Four knots to make paracord into a useful tool.

Paracord is an awesome multitool, used everywhere from the wild blue yonder to the deepest caverns. But like any good tool it is only as good as the knowledge the user has about the tool. With most people out there using  bungee cords & ratchet straps it seems that paracord is being used for nothing more than friendship bracelets for grown men. This is a shame because for less then the price of a few cheap bungee cords & some to short to be helpful straps You can get yourself hundreds of feet of paracord.

The key to getting the most out of the paracord is good knot work. The first thing you need to know is what makes a good knot. One is that the knot is easy & quick to tie & more impotant is that the knot is easy & quick to untie. The hitch class of knots is by far the best group of knots that the average person could know. The four most useful hitch knots are the half hitch a quick simple knot that forms the base for many other knots, the inline half hitch allowing you to get the most out of one length of paracord, the slippery hitch that gives you both on the fly control over tension on your paracord but also an adjustable loop that will not change unless you want it & the inline trucker's hitch instantly doubling the your pulling power.

Step 1

To get started lets get some terminology that will be used defined.

line= the paracord 

Main line= the part of the paracord doing the work for example holding down your tarp. or the long part                      of the paracord.

Mid line= the middle of the length of the paracord.

End line= the unused length of paracord or the short length of paracord.

Comments

[shantinath1000]

When you have one of these yellow highlight boxes INSIDE another box you can never see what the one on the inside says- when you mouse over the outer box the inner ones vanish. is there some way you can fix this- I AM interested in what you have to say!

[freakyqwerty]

Get Nuke Anything Enhanced, an add-on, for Firefox, if you don't use Firefox then should!
It lets you hide elements on a web page so you can hide the outside yellow box, don't worry you can undo hiding things.

[sokamiwohali]

Ok, so this isnt meant to insult you or nuthin, but your terminology, Knots and the Names of the knots are highly incorrect.

all of these knots that you have tied are load bearing knots and can KILL someone if you tie them wrong...which you did that too. i will help you. lets start with the terminology...

1) There is no such thing as "lines" in knotwork.
2) Terminology:
Rope-Rope
Standing end-the body of the rope usually never used in the knot.

Working end-The end of the rope your using to tie the knot.

Bight-a loop in the rope. Bights are usually found in loop knots, but are more specific...such as figure eight on a bight and the figure eight follow through...they look similar and often confused. the figure eight on a bight is tied differently than the figure eight follow through.

Tag end- is the same as the standing end...except it is used to describe knots that use both ends of the same rope...such as tying a square knot using 1 piece of rope...take the working end anc cross it over the tag end to the right. take the tag end and loop it under the working end...then take the tag end and crossit over the working end and loop the working end under the tag end and pull tight...left over right, right over left.

3) your knots...your on the right track with step 2 but wrong knot...that is the last step of the timber hitch...not anything close to a half hitch. the half hitch is used to secure an object to another object usually vertically...like a fishing boat to a tree...the weight of the boat pulling on the rope tied around the tree keeps the knot secure.

Step 3...there is no such thing as a "midline half hitch" and its NOT used for shortening the rope...there is a knot that is similar to what you tied (i cant remember its name but thats not it for sure). the knot you would use for shortening a rope is the one and only Sheep Shank. But the knot you tied is a non standard Two Half Hitches with a loop...this

Step 4...a slipery hitch is nothing less than a half hitch with a loop used to release the knot more easily...but your on the right track...the knot is called the Taught Line Hitch which is used for taking SOME slack and to tighten the rope down to the load. but is tied tight to begin with so you shouldnt need to take much slack up. Also...if the knot is fixed...it doesnt move...so it cant possibly be slippery if its fixed. and a slippery hitch is just a half hitch with a loop to pull as a "quick release".

Step 5...hahaha...remember what i wrote about the Sheep Shank?...well it is more of a sheep shank than anything else...it just has a slippery end...lol

I am including some pictures to show you what is what.


The Knots in this order are:

1) the Half Hitch
2) Sheep Shank
3) Two Half Hitches
4) Taught Line Hitch
5) Slippery Half Hitch (I know it says its the slip knot, but thats not the name)
6) Trucker's Hitch

Please, whenever you tie knots and are teaching others, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do your homework to make sure your teaching the right names of the knots and tie them correctly...all of these knots are meant to bear weight (some more than others) and if you say your tying a bowline and you tie a granny knot (the evil step sister of the square knot) it WILL kill someone.


Remamber i am KNOT yelling at you nor trying to criticize you horribly, but knots are serious business...tying the right one can mean the difference tween your kitchen table turning your truck or car into a brand new airplane, or your couch going through someones windshield and causeing a pileup @ 75mph, or even someone falling to their death.

i hope i helped you all!!

[sokamiwohali]

Oh and the knots are labeled from left to right.

[Buck Futter]

I believe the knot in step 3 is a figure 8 knot, not a half hitch. A half hitch passes through the main line side of the loop, not the end line side.

[ninly]

Buck Futter is correct, the knot pictured in step three is identical in form to a figure eight knot, not a half hitch. In this form, however, it could be called a "figure eight hitch" (Ashley #1666).

It looks different from a figure eight mainly because the bight passes over the hook, but if you were to pull it off the hook and tighten it, you'd have a plain old figure eight.

[Foaly7]

That's not even close to a figure 8 knot.

[mortuusvi]

the knot in step three is not a figure 8 knot.

[tconnolly2]

Step 6 is also used to tie a roast with, using butcher's twine. Works great & let's face it; roasting meat after cutting & prepping is still considered manly by most women.

[budabob07]

What about the bowline?

[Lextone]

Step 6 is part of how you tie a Rolling Timber Hitch.

[robmannn]

That slippery hitch is a great knot and the truckers hitch is done the way I remember, but we would just finish with the doubled half hitches. Thanks.

[Cheswick32]

You have forgotten the single most important knot in the universe. That knot is the bowline. It is simplish to tie and can essentially be used for almost any situation. It could be considered the duck tape of knots. Thank you and good night.

[graeme.t.cooper]

Apart from a hook being placed inside a bight, that is a Figure 8. It is, from what I see from the other pictures in this ible, it is to secure the line to show how to create half hitches on the cylinder in step 6.

For those who don't believe me on the Fig 8, try it out. Start by tying the knot as shown in step three. Tighten it, and then slip it off the hook.

[knex_builder_freak]

Please get it out of knex =)

[knexguy]

You put 'impotent' rather than 'important', just a bit of a difference :)

[RMConstruction]

 For god's sake, THIS IS NOT KNEX!

Please, get this out of the knex section.

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