Knot tying

Can you tie a...

  • Clove Hitch

    Votes: 4 10.8%
  • Bowline

    Votes: 3 8.1%
  • Both

    Votes: 26 70.3%
  • Neither

    Votes: 4 10.8%

  • Total voters
    37
  • Poll closed .

derekleffew

Resident Curmudgeon
Senior Team
Premium Member
I'm trying to force everyone I encounter in this industry to learn how to tie a clove hitch and bowline. Edit: Sorry, fixed, just no one check all four!
 
Last edited:
I can't select both...what the heck.

I can tie: clove hitch, bowline, square knot, figure eight, carrick bend, two half hitches & tauntline hitch, prussik, timber hitch, trucker's hitch, pipe hitch, sheet bend, sheepshank, and some others, can't remember them all right now

Yah, I'm an Eagle Scout, and was the only person in my troop who knew all of the knots. I always enjoyed knot tying contests and lashing together camp gadgets (my infamous foot-pedal camp sink, trash bag hanger, twine hanger, and integral soap dispenser).
 
Last edited:
I know most of those knots, and we will surely teach them in our school's Technical Theatre class next year!
 
I'm an Eagle Scout, and was the only person in my troop who knew all of the knots.

I still get flak for being a boy scout, but they teach you some crazy useful skills, including knot tying. I always liked being the guy who would know how to do anything with the rope and put all the little tenderfoots (tenderfeet?) in their place. One thing I had to learn on my own though, is splicing. No one in my troop (including the adults) new how to.

But i find the most important knot to know is the noose. I always freak out the people in my department by lynching a dummy we have from the rafters. I guess I have issues or something
 
I still get flak for being a boy scout, but they teach you some crazy useful skills, including knot tying. I always liked being the guy who would know how to do anything with the rope and put all the little tenderfoots (tenderfeet?) in their place. One thing I had to learn on my own though, is splicing. No one in my troop (including the adults) new how to.
But i find the most important knot to know is the noose. I always freak out the people in my department by lynching a dummy we have from the rafters. I guess I have issues or something

I wouldn't recommend that. I recall an article being linked to in a topic where a few stagehands got fired for a similar incident.
 
...But i find the most important knot to know is the noose. I always freak out the people in my department by lynching a dummy we have from the rafters. I guess I have issues or something
Please see the "shackle" thread. In my world, clove hitch and bowline are the two most-used knots, other than perhaps the shoe-lace knot.
 
I've got all of the above, plus a decent eye-splice, back splice, alpine butterfly, inline figure 8, bridled figure 8 (aka bunny ears) and the monkey's fist for knockin' fools out and keepin' it gangsta.
 
********I can tie: clove hitch, bowline, square knot, figure eight, carrick bend, two half hitches & tauntline hitch, prussik, timber hitch, trucker's hitch, pipe hitch, sheet bend, sheepshank, and some others, can't remember them all right now*************************

Oh Yeah ?!? Can you tie a genuine Tennessee Wad Hitch?
Seems to be a real popular knot now days. It kinda reminds me of the scene in the movie " A Chorus Line" when Kirk Douglas Jr. says " You, In the yellow, Have you taken Ballet?" ... " No, I haven't"... "Then Don't Dance!!!"
If you can't reliably tie a clove hitch AND Bowline And Truckers Hitch, you have no bussiness calling yourself a stagehand. You could get away with being in any number of disciplines in the theatre without knowing these, but not a stagehand.

*****But i find the most important knot to know is the noose. I always freak out the people in my department by lynching a dummy we have from the rafters. I guess I have issues or something

Just a bye-the-bye the are laws on the books of several of these here United States, that make it illegal to tie a working "Hangmans Noose" unless it is to be employed in a state sanctioned execution.
Question of the day item, How many loops <wraps> are incorporated into a "real" Hangmans noose.
 
Just a bye-the-bye the are laws on the books of several of these here United States, that make it illegal to tie a working "Hangmans Noose" unless it is to be employed in a state sanctioned execution.

Any idea if Oregon is one of those states?
 
Oh Yeah ?!? Can you tie a genuine Tennessee Wad Hitch?
Seems to be a real popular knot now days. It kinda reminds me of the scene in the movie " A Chorus Line" when Kirk Douglas Jr. says " You, In the yellow, Have you taken Ballet?" ... " No, I haven't"... "Then Don't Dance!!!"
If you can't reliably tie a clove hitch AND Bowline And Truckers Hitch, you have no bussiness calling yourself a stagehand. You could get away with being in any number of disciplines in the theatre without knowing these, but not a stagehand.
Just a bye-the-bye the are laws on the books of several of these here United States, that make it illegal to tie a working "Hangmans Noose" unless it is to be employed in a state sanctioned execution.
Question of the day item, How many loops <wraps> are incorporated into a "real" Hangmans noose.

I'll had that to the list of things I'm not:

Stagehand :oops:

I did sail briefly, knew how to tie a bowline.. sorta... once.
 
and the monkey's fist for knockin' fools out and keepin' it gangsta.

Forgot about that one! I've got a nice heavy one with a tennis ball core for takin' care of the fools.. I keep a smaller one for tying on to the end of throwing lines.
 
I'll had that to the list of things I'm not:

Stagehand :oops:

I did sail briefly, knew how to tie a bowline.. sorta... once.

There's no reason you can't be one. Tying knots is not hard and the basics are really pretty easy. I didn't mean to sound so harsh < now that I re-read it, sounds kinda harsh> it's just aggravating when you ask someone to tie something off and you find they've put a bow knot on it and think it's gonna hold.
 
I use a clove hitch and a bowline on a regular basis. Two others that I use all the time are a sheet bend (combining 2 lengths of rope) and a figure 8 (particularly usefull for hoisting stuff...). In general, knowing how to tie knots will be extremely beneficial if you are a stage hand. At some point you will have to tie something to something and the birds-nest-knot (aka - the cluster @#$* knot) just won't do!
 
birds-nest-knot (aka - the cluster @#$* knot)

I generally like to call it the left-handed reverse mitzubishi. I definitely tied my fair share of those while learning rope craft.
 
Well, there is the old adage: "If you don't know the knot, tie a lot."
 
Just a bye-the-bye the are laws on the books of several of these here United States, that make it illegal to tie a working "Hangmans Noose" unless it is to be employed in a state sanctioned execution.

Are those state laws that are vestiges of 1700s and 1800s, or do you mean the more recent hate-crime laws (like in New York)? The hate-crime laws apply to any noose and the penalties are severe.

Joe
 
Are those state laws that are vestiges of 1700s and 1800s, or do you mean the more recent hate-crime laws (like in New York)? The hate-crime laws apply to any noose and the penalties are severe.

Joe

I was refferring to some of those "left over" laws from back in the day. Like the fact that it's illegal to drive an automobile down Mainstreet in Oklahoma City.
 
Hello, my name is Rick and I'm a knot idiot. I can tie a clove hitch, and my shoes, and a figure 8. Does anyone know if there are any videos out there about knot tying? I've tried the diagrams, but they usually confuse me more than help. I've been taught the bowline several times, but I keep forgetting it. It has long been my secret shame. :oops:
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back