Knots

Introduction

Knowing how to correctly tie knots will serve you well in many areas of wilderness craft, as well as in modern-day living. If you learn to tie different knots, a simple piece of rope or string can have countless helpful applications.
You can use ropes and knots to make all kinds of cool and useful things: hinges, pulleys, winches, weapons, shields, shoes, and even clothing. Knowing how to tie the correct knots will help you climb trees, build shelters, capture fish, and set up rope swings over swimming holes.
In today’s world, it is easy to use things like duct tape and zip ties to fasten things, but these options can only be used one time. Relying on them limits your capabilities. It also disrespects Nature and the Earth by creating unnecessary waste. Rope or cordage, on the other hand, can be reused hundreds of times if you take good care of them.
Choose a knot that sounds interesting to you. Once you can tie it with your eyes closed, move onto another knot until you have tied them all.

Here are a few important terms to learn:

Bight: a section of rope that is bent into a “U” shape and does not cross itself.

Dressing: arranging the rope so the knot is tight, wraps lie neatly next to each other and no parts of the knot are loose or sticking out.

Frapping: loops coiled perpendicularly around a lashing as a means of tightening.

Lashing: when rope is used to secure two or more items together securely.

Loop: a circle in a rope formed by crossing the working end over the rest of the rope.

Standing End: the part of the rope that is not active when tying a knot.

Tail: the small bit of the standing end of your rope that is leftover after tying a knot.

Working End: the part of a rope that is active when tying a knot.

Wrap: wrap the working end of the rope halfway around the main rope for a half wrap. Wrap it all the way around for a full wrap.