The Monkey’s Fist can be used to finish off decorative knot work, or make keychains, but we tend to favor its more practical applications. Tying the Monkey’s Fist on the end of a rope provides a weighted end to add momentum during a throw, it’s great for tossing a line over a tree branch attached to a bear bag.
In addition to showcasing how to tie the Monkey’s Fist, Bryan offers a look at the special place it’s found on our DIY Knot Board Display.
Monkey’s Fist » Stopper Knots
(Strength: 5/Security: 5/Stability: 4/Difficulty: 4) See below for what these ratings mean.
A Monkey’s Fist was historically used to run a line for ship-to-ship operations due to the fact that it could be tied with a weighted core inserted and endure many tosses back and forth.
Ratings
Strength/Security/Stability/Difficulty
Each knot will be assigned a rating from 1-5 (1 representing the lowest score) based on the following four properties:
Strength – All knots will weaken the strength of a rope, however, there are knots that are stronger than others. The scale here will reflect how strong the rope remains with the specified knot.
Security – The security scale refers to how well the knot will stay tied, and resist coming loose under a normal load.
Stability – Stability refers to how easily the knot will come untied under an abnormal load (i.e. the knot being pulled in a direction it was not intended to) A lower score here represents instability.
Difficulty – The lower the number, the easier a knot is to tie.