I
took a piece of plywood and painted it black. Then, using my Boy Scout
handbook as a guide, tied clothesline (remember that?) into several
examples, which were then nailed to the board. My mom said it was
just wonderful. Alas, that Boy Scout project didn't win squat in the contest; so much for stupid knots.
It wasn't until I took up sailing in the '80's that actually knowing
how to tie knots, and quickly, became a necessary art form; I become a
practitioner, and then expert knotster. There is something deeply
satisfying in knowing how to tie the right knot, at the right
time. It also seems to summon forth from women some ancient
racial memory of being in in the company of a manly man. Makes
them shudder amidships.
Here's everything you'll ever need to know about knots. I have no more use for them. Sigh.
Well, maybe this one
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Someone found one of those useful knots in a local industrial facility. Panic ensued and the last report was that it was outlawed in the facility and failure to obey this rule would result in immediate termination.
ReplyDeleteJess, from what I've seen, those knots are like farts. He who found it, bound it. Just about every time, it was placed by the very person who was so outraged to discover it. But that's not the part you hear about in the news. "Noose found on campus!!" they scream, but they under-report the followup that reveals it was a hoax.
ReplyDeleteMaybe so. I'm sure there are at least a half dozen people in the facility that deperately need to address, and refocus, the hate they generate by being totally enraptured with their anal sphinters.
ReplyDeleteNeatest thing I personally ever saw done with rope was watching a guy splice two ropes together.
ReplyDeleteWhen he through and pounded and rolled the rope you could barely detect where the splice was located......Damn neat work.
My gg-grandfather had a ropewalk in Baltimore, and I've often wondered what went on there. Thanks Roger
ReplyDeleteLt. Col. Gen. Tailgunner dick
Marlinspike seamanship. Learned the basics in bootcamp but didnt use it much as an Aircrewman.
ReplyDeleteTim
In my brief stint as a Boy Scout I had the experience of making rope by hand from bailing twine, which we then used at a jamboree. Impressed the other troops. Now, few boys know what bailing twine is.
ReplyDeleteI'm an advocate of having parachute cord and/or rope in the emergency kits- there's no substitute for it. Along with that you need to know a few basic knots.
AWM
Knots and knotholes. Checkout this Upshot-Knothole test.
ReplyDeleteoy vey ole'
I tied a monkey fist the other day , and used one of my ex wife's Ben Wa Balls for the weight in the center ! ( I s#!+ you not ) Then I tied a neat little noose on the trailing end of the line ( to secure it around your wrist ) Everyone who walks by it picks it up and starts swinging it ! My girlfriend wanted to hang it in her office (she has no idea what's inside) I ought to start selling the damned things : ) smibsid
ReplyDeleteI own five or six really fine books on marlinspike seamanship. Used a bunch of it single-handing for three+ years after I retired from the AF. I still teach folks how to coil and secure a line for tossing into a locker or hanging on the horn of a mast cleat, even for electrical wire. When I taught sailing, it was my pass/fail test. Always gets awed respect, simple as that is.
ReplyDelete