Knotwork - Sheep Shank

An older knot that has the unique property of holding under stress but can be release by being shaken or relaxed. So after you make your rope short with it you can shake it out even if you only have one end.


Unfortunately this old favourite basically doesn't work very well with a modern smooth rope and it's reliability is generally called into question. (As of 2010 boy scouts are no longer taught this knot)

Knotwork - The Bowline

More or less a taught-line hitch in a loop the bowline is the standard way to tie a strong fixed loop to the end of a line. Not a very string knot under load but sufficient for most tie-up purposes:

Knotwork - Monkey Braid

Scouts call this chaining rope or a chain sinnet. It can be done tight like this to provide a thinner handle to hold a rope by or alternately loosely as a way to store rope without it tangling as it can be untied by pulling smoothly on one end.

Knotwork - Double Fisherman's Bend

This knot is used by climbers and fishers to join to ropes securely while keeping the knot streamline and in-line.

Often you see it used on jewellery to allow the wearer to adjust the length of a necklace like so:

Knotwork - Alpine Butterfly

This rather clever climbing knot can be tied in the middle of a rope (i.e without access to the ends) and can take stress either along the length of the rope OR in the loop. Thus useful to assist in climbing a rope or hooking onto a rope.

Knotwork - Around Hitch

This knot has the small advantage of moving freely around the tube, almost nothing else good can be said for it except it makes a pretty photo.

Knotwork - Tautline Hitch

Hitches connect ropes to poles; the Tautline hitch can be tied with one hand (if you're skilled) and should be unbreakable as long as there is tension on the rope making it a favourite among scouts.

I think this is what most SA'ers call a slip-knot.

Knotwork - Sheetbend

Better than a reef knot (unless you want to untie it) the sheetbend is the standard way to connect two ropes.

Knotwork - Square Knot

A classic knot, mentioned by Socrates - fairly strong and easy to undo. In South Africa mostly called a reef knot.

Knotwork - Stop Knots

I've been trying to reaquire the rope skills I used to have and thus some knotwork posts.
Here in blue the half knot; widely used to tie off cotton or make a lump in a rope; in red the more elegant and basically in all ways better Flemish Stopper.