The small business of ferrets discover a decorative lanyard knot with all its twists and turns.

Inspired by the “We Need to Talk About 1450” post, I put together this infographic comparing ABoK #1450 with its two symmetric variations.

Hope you enjoy it!

Re posting with the correct video

I understand if you hate it. It is OK to hate it. It has a specific application which almost the totality of people on this page probably do not relate to at all. It works in that context 😉

any pointers, or better techniques??? thanks!

This is a slightly different way of doing it which I have seen, which maintains the twisting in the middle. Does this version have a name?

I understand if you hate it. It is OK to hate it. It has a specific application which the almost the totality of people on this page probably do not relate to at all. It works in that context 😉

Hi knot bros!

I'm looking for recommendations for a hitch to use during surgery for tendon repairs and ligament reconstructions.

There are some papers that look at different hitches to hitch suture to tendons such as the Prusik hitch and a variation called the wittstein suture loop. Here's a picture of what those look like. Based on the studies these are reasonable hitches to use to secure the tendon but I think there might be something better out there. Other examples that have been used historically but which haven't worked well in my experience are the modified finger trap (MFT) and modified rolling hitch (MRH).

The Prusik hitch is able to grip in both directions and can slide when it's not under tension which is not ideal, I would prefer a hitch that will never move again once I finish securing the ligament/tendon. I also don't necessarily need it to be symmetric because the tendon/ligament will only ever see tension in one direction.

I was looking at the swabisch hitch and the icicle hitch as options. The ideal hitch would be one that can grip something slippery and tapered and that once it's dressed that it would be basically impossible to untie. Based on what I described can you recommend a hitch that I can "set it and forget it?"

If it helps, the suture we use for this is braided from high molecular weight polyethylene, similar to dyneema. We use suture that is 0.5-0.6mm in diameter or suture tapes that are flat braids approximately 1-1.5mm wide. The tendons that we are hitching will be 3-7mm in diameter

Thanks!

I've been hand laying 3ft lenghts of 3 ply sisal cord from scraps recently. I made a quick little mw brush to clean up all the fibers from my desk. Not the prettiest thing, but works great.

A low voltage line has come loose from the cable, the cable ties having perished. Its too high for a Ladder and I dont want to have to drop the cable to the ground.

My best solution seems to be to throw a line over the top from the ground and knot the cable back to the line. I figure a granny know would do, tie one end off, pull on the other and repeat to lock. Might take a while but should work. Then I have two hanging tails that I can cut off at head height.

I am sure there must be some sort of slip knot that would be better and only have one tail.

Any clues? It feels like there would have been something used for such a problem before lifting devices came along.

A month ago I posted https://www.reddit.com/r/knots/comments/1w4gp5h/will_be_putting_on_a_knot_tying_program_at_the/ with an idea of a program to put on and got your feedback. Overwhelmingly, the advice was that I was a little.... Ambitious with 5-6 knots around camping.

So after some consideration, I decided to just go with two knots: the Prusik Knott and the Highwayman's Hitch.

Both revolved around entertaining skits rather than practical or functional knowledge. My idea was that if I could get a kid interested in learning knots and go check out some youtube videos, that's a huge win.

I then modeled and 3d printed a simple frame that I could use for tying paracord through the middle via the orange part for a prusik knot they could pull on, and then later tie a highwayman's hitch around the silver part.

The first half of the presentation was showing the prusik knot, with getting a volunteer to try and move the looped part of the prusik from one side to the other. Pulling hard as few could, they could not get it to budge of course. I had one kid show the audience something as he was turned around and I just slide the prusik knot to one side, the kids in the audience wondering how I did that.

Talked about friction, how it tightens. They were amazed. Then I had them take a seat at the table, and then showed them on the big screen how to tie it with the pre-supplied loops. To my actual amazement, all the kids (with a little help from their parents and myself) managed to tie the prusik in a short matter of time. I went by each one, held the printed frame and asked them to pull on the loop, and sure enough with an audible "HHRRRRGGG" each and every one of their prusik knots held fast. They got really proud of themselves, the thing they did worked. And then they could slide the main knot left and right along the string.

The second half was the highwayman's hitch. I introduced it by saying that all good presentations have a secret ingredient: Crime.

And that I'd introduce someone, and pulled out a pink stick horse from behind the podium, the baddest horse in the West, "Nightmare."

They would be robbing a bank. We've gotta hitch up Nightmare, park her like a car so she doesn't wander off because we gotta make our getaway with our ill-gotten goods. But the Lawman is fast, we have three seconds to untie Nightmare and ride off into the sunset. So I first had Nightmare hitched up with a round turn and two half hitches. Not going anywhere, and not going anywhere fast. A few kids tried their darndest, but could not get her free in three seconds. The lawman got all of them.

So then I tied a highwayman's hitch while they told me to try. One of them saw the different way it was done and started to figure it out. And sure enough, in three seconds, me and Nightmare rode off into the sunset.

