Today’s Knot of the Week builds on our first example of a Japanese Square Lashing, with the Japanese MK II.

While the Japanese are known for their intricate knot work on bamboo structures, we feel you’ll see the benefit in the time saved using these lashings. They’re truly faster than traditional lashings you may have learned in Boy Scouts.

The demonstration we’ve provided in our photos and video below show the Japanese MK II being tied with Paracord, but it’s always best to use natural fiber rope when working with timbers or spars.

Japanese MK II Square Lashing » Lashings

As we’ve mentioned in previous articles on lashings, it’s always best to lash with natural fiber rope like Manilla. Japanese are also fond of using Hemp rope as well. This version of the Japanese Square Lashing is commonly known as the Japanese MK II (Mark 2). There are a few other versions of this lashing that we’ll be covering soon.

(Strength: 5/Secure: 4/Stability: 3/Difficulty: 2)

Uses:

• Binding two timber poles together
• Weight bearing joint in structure building

Tying Instructions:

1. Start by using a 6 ft. section of natural fiber rope that you’ve whipped the ends on (dental floss works great!).
2. Double the strand and find the midpoint.
3. Ensure your two spars have the topmost spar crossing horizontally over the bottom spar.
4. Take the midpoint bight and loop it over the lower portion of the bottom-most vertical spar.
5. Pull both strands up tightly over the horizontal spar and around the upper backside of the vertical spar, crossing in the rear (wrapping 1).
6. Pull the strands back over the horizontal spar and around the lower backside of the vertical spar, crossing in the rear (wrapping 2).
7. Pull both strands up tightly over the horizontal spar and around the upper backside of the vertical spar, crossing in the rear (wrapping 3).
8. Bring the strands to the point at which the two spars intersect each other and cross them to prepare for the frapping.
9. After crossing the strands bring them both behind the horizontal spar and cross them on top of the lower vertical spar (frapping 1).
10. Pull tightly and repeat on the upper intersection where you made your first cross to start the frapping (frapping 2).
11. Bring the strands down as you would if you were making a third frapping, but now simply tie a square knot to secure.
12. Security hitches can be now placed by creating a single half hitch with each working end on the respective side of the horizontal spar (see photos).

You may be saying to yourself, “You guys have already covered Square Lashing before!” That we have, but today we’d like to introduce you to an alternate way to tie lashings called the Japanese Square Lashing.

This method we’ll show is tremendously faster to tie and yields the same secure results that a traditional Square Lashing does. In addition to being faster, we feel that it’s also an easier way to lash together two spars/poles.

If you’ve ever looked at traditional Japanese architecture, you’ll have no doubt seen a Japanese Square Lashing. The traditional Japanese culture has always favored using natural fiber rope to secure bamboo structures and many other architectural wonders.

We’re so certain that you’ll appreciate the simplicity of this lashing, you may never go back to using a Clove Hitch to start a lashing again!

Japanese Square Lashing » Lashings

As we’ve mentioned in previous articles on lashings, it’s always best to lash with natural fiber rope like Manilla. Japanese are also fond of using Hemp rope as well. This version of the Japanese Square Lashing is commonly known as the Japanese Mark I (Mark 1). There are a few other versions of this lashing that we’ll be covering soon.

(Strength: 5/Secure: 4/Stability: 3/Difficulty: 2)

Uses:

• Binding two timber poles together
• Weight bearing joint in structure building

Tying Instructions:

