?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/diana_blackwell/2896800137/

erm... <bows head in naughty schoolboy manner>

In reply to rock gobbler:

Its not clear that European Death Knot unambiguously refers to the overhand knot (which I think is the offset ring bend) - but lets knot go there !

In reply to birdie num num:


followed by seizing and whipping ?

In reply to What Goes Up:

anuy vote on this one's going to be a tie

In reply to The Lemming:

Not sure about the coolest knot, but ceratinly the most aesthetic and enjoyable would be the Shibari

In reply to staceyjg:

You're thinking of the Euro Death Knot (though confusingly the overhand knot, which is ok, is also often called the EDK).

In that the two ropes are tied er.. in parallel rather than being joined end-end, if you see what I mean. The two ropes emerge from the same side of the knot (and the short tails emerge together from the other). Its dodgy with a fig-8 because the knot can 'roll' and in doing so may move far enough along the ropes to drop off the end. An overhand won't roll so far, so with good long tails its ok.

In reply to dyno-sore:

Blimey. More macramé than shibari, that looks like it takes *ages*.
I see Christopher Eccleston has let himself go a bit since he finished with Dr Who.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/diana_blackwell/2897637566