Knots & Lashing

WHIPPING

Whipping the end of a ropePurpose: Whip the ends of ropes to prevent fraying and prolongs the life of the rope.
Tying: Lay the twine against the rope and wrap the long end around the rope about 8 turns. Make a bight in the short end. Wrap the long end about 8 more times around both the rope and the bight. On the final turn pass the long end through the bight. Pull the short end to hide and secure the long one. Trim the ends off.

REEF KNOT

An excellent general purpose knot for tying two pieces of string or twine together, the reef knot is possibly the most commonly used knot for the job, and is easy to learn. However, it cannot be overly stressed that the Reef knot is not a long term or secure knot, and it should only be used to finish parcels or bindings. In other cases, use a more secure method of bending two ropes together, such as a Sheetbend, a Double Sheetbend, or a Fisherman’s Knot.
Unfortunately, the Reef knot can easily change into a slipping Lark’s Head (see below), so it should never be used where life or limb are at risk.
Holding one end of each rope in each hand, pass the left rope over the right, and tuck under. Then pass the same rope, now in the right hand, over the left rope, and tuck under.
It is common to chant “Left over Right and Under, Right over Left and Under” when tying the knot. (This can also be performed as “Right over Left and Under, Left over Right and Under”.)
The reef knot can easliy be undone by gripping one loose end, and pulling it back over the knot, in the opposite direction, thus straightening the rope which is pulled. The other rope forms a Lark’s Head knot, and slips off the tugged rope.
The knot gets its name from its use on sailing ships, when the sails were “reefed” – rolled up and tied to the cross spar with a reef knot. To release the sail, the sailors would climb the rigging, and work their way along the cross spar, pulling the top end of the reef knot down. They only had to use one hand, holding on with the other. The weight of the sail would cause the reef knot to slip, and the sail would be released.

Tip. If you want to tie two ropes together of similar thickness then never use a Reef knot. Only use it with string and twine when tying parcels, whippings and bindings.
Tip. Never use this knot to join ropes of two different thicknesses.

SHEET BEND

The Sheetbend is commonly used to tie two ropes of unequal thickness together. The thicker rope of the two is used to form a bight, and the thinner rope is passed up through the bight, around the back of the bight, and then tucked under itself.
The knot should be tied with both ends coming off the same side of the bend, as illustrated here. However it can easily be accidentally tied with the ends coming off opposite sides of the bend, when it is known as the Left Handed Sheet Bend. The Left Handed Sheet Bend is to be avoided as it is less secure.

Tip. If the ropes are of very unequal thickness, or placed under a lot of tension, use a Double Sheetbend.

CLOVE HITCH

Use to attach a rope to a pole, this knot provide a quick and secure result. It rarely jams, and can in fact suffer from the hitch unrolling under tension if the pole can turn. Often used to start and finish lashings.
With practice, this can be easily tied with one hand – especially useful for sailors!

Tip. If you are in a situation where the clove hitch may unroll, add a couple of half hitches with the running end to the standing end of the knot, turning it into a “Clove Hitch and Two Half Hitches”!
Tip. When pioneering, use the Round turn and two half hitches to start and finish your lashings instead of the Clove Hitch. It won’t unroll, and is easier to finish tying off. It just does not look so neat!

BOWLINE KNOT

A commonly used knot to tie a loop in the end of a rope. It has the advantage of not jamming, compared to some other loop forming knots (for example when using an overhand knot on a large bight to form a loop).
Form a small loop (the direction is important), and pass the free end of the knot up through the loop, around behind the standing part of the rope, and back down through the loop.
A chant used by many to remember this knot is “The rabbit comes out of the hole, round the tree, and back down the hole again”, where the hole is the small loop, and the rabbit is the running end of the rope.
In the same way that a Left Handed Sheet bend is a Sheet bend that has the running end of the rope coming out of the wrong side of the knot, a cowboy bowline is a bowline that also has the running end of the rope coming out of the wrong side of the knot. It suffers the same problems as the left handed sheet bend.
Tip. Don’t be afraid to use this knot to form a loop of any size in rope.
Tip. To quickly identify if you have tied the Bowline normal or left handed, check to see that the running end exits the knot on the inside of the loop.
Tip. For added security, finish the knot with a stop knot such as a Figure of Eight knot to remove any possibility of the Bowline slipping.
Tip. If you use this knot in a man carrying situation – perhaps a rescue where a harness is unavailable – then you MUST use a stop knot as mentioned above.

SHEEP SHANK

The Sheepshank is a shortening knot, which enables a rope to be shortened non-destructively.
The knot is only really secure under tension, it will fall apart when slack. (See tip below.)
Tip. Use up to five half hitches each end of the Sheepshank to make the knot more secure, and for fine tuning the shortening.
Tip. Never cut ropes to shorten them! Always use a shortening knot such as the Sheepshank, or coil the excess.

FISHERMAN’S KNOT

Fisherman’s knot (Angler’s knot, English knot, Englishman’s bend, Halibut knot, True Lover’s bend, Waterman’s knot)

The Fisherman’s knot is used to tie two ropes of equal thickness together. It is used by fishermen to join fishing line, and is very effective with small diameter strings and twines.
Tie a Thumb knot, in the running end of the first rope around the second rope. Then tie a thumb knot in the second rope, around the first rope. Note the Thumb knots are tied such they lie snugly against each other when the standing ends are pulled.

Tip: When tying knots in monofilament line, moisten the line before pulling the knot tight. Th
is helps to stop the line heating up with friction, which weakens it.

ROUND TURN & TWO HALF HITCHES.

Used to secure a rope to a pole, or to start or finish a lashing. Pass the running end of the rope over the pole twice. Then pass the running end over the standing part of rope, and tuck it back up and under itself, forming a half hitch. Repeat this for a second half hitch.
This knot has a redeeming feature – it rarely jams!

Tip: Superior to a Clove Hitch for starting and finishing a lashing as the half hitches prevent this knot from unrolling, as they have the effect of locking the knot. The Clove Hitch looks neater (!) but it has a tendancy to unroll, and can be difficult to tie tightly when tying off.

SHEAR LASHING MARK 1 (ROUND OR PARALLEL LASHING)

Shear Lashing TechniqueTie a clove hitch around one pole. Wrap both poles with a simple lashing. Wrap the lashing with a two or three tight frapping turns. Tie off the end with a clove hitch.
Shear Lashing DetailsUse: The Shear Lashing is used to lash the ends of two poles together. The other ends are separated to make a pair of Shear Legs.
Spelling: This Lashing is widely spelled both “Shear” and “Sheer”. There seems to be little agreement and some writers use both on the same page. “Shear” was selected here because it was Ashley’s choice.
Tying it: The two poles are laid side-by-side and an initial Clove Hitch is tied round one pole. A Round Lashing is then tied around the two poles near one end. Then two or three Frapping turns are tied binding the lashing turns tightly. Starting these turns can be awkward. It is sometimes necessary to spread the legs apart to open up the poles to make it possible. The Lashing is completed with another Clove Hitch. The other ends of the poles are then separated to make a pair of Shear Legs.
Use: Shear legs support weight. A single pair can be controlled with a rope as they lean over a stream to lift a bucket. A series of them can support an aerial walkway.
Frapping Turns: The turns surrounding the lashing at right angles exert a tightening effect on the lashing. These turns are known as Frapping Turns. Pulling them as tight as possible makes the Lashing more secure. Various techniques are recommended, but I’m indebted to Dana Holgate for the following: wrap the rope around a stick, stand on the pole, bend your knees, hold the stick across your thighs and then pull by straightening your legs.