1. Start by using a 6 ft. section of natural fiber rope that you’ve whipped the ends on (dental floss works great!).
2. Double the strand and find the midpoint.
3. Ensure your two spars have the topmost spar crossing horizontally over the bottom spar.
4. Take the midpoint bight and loop it over the lower portion of the bottom-most vertical spar.
5. Taking both strands together, wrap to the upper right and around the backside of the vertical spar.
6. Taking the working end and cross on top of the horizontal spar and down/around the backside of the vertical spar.
7. Wrap back on top of the horizontal spar and around the back of the vertical spar again.
8. At this point your next wrapping is going to split and the strands will split as you wrap towards the right side of the horizontal spar (see photos and video).
9. The bottom strand completes the X pattern in the middle of the horizontal spar and the upper most strand meets it, starting your first frapping turn.
10. Cross the working ends between the spars creating the frapping turn and heading in the opposite direction.
11. A second frapping turn is then created opposite to the first and the working ends wind up on top of the vertical spar at the bottom.
12. A square knot is now tied to secure the lashing.
13. Security hitches can be now placed by creating a single half hitch with each working end on the respective side of the horizontal spar (see photos).

In today’s Knot of the Week, I’ll show you such a simple way to create a Rope Ladder, you’ll wonder how you never knew about it!

That’s the way I felt when I was shown this technique at Boy Scout Adult Leadership training I attended this past weekend. I’ve lashed together a Rope Ladder before, but never with this simple of a technique!

What you’ll see is a field expedient way to quickly throw together a ladder in a rescue situation or to complete the final touches on a Pioneering project. A truly a versatile technique that you should throw into your knotty toolbox.

Ladder Lashing » Lashings

The ladder lashing should be created with natural fiber rope like Manilla, due to it gripping wooden rungs better. Natural fiber is always superior to nylon (or even paracord) in lashing situations, because of how it bites into wood that you’ll typically be using. This of course is dependent on rough wood and not slick wood. Natural fiber rope can also be soaked in water prior to lashing for a stronger hold when it dries in the lashed position.

Something to note on this lashing, that I also mention in the video below, is that there are other ways to lash together a ladder that are more stable. You’ll see in the ratings below that under abnormal load this lashing isn’t stable. This is because the rungs can move out under abnormal load. Even though I mention rescue applications for this lashing, please note that this would ONLY be in situations where putting a ladder together as quickly as possible is required.

(Strength: 3/Secure: 3/Stability: 1/Difficulty: 3)

Uses:

• Field Expedient Rescue/Climbing
• Ladder to reach heights on Pioneering Projects

Tying Instructions:

1. Start by using two equal strands of natural fiber rope that you’ve whipped the ends on (dental floss works great!)
2. Secure each strand to a fixed point with a Timber Hitch explained in the video and photos below
3. *For the next steps you’ll need some kind of sturdy post or wood to create as many rungs for the ladder that you’ll need (The rungs we used are approx. 16″ each)*
4. Ensure the two strands you’ve secured with Timber Hitches are spaced apart so that when tied, there’s a few inches left over on the left and right sides of each rung
5. Reach towards the two strands with both of your hands turned thumbs down
6. Let each strand sit in the groove of your thumb/index finger so that your fingers wrap around the strands (see photos and video)
7. Turn your thumbs rightside up, creating loops with each hand
8. Insert your thumbs into the loops and grasp the standing part of each strand and pull it through the loop in each hand
9. Have a buddy insert the rung into the gap created behind the standing part you pulled through each loop (see photos and video)
10. Repeat steps 5-9 equally spaced down the rope strands to create additional rungs
11. *This method can be done without a buddy, but each side must be done one at a time so you’ll have a free hand to grab and insert the rung*

We’ll be taking a different approach to our Knot of the Week Series for the next three weeks, as we bring you a few articles on creating your own Fast Rope for Climbing.

Fast Rope Insertion & Extraction Systems (FRIES) provide safe and efficient methods for inserting and evacuating personnel to and from specific targets. Fast Ropes come a few different ways, which is with an eye splice or a metal ring for hook up to the davits found on some helicopters.

They’re also available with and without the loops for extraction. As this KOTW is for creating a climbing rope, we’ll be creating a Fast Rope with an eye splice and without extraction loops.

