A pocket full of knots.

Traditionally, a knotting board is a large display of the knots a Scout can make. Being large, they became unpopular.

Now, though, spend a few minutes with card, wire and a cigar tin, and you can have a pocket-sized display fit to earn any Cub or Scout that bit extra credit towards a badge.

(You could consider this to be eight Instructables in one, since will also learn how to tie seven different knots. How's that for value?)

Step 1 What you need.

• Most small tins will do for this project, but the best tins are those flat, conveniently pocket-sized tins that hold a handful of slim cigars*.
• Odd lengths of electrical wire. Mains wire is good for this as it gives you a choice of colours, enabling you to tell one part of a knot from another.
• Wire cutters.
• A piece of stiff card.
• Superglue.
• Fine pen for labelling knots.
• Optional: paints to disguise the carcinogenic origins of the tin.

_{*Please remember, folks, all forms of tobacco are very, very bad for you. I in no way condone smoking, but I have a friend who does smoke, and he lets me have his empty tins in exchange for me shutting up about what he is doing to his health.}

Comments

[avatar_i]

That is a very nice way to show- and remember- how to make those knots.

When I was a kid, I remember an Uncel telling me how to remember the bowline like this:
[Rope held out in front of you, verticle]
Make a loop.
Think of the loop as a hole beneath a tree.
A rabbit comes out of the hole,
The rabbit goes around the three,
The rabbit goes back into the hole,
Voila, a bowline!

[hjjusa]

On the Bowline, when I was a ScoutMaster in Las Cruces NM, I was fooling around with a piece of rope. I tied a slip knot and stuck the loose end through and slipped the knot and Voila, a Bowline. I showed this to another SM and we went round and round about whether it was a Boline or not. Fast forward 10 years I was SM in another town, I was looking through a knot book and ran across the very same knot. It is called an Eskimo Bowline.

[brdavid]

there are 4 types of "Bowlines" but 2 classes! the bowline, the left handed bowline AKA: The Dutch Marine Bowline, The Cowboy Bowline, the Working end of the knot is on the outside of the look where as the working end of the Bowline is on the inside of the loop, all fall in the first class, let us call normal. The second class is harder to explain. the last loop(bright) ties around the working end and not around the standing end of the rope, thus again you will have two versions of this knot, one with the working end inside of the main loop and the other outside of the main loop. here is a link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo_bowline 

[Kiteman]

It's amazing the number of knots there are. It sometimes seems that almost any tangle of string has a nautical name...

[reddevved]

One of my Scout leaders called it a "Cat's Eye Knot" or something like that before but that might be because I didn't tie it with a loop I tied it with a piece of rope on a pole.

[reddevved]

I tie the "Reef Knot" (in quotes because I'm in the BSA and I know it as a Square Knot) this way. I find it faster and easier to do behind my back (to show off) in competitions.

[ERCCRE123]

didn't bear grylls demonstrate this but he cut the center so it will seperate with slack?

[maniac_maker]

bear grylls used it but cut it.. he used the rope tied off to a tree to rappel down a cliff. BUT, he did not want to just lose the rope, so; he tied a sheep shank and cut the center cord, that way when there was tension, it would hold, but when slack, it would come apart, so the cut allowed him to pull most of the rope down with him.

[Kiteman]

It unfastens with slack anyway - cutting it just wastes rope.

[Cheezpaper]

Isn't this just a clove hitch formed outside of the anchoring object?

[AOGutierrez]

Its a clove hitch with an overhand knot under the crossing. Much more secure and it only becomes tighter as it is worked.

[Kiteman]

Not quite - look at the cross-overs of the finished knot.

[butterfly grower]

I like this. It is easyer to cary than that big bord. I added a taunt line and two half hiches

[Kiteman]

Cool. Got a picture?

[berserk]

I like your idea of a reference box rather than book :-)
Something felt wrong when I saw the sheet bend, so I looked it up on wikipediaWikipedia. I think it's backward, making it much less secure. The loose ends shound both be sticking out on the same side.

