Thread: What rope and knots do you use when hunting

I thought I would re-activate this thread from 2019 having missed the opportunity to post at the time. I can’t remember how to tie many knots, and not if they are seldom used. A dozen knots is about my limit. A long as I know how to tie something roughly appropriate when needed, I figure that is sufficient. It helps that my knot requirements are pretty basic. I can’t afford to double up on function by learning two knots that don’t have a significant point of difference.

So with this in mind, I recently spent a bit of time re-visiting a few knots and refining what should make an updated shortlist to memorise. I’ve ended up picking a set of knots that I think provide good functionality–to–complexity for each task, along with giving my reason/s for using them. Most have been covered by other members in earlier posts — good knots are clearly worth knowing.

Basic Knots

Half Hitch. Often several half-hitches are all that is required. A knot essential for locking off a line. Regularly used here for tying the tarp down over the trailer.

Reef Knot. Another essential knot, mainly used for what is apparently called “binding”— although I see in the world of knots there are also “whippings” and “seizings”, who would have thought, though I now see some earlier posts mention these? What is clear from very little reading about the Reef Knot is that this should be tied in preference to the Granny Knot, being less prone to slipping. The explanation being because when the loops squeeze the tails and the standing ends together, they do this with the pairs running parallel together on both sides, meaning more friction. In a Granny Knot the tails and the standing ends cross at right angles, so less contact area. This difference would likely be most noticeable with something like monofilament where the line retains its circular cross–section resulting in just points of contact in the Granny.

Adding an extra initial turn when binding will hold tension better while the second half of the knot is applied, and this then becomes the Surgeon’s Knot.
When both tails are formed into quick-release “bights”, the Reef Knot becomes the Shoelace Bow or Double–Slipped Reef Knot. So really it seems everyone already knows how to tie a Reef Knot. Again, a Bow tied as an extension of a Reef Knot with bights should be more secure than a Granny Knot tied with bights, though this seems to be more noticeable with some types of shoe laces. If this is new information, you may on consideration review the way you tie your shoes after all these years — as I had to.

End Loop Knots

My knot–count–reduction strategy requires a single non-slipping knot for forming both a loose loop and also for tying around anchor points but without cinching up. If climbing was my thing, then the Figure–Eight would have to be my end loop knot. My life doesn’t routinely hang on the reliability of my loop knots though. So other than occasionally using the F8 as a stopper knot I discarded it and also the Hansen Knot as options, since when being tied around a captive anchor point they both need a pre-tied knot to get started rather than using a one-step tying process.

I’m not keen to pass over the Bowline after so many years of use and the resulting familiarity with tying it. A strength over the Figure–Eight — but also a known weakness — is being able to easily work the knot loose to untie. For nearly all applications I have for a loop knot the Bowline has been fine, but this potential instability when tension comes on and off with some types of rope can be a problem. Just recently I had @c-dogs printed lens cover he’d sent me for the Sytong become detached twice from the monocular when in use, losing the bowline once at each end when the cover was dangling on 1.5mm venetian blind cord. The other less than ideal feature of the standard Bowline is having the tail finish inside the loop, though this can be fixed with the Dutch Bowline or the Cossack Bowline variations.

So I’m sticking with the basic Bowline for my choice of a loop, but then need a way of adding an extra layer of security to the knot on the occasions needed rather than changing to a different but inherently more secure knot. Ideally this is added with just one additional step. Options given consideration in the past were extending the Bowline to the Double Bowline, adding a Yosemite Finish, a Rethreaded Bowline, and the End Bound Single Bowline (EBSB). Any of these also have the added benefit of moving the tail out of the loop to instead exit parallel to the standing line.
The extra tie–off I now remember is to form the Scott’s Locked Bowline.

Joining Two Lines

I can’t really get away with just one knot for this task. My starting preference is for the Zeppelin Bend over the Hunter’s Bend because it can be untied relatively easily. The only real issue with either being the direction of the tails if the finished rope has to be coiled. It’s a great looking knot though and good for tying temporary loops.

Permanent joining of two ropes can be with the Double Fisherman’s as that fixes the problem with the direction of the tails for later maintenance and storage of the lengthened rope. For making permanent loops out of cord when needed, say for Prusik loops.

I think the Sheet Bend should be included in the list as a knot staple — for mixed rope sizes, and of course for securing sheet materials (and for hanging pillow cases filled with venison), but I add the extra turn for a Double Sheet Bend — easy to add, more secure we are told, so why not?

