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A bottle sling? What, you’ve never heard of a bottle sling before? We’ll admit we’ve seen them before but never give them much thought to include in the Knot of the Week until we tied one and realized how versatile of a knot it is!
From what we can tell, the bottle sling was first used by ancient greeks to not only carry jugs and bottles, but to also use as a surgical sling and as a traction device for dislocated joints. [Read More…]
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This isn’t a bracelet to relive the 80s, simply a different take on the standard Solomon Bar Paracord Bracelet that resembles a DNA strand.
Funny enough, this knot is what happens when you don’t tie a standard Solomon Bar, or a Cobra Knot for some of you out there, the right way. You’re left with a twisted pattern that actually makes a neat design.
We wanted to not only highlight the Twisted Solomon Bar with this week’s Knot of the Week, but to also demonstrate an alternative method of closure on a paracord bracelet with a loop and Lanyard Knot. This closure can be used for any type of paracord bracelet. [Read More…]
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Making a Fast Rope for Climbing has certainly been a fun project to undertake for our Knot of the Week!
Today we’ll be demonstrating the last steps in completing your rope, which are whipping and fusing the bitter end. Whipping and Fusing are traditionally methods to prevent a rope from unraveling and to stop fraying. We’re essentially using these techniques in the same way on our Fast Rope, to strengthen and protect the end.
The reason we chose to terminate the Fast Rope in this fashion is that in reading the Mil-Spec for Fast Rope construction, it distinctly mentions that “The free end shall be seared and whipped.” Seared is just another word for fused and fusing is actually the proper terminology. [Read More…]
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Today we continue our KOTW Lashing series with the Diagonal Lashing.
The Diagonal Lashing is “diagonal” because it’s used to bind poles that cross each other at a 45° to 90° angle. Binding poles together in this way will prevent racking and add stability, thus preventing them from moving apart.
A Diagonal Lashing can replace a Square Lashing (which is stronger), but not vice-versa. [Read More…]
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Continuing with our Lashings on the Knot of the Week, today we’ll be looking at the Round Lashing and discussing the variations and uses.
The Round Lashing is commonly used to lash up triangular A-frames of poles for rigging a block and tackle. If joining timber poles is what you’re after, like in creating a flag pole, you’ll want to exclude the frapping turns to secure the poles tightly to each other.
You’ll often see this lashing referred to as a Shear Lashing or Seizing, which we’ve gone over previously on the KOTW. We like to keep things simple and refer to this as a Round Lashing that you can use with or without the center frapping turns.
Two of these lashings can also be used for further security when joining poles. If what you’re joining will be weight-bearing, you’ll need to use a Square Lashing which is designed to hold weight. Think of the Round Lashing as what to use on the horizontal floor of the levels in a structure or the slats on a raft. [Read More…]
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In today’s Knot of the Week, we’ll be showing you how to use common seizing to join two parallel pieces of rope.
Seizing can be a great alternative to knotting or splicing, but is not as strong as a dedicated splice. For instance, in the article demonstration we’ll be creating an eye with our seizing. While a good method, it’s nowhere near as strong as a splice.
Terminology can get a bit tricky as this appears to be a lashing, but lashings are typically defined as the joining or binding of timbers. While seizing even starts the same way as a lashing, with a Clove Hitch, they’re technically different.
Another nugget of terminology here is that the last turns through the center of this seizing are referred to as Frapping.
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I’d like to introduce a small mini-series on our Knot of the Week, where I’ll be running through the steps of rigging a tarp shelter using a few knots.
In this first part, I’ll demonstrate using a Slipped Half-Hitch and a Power Cinch Knot to tie a trunk line between two trees, which will form the backbone of the shelter system.
The trunk line provides a tight line to tie in your tarp and create the shelter. What’s great about the entire way we’ll show to rig this tarp shelter, is that using our knot techniques the entire system will have a “quick-disconnect” like feature, yet remain incredibly strong.
A trunk line can also be used to hang clothes to dry, or really anything that you’d like to drape over it. [Read More…]
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After today’s Knot of the Week, you’ll officially have no excuse not to always have paracord on you.
Yes, everyone and their mother has a paracord bracelet nowadays, but seriously. Either carry some instead of shoelaces, stuff some in a pocket, or keep reading to find out how to make a bracelet using a continuous 8-10 ft. section of 550.
Most tutorials you may have seen for these go through the process of using two different strands of paracord in order to facilitate the closure method. Do yourself a favor and pick up some of these small 5/8″ Weinerlock contoured buckles (yes, you read that right), made by National Molding and get yourself a real way to secure your bracelet.
We’ll show you how to weave the Soloman Bar, aka the Cobra Knot, through these buckles to create a bracelet that’s both easy to make and easy to take apart in an emergency situation. You never know when and where you may need 550! [Read More…]
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For this week’s Knot of the Week, we’ll be looking at a very important knot called the One Handed Bowline.
What separates this knot from a traditional Bowline is the ability to truly tie this knot one handed, and around your body in an emergency.
Say for instance you were hanging by a tree limb for dear life as raging rapids were attempting to sweep you downstream. Without letting go of the tree branch, you could grab a rope that was thrown to you, tie the One Handed Bowline, and be pulled to safety.
This use of the One Handed Bowline is more for water rescues, as attempting to pull someone up the side of a mountain with a line under their armpits could potentially asphyxiate them before they reach the top.
If you need to hang suspended from a rescue line, simply tie the One Handed Bowline and step onto it with you foot and hang on to the line. Be careful with the application of this knot in emergency situations. [Read More…]
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Today’s Knot of the Week is going to be a little different this week, and instead of a hands-on presentation, we’d like to simply share some information with you on giving back.
I speak for everyone here at ITS when I say that Knot Tying is a depreciable skill-set. If you don’t spend some time practicing these knots we teach each week, your skills won’t be there when you truly need them. Of course, this goes for most skill-sets we go over here.
The true focus today though is giving back. Finding someone that might not know anything about tying knots and showing them a few basic knots. Whether this is a family member, friend, or a co-worker. It’s an important skill-set that everyone should know.
I threw together the video below to talk about how I not only give back to everyone on ITS, but also the local Scout Troop in my community. [Read More…]
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