A knot question

[Tandem]

In the absence of a deep anchor well should I ever need to extend my 18mm octoplait/8mm chain rode with more octoplait what would be the best knot to use. I am thinking double carrick bend, but not sure of its efficiency, or if it is the 'best' knot to use.

 

[Mistroma]

Sounds reasonable. I think that 2 bowlines might lose less strength but not as tidy.

 

[afterpegassus]

B

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In the absence of a deep anchor well should I ever need to extend my 18mm octoplait/8mm chain rode with more octoplait what would be the best knot to use. I am thinking double carrick bend, but not sure of its efficiency, or if it is the 'best' knot to use.

Double fisherman's should be fine.
Use the tails to separate the two halves for undoing.

 

[Yngmar]

Whatever knot you can actually remember at the time of need. For me that's mostly bowlines

Also, something that doesn't fall apart when slack or repeatedly being loaded/unloaded.

 

[RJJ]

Double fisherman's bend is strongest per a PBO article years back.

Two bowlines will be easier to undo, and probably still comfortably strong enough. I tend to tie the bowline tail off with a clove hitch if I am worried.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

The classic answer is a Carrick bend with the ends seized back to the standing part. In that form it won't collapse into the usual form, but will maintain the "basketweave" form.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

Whatever knot you can actually remember at the time of need. For me that's mostly bowlines

Also, something that doesn't fall apart when slack or repeatedly being loaded/unloaded.

A disadvantage of the bowline is that it is not reliable when it is subject to continual loading and unloading

 

[Tandem]

The classic answer is a Carrick bend with the ends seized back to the standing part. In that form it won't collapse into the usual form, but will maintain the "basketweave" form.

Is the purpose of the seizing simply to prevent the knot from collapsing so that it is easier to undo, or to give it a 'stylised' finish?

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Is the purpose of the seizing simply to prevent the knot from collapsing so that it is easier to undo, or to give it a 'stylised' finish?

It is actually easier to undo if it collapses; that's the point of the Carrick bend in normal use; the collapsed form has two bights that can be manipulated to loosen the knot (like the round the tree and down the rabbit hole bit of a bowline). The way I see it, it avoids stress concentrations and adds security; the seizing is an important part of the strength of the whole thing. The other point is that it's intended for use in ship's (hemp) anchor cables, several inches across, so sudden bends (as in the collapsed form of the Carrick bend) would form only reluctantly. But it's all in Ashley!

 

[afterpegassus]

Double fisherman's bend is strongest per a PBO article years back.

Two bowlines will be easier to undo, and probably still comfortably strong enough. I tend to tie the bowline tail off with a clove hitch if I am worried.

Bowlines, after they've been loaded, can be very difficult to undo.
Also I would never join anchor lines by way of two loops.

 

[alan_d]

Also I would never join anchor lines by way of two loops.

Although it is interesting to know what you would or would not do, it might be more helpful if you told us why.

 

[Roberto]

what would be the best knot to use.

The one you feel comfortable in tying at night, under the rain, with cold hands, while moving .5-1m up and down

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

I would tend towards a Double Sheet Bend, with the ends siezed to their respective standing parts.

 

[Plum]

The one you feel comfortable in tying at night, under the rain, with cold hands, while moving .5-1m up and down

Absolutely right! and that is likely to be the situation when you have to add more scope in a hurry. In these situations you do not want a knot that relies on whipping the ends, fiddly to get just right or one that may shake loose so then I would use a simple overhand bend Flat Overhand Bend

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