Today we’ll be getting into how you create the 4-Strand Round Braid that’s used to braid a Fast Rope, followed by instructions in the coming two weeks on eye splicing the Fast Rope, and either back splicing or whipping the bottom end.

Why a Fast Rope for Climbing?

First of all if you’re not climbing a rope, you’re missing out on one of the best forearm and grip workouts around. Climbing a rope is at the core of the Functional Strength discussions we’ve had here on ITS. While we’ll save the reasons and methods for climbing a rope for a later article, let’s just say it’s an important thing to train and could save your life.

The reason that a Fast Rope is braided with a 4-Strand Round Braid, is to reduce overall kinking and create an outer pattern that’s easier to grip versus a smooth rope. This also aids in controlling the descent on insertion. That outer braided pattern also makes a great grip when ascending a Fast Rope. If you haven’t had the pleasure of climbing an old Fast Rope that’s been converted into a climbing rope, it’s so much nicer to climb.

Climbing a Fast Rope is not a military technique, and not commonly practiced. Climbing in the military is typically done with a Caving Ladder, or in PT scenarios with Manilla Ropes. While Manilla Ropes are great to climb, they become frayed, slick and can leave splinters in your hands and other parts of your body if you’re not careful when descending.

Purchasing a Fast Rope is out of most budgets, as one of these can run anywhere from $750 to $2000, depending on the length. Professional Fast Ropes for the Military are also made with machines, braided very tightly and almost impossible to identically create. What we’ll show today is not a professional Fast Rope, and isn’t a substitute for one. However, it is a great climbing rope and is equally as strong as a professional Fast Rope provided you use the rope and braiding technique we recommend.

Creating a Fast Rope

As mentioned above we’ll be demonstrating the 4-Strand Round Braid today, which is the first step in creating a Fast Rope. The rope we built was created out of 8 – 35ft. strands of 7/16″ Bluewater Assaultline Static Rope. This is where you’re asking yourself “Why did they use 8 strands when it’s a 4-Strand Round Braid?” The answer is because each of the four strands in the braid is doubled.

We used Bluewater Assaultline Static Rope because we wanted something that was equally as strong as Military Fast Rope. With the four doubled strands used in construction, our Fast Rope has a 28,000+ lbf (pound force) or 129 Kn (kilonewtons) rating, and using an authentic eye splice was the strongest and safest method of terminating the line. An eye splice develops approximately 85% of the break strength of the line, and enables the rope to be girth hitched onto a beam to climb.

You don’t have to use assaultline for your climbing rope, as it was around $200 for the length we purchased. We do recommend that you use static rope though, dynamic rope has too much flex to be used for climbing. If you need to use Nylon rope for cost considerations, use a Solid-Braid Nylon. We don’t recommend Nylon for climbing rope though, as it’s fairly slick when it comes to your grip.

Why 7/16″ rope? Because four strands of 7/16″ equals the standard Fast Rope diameter of 1 3/4″. We actually came up with the calculation by using paracord, which is how we’ll demonstrate the 4-Strand Round Braid today. Paracord is 1/16″ in diameter and our completed 4-Strand round braid with paracord came out to be a 1/4″ in diameter, so we knew that using a 7/16″ rope would give us the required 1 3/4″ diameter we were looking for (7/16″ x 4 = 1 3/4″). 7/16″ rope is fairly close to 11mm if you need that conversion.

If you’re interested in the Mil-Spec construction for Fast Ropes, they follow MIL-F-44422, which talks about everything from material to length (standard lengths are 60, 90 and 120 feet). Here’s something straight from the specification: “Construction: 1.75 inch (44mm) diameter made from Low stretch nylon fibers with a 8 braid construction to reduce rope kinking and afford fast, fully controlled, and safe descents.”

Instructions

We highly recommend that when starting this project, you practice the 4-Strand Round Braid with Paracord or other small line to get your technique down. It’s a bit different that a traditional braid and nearly impossible to explain in words, which is why we created the video below.

