What knots?

snowleopard

snowleopard

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I have been asked to do a talk on knots at the day centre. This is for non-sailors though some will have been on the Lord Nelson trip and seen a few knots in use.

I want to include some that are useful in everyday shore life plus a few fancy bits for entertainment value. Here is my list so far..

Reef knot & sheet bend
Bowline
RT+2HH
Clove hitch
Fig of 8
Waggoner's hitch
Fisherman's knot
Rolling hitch
Gasket hitch

Eye splice

Turk's head
Monkey's fist
Hangman's knot
Flying bowline

Any suggestions?
 
Barrel Hitch (sling)
Carrick Bend - for those living in the former Carrick District?
... not sure what a flying bowline is, is it the same is a running bowline?
Spanish bowline
How to tie your shoe lace bow with a double loop reef knot
"Dog's dick" back splice
 
The one knot I have always found totally pointless but included in every list of knots is the sheepshank. The only time I've ever used one was to shorten a light pull and even then I had to modify it with a couple of extra half hitches to stop it unravelling!
 
snowleopard said:
The one knot I have always found totally pointless but included in every list of knots is the sheepshank. The only time I've ever used one was to shorten a light pull and even then I had to modify it with a couple of extra half hitches to stop it unravelling!
Click to expand...

Agreed. I have never met anyone who has used a (standard) sheepshank in anger.

OP, I think your list is a bit long - as in "about four times too long". After about thirty seconds your audience's eyes are likely to glaze over as The Man At The Front does yet another twiddly thing with a rope and says a name they'll never remember for something they'll never use.

Instead, why not take along lots of bits of rope and teach them to tie (working in pairs or threes would be fun) just two or three knots. Bowline, stopper, clove hitch, reef knot, maybe. That'll make a far more memorable session than a demonstration of far more knots, and give them something they can keep on doing afterwards.
 
I most certainly intend to get them tying knots themselves, I will be raiding my gash rope lockers on the boat for short lengths of 3-strand and braided including lengths they can take home for practice and handouts with diagrams to remind them. I like your suggestion of having them work in 2s and 3s though.

The sessions are around 1.5 hours so 2 or 3 knots won't keep them occupied for long.
 
How old are they in this day centre?

Our Scouts used to race the length of the hut, tie a highwayman's hitch, then undo it and race back. Not much cop if the teams have Zimmers tho'.

Then the horse became the rider, did I forget to mention that bit, and they did the running and rope tieing bit again.

Great fun especially when the running part had a significant jousting element to it. :)
 
aquaplane said:
How old are they in this day centre?

Our Scouts used to race the length of the hut, tie a highwayman's hitch, then undo it and race back. Not much cop if the teams have Zimmers tho'.

Then the horse became the rider, did I forget to mention that bit, and they did the running and rope tieing bit again.

Great fun especially when the running part had a significant jousting element to it. :)
Click to expand...

Ages 20-90, all with 'severe' or 'critical' levels of physical disability. 'Nuff said.
 
1 1/2 hours will fly by. Especially if you need to give assisatnce to a couple of groups. Know your audience capability & work to that. Get your timing right be practicing one knot with a comparable group (in the pub, with the family or whatever)

Just talking you can cover a lot of ground, but may have no-one following! Practicals work well, but take far more time than you expect. My approach would be to break the session into, say 3 sessions; Easy knots, useful knots & fancy ones. Then each session can be broken into explanatory talk & practical bit (split 33/66 ish or even 25/75) and have enough knots in each session to carry on until you hit your target time & then move on to the next session. That allows you to control the timing without it being obvious, not reaching the end or running of of examples.
 
The sheepshank is used to shorten the life lines that run underneath ships life boats. To stop them catching on the rudder, but of boat capsizes the slack makes it easier to hang onto.
My favourite knot is the fireman dohbi hitch.
 
snowleopard said:
The one knot I have always found totally pointless but included in every list of knots is the sheepshank. The only time I've ever used one was to shorten a light pull and even then I had to modify it with a couple of extra half hitches to stop it unravelling!
Click to expand...
My RYA day skipper instructor claimed it was used "for dragging sheep through shallow water"
Sounds sensible to me.....:)
 
On a more constructive note, how about demonstrating how a laid rope is made? I was fascinated recently to find how ridiculously easy this is to do with impressive results.

About 10' 0"" of string, a hook, a pencil, some insulating tape and a pair of scissors.
Tie one end of string to a hook (on a wall or other fixed point)
Pass the string round a pencil, back to and round the hook, and then back to the pencil, where it is tied off.
Twist the three lengths of string together by turning the pencil clockwise until just before it starts to kink. Keep a good tension on at all times.
Retaining the tension, take hold of the twisted line about a third the way from the hook. Pass the twisted line between your grip and the pencil round the hook, and back to your grip. Pass the pencil through the loop formed where you are gripping the line.
You now should have a repeat of your starting point, but with a tripled length of string.
Twist again, this time anticlockwise, until you have a nice "laid" piece of rope. Finish the ends with the tape.

The first time I did this took me about 5 minutes and I was amazed with the results.
 
For a bit of fun why not teach them the "spur lash".

This is the knot SWMBO appears to prefer when tying on fenders (despite being capable of tying a perfectly good clove hitch). So called 'coz that's the sound anything tied on with this not-knot makes as it hits the water! :D
 
Are there any knots which might be of some use to them? If they can see a use they will be more prepared to learn and will learn more easily. 90 minutes can be a long time if you can't see any point to what you are doing.

Depending on their individual disabilities some may find alternative ways of tying the same knot to be easier.

Might some of the group have been adept at knot-tying before they became disabled?

Will there be any carers who might be able to help with the practical sessions?
 
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