Knot - Misplaced Pages

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Both length and velocity are measured in knots; in the former case, it is equivalent to a Nautical mile; in the latter, to a Nautical mile per hour.

A knot may consist of a length of one or more rope, cord, twine, string, strap or even chain interweaved so as to create in the line the ability to bind to itself or to some other object - the "load". Some knots are well adapted to bind to particular objects such as another rope, cleat, ring, stake or to constrict an object. Decorative knots usually bind to themselves to produce attractive patterns.

Knots have been the subject of interest both for their ancient origins, common use or their mathematical implications, see knot theory.

Knots are essential in many industrial, work, home or recreational activities. Truckers need to tie down a load and will use a Trucker's hitch, gaining a 2-to-1 mechanical advantage. Are you spelunking, having foolishly but voluntarily buried yourself pre-maturely under millions of tons of rock? What ever the activity, on the water sailing or on a cliff-side rock climbing. Learning well tested knots prior to some hazardous activity introduces a critical measure of safety. Even simple activities such as running a load from the hardware store to home can result in disaster if a clumsy twist in a cord passes for a knot.

Besides safety, using the appropriate knot can also save having to cut a line unnecessarily.

The list of knots is extensive but there are some general properties common to the various knot categories. For example, loop knots share the attribute of having some kind of an anchor point tied on the standing end (such as a loop or overhand knot) into which the working end is easily hitched to using a round turn). An example of this is the Bowline Knot. Constricting knots often rely on friction to cinch down tight on loose bundles. An example would be the clove hitch.

Knots may span multiple categories:

Some useful terms pertinent to the making of knots are standing end, working end, bight, loop and elbow.

Some knots have multiple names. For example the overhand is also known as the thumb knot. The Constrictor Knot, the Bag Knot, the Miller's Knot are all the same knot.

Alphabetical List of knots (Format of sub-topics, see below.)

The variant knot names should be included in the list with links to the most formal name.

Format for the knot sub-topics. Canonical Name:
Variant Names:

Category: bend,binding,coil,decorative,hitch,lashing,loop,plaits, stopper, sennit,whipping
Origin: ancient or modern etc.
Similarities: to other knots
Releasing: jamming or non-jamming etc.
Load Strength: 60-75%
Caveat: none, spills, slips, secure if wet, not secure if wet, etc.
Uses: fishing, climbing
Methods: how to tie, picture &/or descriptions or each method

In knot theory, a knot is an embedding of a circle in 3-D space, considered up to deformations (isotopies). This is basically equivalent to a conventional knot with the ends of the string tied together to prevent it from becoming undone. In higher dimensions, circles are unknotted anyways, so one considers embeddings of spheres and hyperspheres.