A great mnemonic device for learning the braiding pattern is “back two, over one.” What you’re doing is alternating from the right to left outside pairs while taking the respective working end around the back side of two strands and over the last one it’s brought behind. This of course won’t make sense until you watch the video, but reciting this pattern will help you stay focused, because you’re in for a long braiding session.

It took two of us around an hour and a half to braid our Fast Rope. We started with 35 ft. strands and wound up with a 25 ft. long Fast Rope that weighs approx. 16 lbs. You can estimate needing around 1.5 feet for every foot in length you want your Fast Rope to be. That’s also not including the length required for the eye splice and whatever method you use for terminating the end (future article).

You’re also going to definitely need a buddy to help you braid, as creating this pattern plays havoc with the standing ends of the rope. They’ll develop twists that your buddy will have to fix, because you’ll be braiding and won’t be able to let go of the rope. You could do this by yourself by taping the braiding every foot or so to go back and untwist the lines, but you’re in for a long day if not many days.

Braiding this Fast Rope is also a tremendous grip workout in itself. You’ll have to be tightening the braid while keeping it together and is not for the weak-fingered individual. If you are, find a friend with a good grip and be the one that untwists the lines and buys the beer.

Video and Photos

We’ve not only included a YouTube video on how to tie the 4-Strand Round Braid, but tried to accurately describe the process with photos as well. Remember that we’ll be back to show you how to complete your Fast Rope with and eye splice and terminating method in the following two weeks! We’ll be demonstrating rope climbing techniques in a future article that will help you learn this skill-set.

Building a Fast Rope for Climbing: Part 2, 4-Strand Eye Splice

Building a Fast Rope for Climbing: Part 3, Whipping and Fusing

A special thank you to CENTCOMSurvivor from our Forum for initiating the conversation that brought you this article. Creating a Fast Rope for Climbing is something we’ve wanted to do for a long time, but was pushed to the side until recently suggested.

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.

Diagonal Lashing » Lashings

(Strength: 4/Secure: 4/Stability: 3/Difficulty: 3)

Uses:

• Binding poles that cross each other at 45° to 90° angles
• Creating cross-braces on a structure

Tying Instructions:

1. Start your Diagonal Lashing with a Timber Hitch on your bottom-most pole.
2. A Timber Hitch is simply a turn around the post and wrapping the working end a few times around the standing end (see photos).
3. Tighten the Timber Hitch on the bottom-most pole and wrap the working end over the crossing pole.
4. Wrap three times from both directions (right angles) to create an “x” shaped pattern.
5. Make three frapping turns in the space between the two posts.
6. Finish the Diagonal Lashing off with a Clove Hitch and cut/tuck in the excess cordage.

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.

Round Lashing » Lashings

(Strength: 4/Secure: 4/Stability: 3/Difficulty: 3)

Uses:

• Rigging an A-Frame for block and tackle
• Creating a Flag Pole
• Making a raft

Tying Instructions:

1. Start your Round Lashing with a Clove Hitch on your left-most pole.
2. Starting left to right will get the working end running the right direction, as your next step will be wrapping.
3. Wrap firmly, but not too tightly around both poles with the working end approximately 8 to 10 times.
4. Now make 2-3 frapping turns between the two poles, (exclude this step if joining poles like in a flag pole) ending close to the opposite side of where you started your initial Clove Hitch on.
5. Finish off the lashing with another Clove Hitch on this opposite side and tuck in the excess working end into the wrappings.

After a brief hiatus, the Knot of the Week returns this week with the first of a few articles on lashings.

Lashings are an important part of any knotty professor’s repertoire, and an all around good skill to have. Today we’ll begin with the most common type of lashing, the Square Lashing.

A Square Lashing is used to bind two (timber) poles together, and commonly seen in use by the Boy Scouts on those massive pioneering projects. Weight bearing sections of these structures utilize the Square Lashing.