[caarntedd]

Greetings beserk (and Kiteman). I know this is an extremely belated reply but I've only just discovered this 'ible due to Kiteman's recent entry into the paracord contest.
The sheet bend is not "much less secure" for having the tails on opposite sides of the knot unless you are using the ropes at close to their maximum load.
If used to join a line to a tarp or something similar it makes no difference as the tarp will rip before the rope breaks. If joining a small rope to a larger one for the purpose of  hauling or securing the larger rope, no difference as the load is not great. If slippage is a problem then use a double bend and/or a stop knot in the tail.
When a knot or bend is placed in a rope the load capacity of the rope is significantly reduced at the point of the knot or bend (by about 20 to 50 percent depending on it's complexity), and even more so if they are incorrectly tied.
The lines need to be aligned for maximum strength and not offset around the area of the knot or bend, because when a load is applied the knot or bend will twist as the ropes pull into line, severely weakening this area. This problem is eliminated by having the tails on the same side.  For uses that have little or no load such as Kiteman's contest entry, tail orientation doesn't matter.

[Kiteman]

It works either way. When used properly, the red line is much thicker than the yellow line, and the tension that locks the cross-over in the yellow part of the knot is provided by the stiffness of the red line.

[neverdrinkoliveoil]

Isn't that an "S" shape?

[Kiteman]

Depends which way you're looking ;-) I said "Z" because the bends are so tight, rather than loose and open like an "S".

[zoltzerino]

Hey Kiteman, I am a member of the UK Scouting movement, but sadly I'm have to leave and move up to the Explorers VERY soon due to my age. My last night at Scouts will be spent skiing on a dry slope a few miles form where I live. I can remember the good old days in the Cubs - we played something called "The Smartie game" a fun, competitive, team game involving the little sugar coated chocolates. One of the things we do at Scouts is "Picking Daisies"; a codename for the alledgedly banned game of "British Bulldogs"... :-D ZZZZ

[Kiteman]

Bulldog isn't banned, as far as I am aware, but it can get risky when you're playing with such a range of sizes as you get with Scouts.

Just because you're moving up to Explorers, that doesn't stop the fun - you can be a Young Leader, work back with the young'uns, teach them all the stuff you've learned.

[xerxesx20]

Excellent idea! To learn and return is a thing of beauty, seldom seen these days!

[zoltzerino]

Well, its not just me moving up it is about half the troop. It was me and a load of mates who joined scouts at the same time, and the numbers were dwindling already ( I can't see http://susg.org lasting much longer, the beavers seem to move up to cubs, but about 90% of the cubs dont move to scouts, so, funding is an issue.)

When me and my mates move up there will only be about 5 consistent members in the scout troop all of whom are newcomers.
I may do the youg leader thing either permanently or as part of mt DofE perhaps.
ZZZZ

[Kiteman]

Time to do some recruiting then - it's St George's Parade on Sunday, phone the local press and invite them to send a photographer over, and mention that you have a few spaces left in the group.

[Kiteman]

_{(Ulverston! I'm from Workington originally)}

[zoltzerino]

Workington!
You know Ulverston?

I won't be at the parade, as I am competing in a bike race event...
I will be a young leader, and there are some Cubs moving up soon thankfully.

ZZZZ

[Kiteman]

I hardly ever went, but I know of it.

_{I've just heard that our Akela can't make it to the parade - it's his mother-in-law's 70th - so it's just me and 24 Cubs...}

[struckbyanarrow]

this is kinda of cool but you should of mentions altoids tins they rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kiteman]

Simple reason: I didn't have an Altoids tin (they're not so common in the UK).

[zoltzerino]

Not so common... meaning they are found in places? Where would you find them in the UK? I haven't found them anywhere. ZZZZ

[Kiteman]

In "corner" sweet shops, and I think I've seen them in either Tescos or Morrisons.

M&S have a similar product, except I think their tins are green.

[zoltzerino]

I've come across the Marks and Sparks ones - they are not all there cracked up to be. ZZZZ

[Lithium Rain]

That's weird, since the curiously strong altoids claim to hail from England! Hmm, want to buy one from me off ebay? :D

[Kiteman]

Oh, they may be English, but they're more often sold in corner shops than supermarkets (for no reason I can see), and then only in the better-stocked shops. Far more popular are Polos and gum.

[bad ass pope]

Don't forget Fisherman's Friend!

[Lithium Rain]

That's weird. It's exactly the opposite here-supermarkets are lousy with them, but the little stores? Forget it.

[zzoe]

Great inst'able, wish i'd written it. Splendid, cool, useful....&c. But what about the rye? You left out the rye.

[Kiteman]

I left out the four-and-twenty blackbirds as well :-D

[zzoe]

I do not 'laugh out loud', but merely smile, wryly.

[unpicky]

great instructable and fantastic pictures! i like the fact that you use different colors of wire