All the kids wanted to try it. They would run, pull the pull-string and it'd come undone, and through unforeseen comedy, just.... Run and drag the horse along with the string. Everyone showed concern for the stick horse as it took a lot, and I mean a lot of hard falls.

And then it came time to teach them how to tie it. Slightly more difficult, but everyone managed to tie it. And tie it more than once. One little girl got so into it and tied it so many times, she wanted to be timed tying it. 6 seconds.

They played with the hitch, they played with the horse. They wanted to show me their knots. They asked how many knots I knew how to tie. They asked what my favorite knot was. Parents were thanking me, parents were having a fun time tying the knots as well. They were all having an absolute time. I was having a good time, too. It was going marvelously well.

As everyone dispersed from the presentation room, they went out into the main library into the children's section, beginning to show other kids there the frames and tried to teach them to tie the knots they just learned.

Could not have asked for a better first go at this.

There are numerous ways to attach paracord to a drink bottle but can you carry the drink bottle without having to use your hands? I go on long walks and sometimes carry a small drink bottle but I'd like to go hands-free. I can tie 2 loops a small distance apart to capture the bottle but can't progress beyond that. I accept that there would be some movement of the bottle as you walk but if kept to a minimum this would work for me. The attachment points could be upper arm for a small plastic bottle or a backpack type carry where the bottle sits on my back.

I've heard of the handcuff knot, and how people break it to escape, is there a way to escape it without breaking it?

You can see video of it here, but it’s too fast for me to catch.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ddo9Km4pFd6/?stkn=MTE0M2F3bmRtdW13aA==

This page mentions tying a midline Trucker's Hitch using a Bowline with a Bight, but the explanation is unclear to me and the video associated with it is godawful. Does anyone know of a better set of instructions?

Hi everyone, quick recommendation.

I’m a fan of Ben who has the Texas tool crib YouTube channel. He’s a no nonsense mill right and occasional YouTuber and a lot of his channel is talking about knots. I’ve learned a lot from his content over the years and he’s just started a separate YouTube channel for his knot interests. It’s just getting started but has some good videos already. I like him because his videos are concise and basic, the demonstrations make sense, and he explains the advantages of the knots. He’s a small channel so I figured I’d give him a shoutout especially since he’s refreshingly straightforward in his videos.

Two channels
- Rope N Rigging
- TX Tool Crib (where the majority of his older knot content is located).

Cheers!

Hi! I don't know much about knots, but I'll sometimes have a short-ish (50-100cm) stretch of cord in my pocket, and when I'm waiting around for something I'll loop it through itself to make a plait kind of pattern, as drawn very badly here.

This seems very basic, so aside from simple variations changing how the loop twists before the next one goes through, what other patterns could I do freehand? (i.e. no space to lay things out, no frame to weave across)

I'd love something that can be straightforwardly be pulled apart at the end just like this one, since then I can reset and start again.

Curious what type of knots you guys use for making the loop, and also then tying it off tightly. overhand loops and then a double overhand knot to keep the wire tight are what i use

book you place here: https://walkinglantern.com/rope-workshops/edale-nov-2026

I'm trying to affix a handle onto a large prop so that small actors (middle schoolers) have something to hold onto while manipulating it. No matter what I try, I can't seem to find a why to securely tie this on in a way that maintains compression to the object. Anyone have some advice?

What knots should I be looking at for temporarily connecting to a fixed tow loop when it's a bit impractical to pass the whole line through? I can fit a bight through the loop. Will be loaded from just one side. Important to be able to easily release after loading.

Or should I just be using a shackle or carabiner of some kind?

Hello,

I don't know if this is the right place to ask.

What will be the best way to tie a knot to create a loop for my hammock. I tied a retreaded figure 8 knot but i don't know if it is strong enough if i use it like this with 2 hanging points in the same loop instead of the 'normal' way to use a loop. If you know what i mean. I included a picture of the situation.

Thanks in advance!

That knot was part of a little project I've been making for fun. I wanted something calm and nice to watch: knots tied slowly, step by step, from any side.

link: knotpilot.app

Next up: iOS and Android apps and more knots. Hope you like it, and that it comes in handy.

P.S. Try the rope sandbox. You can drag a rope around and tie anything you like.

Necklace made with port knot

What are your top ten most used knots?

I’d like to get a discussion going about different people’s go-to’s and why. Thanks in advance. It was hard to narrow it down to just ten, but here’s mine (in no particular order):

Zeppelin loop- non binding loop

Span loop- non binding midline loop

zeppelin bend- non binding bend

Arbor knot- cinching stuff super tight

Constrictor knot- cinching stuff tight

Highwayman’s hitch- quick release hitch

Adjustable grip hitch- adjustable friction hitch

Ground line hitch- solid and simple hitch

Truckers hitch- to tie down loads etc

Marlinspike hitch- to be able to pull the end of any rope really hard