We’ve briefly touched on lashings in our article on Common Rope Seizing, which is technically also referred to as a Round Lashing.

Square Lashing » Lashings

(Strength: 5/Secure: 4/Stability: 3/Difficulty: 3)

Uses:

• Binding two timber poles together
• Weight bearing joint in structure building

Tying Instructions:

1. Start your Square Lashing with a Clove Hitch on the vertical pole directly beneath the horizontal one.
2. Working right to left with the working end, take it under and around the back of the horizontal pole, across the top of the vertical pole, down and around the back of the horizontal again and across the top of the vertical.
3. Duplicate this at least three times, more if the poles are thicker.
4. Ensure you’re creating tension with every wrap.
5. Now make at least three frapping turns between the two poles, ending close to the opposite side of the vertical pole you started your initial Clove Hitch on.
6. Finish off the lashing with another Clove Hitch and tuck in the excess working end into the wrappings.
7. Optionally before creating the last clove hitch you can individually make turns around each section for added support, but it’s not necessary (this is demonstrated on the video but not photos).

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.

Common Seizing » Lashings

(Strength: 3/Secure: 2/Stability: 2/Difficulty: 3)

Uses:

• Joining two parallel sections of rope
• Technique carries over to Lashings as well

Tying Instructions:

1. Create a closed loop and bind the two sections of rope with a Clove Hitch (a constrictor knot can also be used).
2. With the working end, make a series of tightly wrapped turns below the Clove Hitch (at least 12 turns).
3. On the last turn, just wrap around one section of rope and bring the working end up between the two sections of rope.
4. Tuck down through the loop with the working end creating a frapping.
5. Do this once more to create two frapping turns.
6. Tuck the working end through the right-most frapping turn.
7. Cross over the frapping turns, making a loop before tucking through the left-most frapping turn.
8. Pull the working end tight, creating a Square Knot in the seizing.
9. Trim the excess as needed and fuse.

Our Knot of the Week series continues this week with a new twist. We’ve decided to shoot video to accompany the Sheepshank this week which is embedded below.

This is just a trial, so let us know what you think in the comments. If this is something that’s well received, we’ll continue to add video to each new Knot of the Week.

The Sheepshank is a worthwhile knot to add to your inventory. If you’re ever working around ropes this knot could potentiality mean the difference between having a useless rope and one that will carry you through.

There seems to be a lot of controversy over the Sheepshank, and whether it will hold under load. Using cheap nylon rope, we’d certainly advise against using the Sheepshank, as it WILL slip. We’ve personally tested the Sheepshank with good climbing rope (Bluewater Static Assaultline, 11mm) and it’s held approx. 200 lbs. under load with no slipping.

The Sheepshank shouldn’t be used in a situation where dynamic rope is being used, only static. You shouldn’t add the additional shock of a long fall to an already damaged rope, no matter what knot is tied. We recommend using the knot only if there are no other alternatives just to play it safe.

Sheepshank » Lashings

(Strength: 3/Security: 3/Stability: 3/Difficulty: 3)

Please refer to our Knot of the Week introduction post for a description of what these ratings mean.

Uses:

• Shortening a rope
• Bypassing a damaged area of rope

When tying the Sheepshank using these instructions, ensure that on each loop being made the working end is passing behind the standing part.

Tying Instructions:

1. Begin by making twist in the rope to create a loop
2. Make a similar sized second loop
3. *If this knot is being used to bypass damage make sure the damage (area with riggers tape in the photo) winds up on the top of the middle loop*
4. Continue with a third loop
5. Take your index finger and thumb of your left hand and grab the middle loop through the bottom of the left loop
6. Take your index finger and thumb of your right hand and grab the middle loop through the top of the right loop
7. Pull the middle loop through the outer loops
8. Pull on the two ends of the rope to tighten the knot

View the gallery below and follow along with the steps above!

Check back next week as we continue our Knot of the Week series with the Clove Hitch