The last bend on my list , but I only use it with fishing monofilament leaders, is the Blood Knot, and where the split of number of turns on each side tends to be pretty variable depending on where the “opening ” for the tails ends up appearing in the twisted pair — and occasionally it takes seemingly forever to manipulate the lines into offering up such an opening for the tails to be fed through, which isn’t ideal under pressure, hopefully while the targeted trout continues to feed on, oblivious of such difficulties.

Mid-Rope Loop

This can also can be used for isolating damage in a rope or perhaps for shortening (similar function to the Sheep Shank though nowhere near as tidy), and the Alpine Butterfly is chosen here over the Double Dragon, because it’s symmetrical. As for the actual tying of this knot: using the loose figure– of–eight layout for tying the Butterfly seems to become rather tricky with springy rope, as any torsion down the rope has a tendency to stop the loops from staying in place. In this case it is certainly easier to use the method where the non-tying hand acts as a former on which to wrap and hold the loops. A link to one of the many hand–wrap method tutorials here:
https://www.animatedknots.com/alpine...rfly-loop-knot
I also use the Alpine Butterfly to replace the basic Slip Knot when securing items with a Trucker’s Hitch, because the loop of the Alpine Butterfly is secure in either direction so it saves figuring out which way the normal slip knot needs to be tied — a slip knot only works when tied in one of the two orientations in the Trucker’s Hitch.

Attaching a Fishing Hook

Uni Knot versus Clinch Knot? The Clinch is easier to tie as the either the hook can be rotated or the working end repeatedly twisted around the standing to create the required turns. This rather than needing to thread the line through an opening multiple times, if that makes sense? Specifically with monofilament line both types of knot apparently end up having a similar strength, so I use the Clinch Knot, and occasionally tuck the tail back through the loop to form what is apparently call an Improved Clinch Knot.

Static Hitch Knots

I don’t really have any applications for a binding knot or static hitch knot where tension will be applied at right angles to the lie of the anchor point. It always seems easier – at least for the initial tying rather than untying – to just pass the rope only once around the object being secured to, and then instead tie some sort of tensioning or slip knot back on the rope itself and then cinch this up.

The Clove Hitch wouldn’t be under consideration anyway, being short of a turn in my view to be grouped with secure hitches. There are plenty of clips online showing the Clove Hitch being worked loose by jiggling the standing end. The Constrictor is discarded — undeniably secure but too difficult to undo. It comes down to choosing between a Rolling Hitch, a Groundline Hitch or a Snuggle Hitch. Hitches where the tail is trapped under the first turn of the standing end rather than under a secondary turn seem more secure, and if I had to limit myself to memorising just the one hitch knot, choosing between the the Groundline/Spar/Bag Hitch or Snuggle Hitch, the Snuggle Hitch — tied with an extra turn as an extension to the Clove Hitch — would be my choice. It doesn’t make the list but gets an honourable mention nonetheless.

Friction Knot

Now these I do use! For forming slide–and–grip adjustable loop knots for tensioning tent and tarp lines, and where the knots are tied back around the standing end of the line.
Simple friction variants for guylines are the Magnus Hitch, Taut Line Hitch, Midshipman’s Hitch, and the Adjustable Grip Hitch. Research seems to point to the Midshipman’s biting a little more, but these are all pretty functional in my experience when tied in flexible cord, and conversely all pretty useless with more rigid rope. In this case a separate cord loop tied with a Prusik is probably called for.
Looking at some more complex friction knots, I have found dressing the Farrimond Knot to get a properly functioning knot too tricky for me, but others like it. Blake’s Hitch seems pretty secure but with extra complexity. From all of these the Midshipman’s is the one to make the list. Does the job, easier to tie.

The other type of friction knot I might only occasionally need, are the ones that take lengthwise strain when wrapped around a pole or post. I’m thinking of the Pipe Hitch, Icicle Hitch, and the Gripping Sailor’s Hitch. They all seem much the same; five lays of the rope around the item and then with different tie-offs. I’ll look these up when needed.

However, because the Prusik Knot is so versatile, it gets tacked on the end of the list. It will still work when the main line is a more rigid material, so has cross-over between the two types of friction knot described above, and unlike all the others is bi-directional.


List

Half Hitch
Reef knot (and with double bights = shoelace bow)
Bowline (and Scott’s Locked variation)
Zeppelin Bend
Fisherman’s Bend
Double Sheet Bend
Blood Knot
Clinch Knot
Alpine Butterfly
Midshipman’s Hitch
Prusik Hitch

Honourable mentions: Snuggle Hitch, Double Dragon