Favorite useless knot

[bunglehead]

The sheepshank. Honestly, I can't think of a use for it, but I love it.

 

Maybe if I was a sailor. Yaaaar!!

[Ducknut]

its a great knot for shortening your tent guy lines in boy scout summer camp, I think I got extra credit for throwing it in the mix. But I got the most points for tying up a whole Girl Scout Troop with bowlines.

[catbirdseat]

I've used it on a sailboat. It's only useful for static loads, of course.

[bunglehead]

Yosemite finish or Jack's variation on those bowlines?

Don't want em gettin loose.

[sketchfest]

I love the sheepshank, it was the first "real" knot I ever learned how to tie. Oddly enough I learned it from a sailor. We used it for tying off loads of hay...oh the memories...

[bunglehead]

Maybe I shoulda said "favorite non climbing knot??"

[Dru]

sheepshanks are just not all that cool.

 

now the thief knot and the highwayman's knot on the other hand are pretty useless but definitely cool

[bunglehead]

sheepshanks are just not all that cool.

 

now the thief knot and the highwayman's knot on the other hand are pretty useless but definitely cool

 

The highwayman's knot ROCKS. I love tying my dog up outside the market with that knot. I don't know the thief knot though....

[Dru]

the thief knot is a retied reef knot with the tails on opposite sides instead of the same side if that description makes sense...

 

sailors used to tie their kit bags up with it then if someone was in their bag, they wouldn't know the knot and would retie it as a reef knot, and the sailor would be able to tell a thief had been in their bag o gear, and go looking for the culprit.

[Dru]

thief knot

 

Did you know, the knot that is to the square/granny knot as the thief knot is to the reef knot, is called the "why knot". no one knows that one but knot math geeks, because it is totally useless!!!

[bunglehead]

That's what you get for living on a Calabi You manifold!

 

Hmmm...I've been looking for a way to tie up my kit bag....

[fern]

I thought it was called a "not knot"?

 

The climbing application I have heard of for sheep shank was in one of those ... "you only have one rope to rappel but all your anchors are more than 1/2 rope length apart WHAT DO YOU DO???" threads. The idea was to cut the middle thread of the sheep shank, rap down and shake the rope free. rope gets a little shorter with each rap but otherwise BOMBER!

[Dru]

ya my grandad had some sailor story about some sailor who neeed ropes for rigging. all the chandlers were sold out so he went to a church and begged for the bell ropes. monks said he could have them if he could get them down so he did some set up like that, fix rope at one end, slide down the rope then shake it till the knot at the end shakes free and down comes the "fixed' rope.

[bunglehead]

You guys are shittin' me, right? I've gotta try that. If I do I'll make sure it's in a tall tree with lots of soft grass under it and that there's a witness with a camera,you know, to explain (and show) it to the police/coroner and family.

[Fejas]

I love to put half hitches on things. if i'm tiein' somthin' down I put four thousand half hitches on with whats left of the rope and them let some one else untie it...

[max]

...no one knows that one but knot math geeks...

 

[geeking_out]

My most used not is the "nul knot" thay looks like a straight piece of rope w/o any knot at all. I use it ALL THE TIME. Kind of like the ./ directory

 

(note I never closed the [geeking_out]. I'm working on it.)

[EWolfe]

Hangman's Noose, gotta have 13 wraps.

 

[cracked]

Wouldn't half a double fisherman's work just as well?

[iain]

How about the Gordian Knot by Frederico Castellon:

 

[EWolfe]

That thing's truly useless, and a bitchkitty to tie and untie.

 

At least you can whang someone over the head with this one:

 

[Dru]

monkey fist can be used as a throw-ball to get line across, like tossing line to gaper in monkey mouth to tyrolean to monkey-face

[glacierdog]

The sheepshank. Honestly, I can't think of a use for it, but I love it.

 

Maybe if I was a sailor. Yaaaar!!

 

I actually used this once in Saudi Arabia. I didn't need to though. It's pretty useless.

[catbirdseat]

thief knot

 

Did you know, the knot that is to the square/granny knot as the thief knot is to the reef knot, is called the "why knot". no one knows that one but knot math geeks, because it is totally useless!!!

Supposedly, the thief knot did have a purpose. Sailors used to commonly tie their sea chests shut using a square knot. If a sailor suspected that someone was going through his belongings, he would substitute a thief knot for the square knot. The thief mistakes the thief knot for a square knot. When he refastens the rope he uses an ordinary square knot and is detected thereby.

[iain]

thief knot

 

Did you know, the knot that is to the square/granny knot as the thief knot is to the reef knot, is called the "why knot". no one knows that one but knot math geeks, because it is totally useless!!!

Supposedly, the thief knot did have a purpose. Sailors used to commonly tie their sea chests shut using a square knot. If a sailor suspected that someone was going through his belongings, he would substitute a thief knot for the square knot. The thief mistakes the thief knot for a square knot. When he refastens the rope he uses an ordinary square knot and is detected thereby.

 

did you actually read the entire thread above???

[Dru]

^^^BUMP^^^

 

favorite useless thread?