Knots are useful when trekking on horse tack, packing gear, building
a shelter and many other tasks. The important thing about using the proper knot
in the field is to be able to untie it without a knife and to preserve your
length of rope. I’ll discuss a couple here, but I recommend putting a good knot
book on your Christmas list!
The most important knot I use is the bowline. I use this to attach a lead rope to the halter, the picket rope to the hobbles and picket pin and many other uses in between. This one took me some practice, but it comes apart very easily.
The Clove Hitch is simple, quick to learn but should never be
used to securely hold something in place. Use it as a temporary camping knot to
hold something that doesn’t overly stress the rope, hang your pack, bear bag or
even to tie off your horse.
Many people use a square knot to join two ropes, but it is
not a secure method. Instead, use the Sheet Bend. This knot can be used even
with ropes of different sizes. If they are, use the thick rope to make the
bight or loop of the knot, and the thinner one to tie in. You can increase the
security of the union by making two turns of the thinner rope around the bight
forming a double sheet bend. There are many situations when trekking where you
might use the Sheet Bend to splice two ropes, including mending broken line,
creating a longer length and even used to securely anchor the corner of a tarp
when rigging a shelter.
The last one here is a good all-purpose knot, the reef knot that
is the usual bow used to tie shoelaces. It is a simple binding method that is
also useful for tying bundles, supporting an injured arm in a sling and, of
course, tying down part of a sail or trail tarp.
There are many different opinions on what the top 5-6 knots
are to know, but it boils down to what are you doing, how will you use them and
do they help you when trekking. The 6 I think are most useful for what we do
are the Clove Hitch, Sheet Bend, Bowline, Sheepshank, Round Turn and 2 Half
Hitches and Reef Knot.
There are a lot of websites and books for knots, but books can
go with you into the woods to practice. The picture is from a great website.
When you are "knot" in the woods I hope to see you around a fire. In
the coming years you will most likely find me at Revolutionary War events as we
roll into a series of 250th Anniversary battles. Stop by and have a chat!
Written by Gerry "Lucky" Messmer. Reprinted with permission from the author.
Code: trk01 glm01