2018 venture vermont: learn to tie three knots, working edition

yeah, i know they put "learn to tie new knots" in two different columns, but i am trying real hard to become expert in knots both for myself and as part of my girl scout work.

there are a number of craft projects that are traditional to camp that require knotting, but more importantly, there are a lot of things you can do in life if only you know how to tie five or six important knots.

if you go shopping and need to haul something on the top of your car, you'll always be prepared if you know some basic knots. if you're outdoors and a storm blows up, if you have a tarp and some rope you're sheltered.

and maybe in your modern life you can get by without them, but i firmly believe that having some practical skills make people feel competent in a world that is sometimes threatening.

i have this friend who so far declines to learn proper knots, deciding to get on with some overhand knots or not-really-hitches. we were hauling some recreational gear up a hill on sleds and i did mine up with a bowline and a girth hitch, a turn or two, and a trucker hitch. i got my sled up the hill and then turned around to help carry the stuff that fell off my friend's sled, because of course while she had managed to tie the sled and the things on it together, she had not used friction or opposing forces to keep her stuff ON the sled, so it became a matter of the things falling off and dragging behind in the snow.

the more you learn about how knots work, the more you begin to appreciate some of the more specialized knots.

plus if the venture challenge wants you to learn NEW knots every year, you have to branch out.

so for this year:

often when you tie a knot you put in what's called a stopper knot at the end just in case. this is especially important if you're supporting the weight of anything important. you just put a knot in the end of the rope to keep the loose end from sliding through in case the knot loosens.

there are a lot of different stopper knots; a lot of times a simple overhand knot will do just fine. sometimes you need something a little beefier or want something a little fancier looking, so i learned to tie a new stopper knot.

this is a double figure eight. (ABOK #523)

even people who have never tied a bowline know that a bowline is a thing, because it's an awesome knot. it's strong, it's pretty simple, and it comes untied pretty well even after having been under load. but you need to be at the end of a rope to tie a bowline.

or do you?

because you can tie a bowline on a bight (ABOK #1081) and use the two strands of the loop as one, or you can use them as two rigid loops, provided the pull on each is roughly alike.

this is a good knot in general if you need a loop somewhere in the middle of the rope, but it is a dandy emergency rescue harness.  modern rescue equipment has webbing and buckles, but in a pinch this will do, as it

did on sailing vessels back in the day. to use it for a rescue harness, the injured person (if conscious) put a leg through each loop and hangs onto the standing end. if unconscious, a single hitch would be placed around the chest and under the armpits. it wouldn't be comfy, but it could be done in a hurry and sometimes that's what counts.

and if you've ever tried to throw a rope over a tree limb to hang a bear bag or pitch a tarp, or if you want to toss something in the water with a rock to weight it down, you may have realized that you can't just put a loop on it and expect it to work.

this is why we have the killeg hitch (ABOK #271). it consists of a timber hitch and a half hitch and it will hold the rock as long as it's under load.

you may be tempted to swing your rock around indoors after you have learned to tie it, and your knot may hold (mine did) but it's still a stupid thing to do, just in case.