Scout Skills – Simple Knots
A guide to tying simple knots
Knot tying is a skill that you will use for the rest of your life, be it in fishing, camping and even surgery. There are many different knots and they serve different purposes. The wrong knot at the wrong time can be annoying or potentially dangerous.
Parts of a rope
Working end – The end of the rope you are using to tie a knot;
Standing end – The end of the rope opposite to that being used to tie the knot;
Standing part -Any part between the two ends. It can be a part of the rope already used in the knot;
Loop – A loop made by turning the rope back on itself and crossing the standing part;
Bight – A loop made by turning the rope back on itself without crossing the standing part.
Reef Knot
This common knot is used to tie together two working ends of the same material and size.
- Take an end of rope in each hand and lay the left hand end over the right.
- Then, using your right hand, take the end from the left down behind the other rope and up to the front again.
- Point the ends inwards again, this time the right hand one over the other one, then take it down behind it and up to the front through the loop which has now been formed.
- Pull the knot tight.
This knot is often remembered by, ‘left over right and right over left’.
Reef Knot
Sheet bend
The ‘sheet’ is the sailor’s name for a rope. The sheet bend is used to tie together two ropes of different types or unequal thicknesses.
- Form a bight in the working end of the thicker rope. Take the working end of the thinner rope and pass it up through the bight.
- Take the thinner rope round the back of the bight and trap it under itself. Remember not to take the working end back down the bight in the first rope.
- Pull tight by holding the bight in one hand and pulling the standing part of the second rope with the other.
Make sure the two ends are on the same side of the knot. If the ropes are of very different thickness, take the working end round the bight and under itself twice to form a double sheet bend.
Sheet Bend
Figure of Eight
This is a ‘stopper knot’ that is unlikely to jam or pull loose. It is also used, when doubled, to tie a loop in a rope.
- Form a loop in the end of a rope.
- Take the working end behind the standing part and back over itself into the open loop.
- Finish by pulling both sides of the knot tight.
If the knot is correct, it will look like a ‘figure of eight’.
Figure Of Eight
Round turn and two half-hitches
This is a long name for a simple hitch used to attach a rope to a post, spar, tree, and so on. It is a composite knot formed from two simple knots.
- Form a round turn by turning the working end twice around the post.
- Then form a half-hitch by taking the working end around the standing part forming a crossed loop.
- Repeat to form a second half-hitch. These should be tied in the same direction and tightened up against the post to ensure that the round turn doesn’t slip.
Round Turn And Two Half-Hitches