Cool website. When I was a teenager, I spent a week every summer learning to sail at a sailing course. So, I learned quite a few of those knots. This brings back good memories. As, I'm Dutch, the names for these knots in English are a bit challenging for me. And honestly, after 35 years, I struggle to name a lot of these knots in Dutch now. But I still know and use a few occasionally. A lot of that becomes muscle memory. If you do use them often enough, it kind of sticks. They are like nice little 3D puzzles and there's something satisfying when you figure out how they work. It can be fun to figure a few out while fiddling with a bit of rope.<p>The practicality of knots and their traits is what drives their use. When you deal with boats, you need these knots to perform and not come undone when you are not expecting them to (which could be dangerous). And you also need them come apart when you need them to.<p>Properties like that are what makes a lot of these knots so useful. Technically, you can get by with knowing only a handful. But there are a lot of specialized one with niche usages.
One of the things I've learned from teaching knots to Boy & Girl Scouts in the BSA is that you must constantly re-learn them or your skills will founder. It's not like riding a bike for me. That could be a visual-spacial memory thing, but many of my co-knot-tieing scouting teachers seem to have the same experience... so this site is perennially useful.<p>Favorite knot (involving a Rabbit going "through the hole, around the tree, and back down the hole"): Bowline Knot
I love this resource. So many useful knots. Particularly I like the lanyard / friendship knot [1] and the midshipman's hitch (adjustable slip hitch) [2], the latter of which is probably about 90% of the knots that I tie. Honorable mention to the constrictor knot for attaching to large cylinders [3].<p>[1] <a href="https://www.animatedknots.com/lanyard-knot" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.animatedknots.com/lanyard-knot</a><p>[2] <a href="https://www.animatedknots.com/midshipmans-hitch-knot" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.animatedknots.com/midshipmans-hitch-knot</a><p>[3] <a href="https://www.animatedknots.com/constrictor-knot-twisting-method" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.animatedknots.com/constrictor-knot-twisting-meth...</a>
There's a certain kind of sci-fi premise of "what if every intelligent species has something they're particularly good at."<p>Naturally, most stories revolve around something impressive (or damning) for humanity like "war" or "kindness", but in the past I've wondered what kind of story one could make if the answer was "knots".<p>Perhaps that's a question for mathematicians, and whether some facility for topological knot-thinking might be very handy in some kind of physics or engineering.
For those who don't know many knots, I recommend learning the bowline if you could only choose one. It's called the "king of knots" for a reason - it's highly reliable and won't fail under load when lesser knots would.<p><a href="https://www.animatedknots.com/bowline-knot" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.animatedknots.com/bowline-knot</a><p>There's a way of tying it one-handed as well, which can be useful in rescue scenarios (i.e. you are a hiker who fell into a ravine, and someone lowers a rope to you. Even if one arm is broken/disabled you could tie a bowline around your waist with your other arm)<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XIUiUOzq7Q">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XIUiUOzq7Q</a>
I know the linked site in the submission is more about practical knots, everyday knots, but this Tom Scott guest video from Up and Atom on mathematical knots blew my mind. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eVd2Ugk9BU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eVd2Ugk9BU</a>
So awesome that it's able to mathematically quantify knots.
While neither animated nor as large as animatedknots, the Notable Knot Index<p><a href="https://notableknotindex.webs.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://notableknotindex.webs.com/</a><p>contains a short list of knots along with insightful comments on their use. Some, like the Slipped Buntline Hitch, show alternative forms to alleviate deficiencies (jamming in this case) or for different use cases. One of my favorites is the Versatacle, which provides a pulley like mechanical advantage. It's been my go-to tensioning knot since learning about it. Animated Knots is great for understanding the form of knots like the Zepplin Bend, and I use both sites when learning a new knot or brushing up on an old one.
I must have saved upwards of 10 minutes so far by tying my laces with the Ian Knot [1]. If anyone knows of a faster knot I’m all ears, otherwise, cheers to Ian and his innovation in the shoe lace knot space.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm</a>
My favorite animated knot video is the Ylvis one on the Trucker's Hitch[1] but for the iPhone, Grogg Knots is my go to app if I forget a knot. Of course I find out this web site is the "web" version of that App :-)<p>[1] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUHgGK-tImY">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUHgGK-tImY</a>
This is a beautifully done website. I found a book on knots at a used bookstore and bought it. I got a few lengths of paracord and tried them all out. It's a great way to spend an evening. Quite relaxing and doing something physical with my hands was a great stress buster too.
There is an app called grog knots which I think is made by the same people. Best few bucks I’ve ever spent for an app. Love having a bunch of knot diagrams handy when I’m out trying to do something.
First Class Amateur [0] is a great YouTube channel demonstrating how to solve real-world problems using knots.<p>[0] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@First_Class_Amateur">https://www.youtube.com/@First_Class_Amateur</a>
I personally found the low frame rate stop motion-esque animations on this hard to follow when learning knots a few months back. Simple close-up videos on YouTube served me better.
My pastime on the phone, besides playing chess, is to browse through Knots 3D - <a href="https://knots3d.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://knots3d.com</a>
This is a great website. I think it would be a great idea to extend it to "knots in action" with a video showing how the forces (expected magnitude and direction) act upon each given knot. Specially the climbing ones. I few months ago I learned the knot that ties my shoes for good : <a href="https://youtu.be/aQ66r5vMqo8?feature=shared" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://youtu.be/aQ66r5vMqo8?feature=shared</a> The problem with teaching knots is the hand action. Making a good knot involves good hand action. Surgeons spend months practicing sutures. There was an episode of the crime tv series Columbo where finds out it was not a suicide because the dead guys shoes where knotted backwards as someone else knotted the shoes when the guy was already dead (backwards). Very interesting.
"Eighteen inches of paracord is an infinitely better object to fidget with than any 10$ trinket you'll ever get at a store..." the old man shouted, angrily shaking his fist at modernity in general.
Something about knots makes me feel stupid/slow. That's a shame for someone who does climbing and boating...<p>Now I just rely on muscle memory, as trying to "understand" knots always leaves me frustrated...
Great site. The goto place for learning or studying a knot.<p>Place where I first heard about the Ashley Book of Knots (ABOK). The book is a historical gem, as well as the official reference for knots. Great stories about knots.<p>Trucker's Knot, with cool reference to Ylvis, of What Did the Fox Say? <a href="https://www.animatedknots.com/truckers-hitch-knot" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.animatedknots.com/truckers-hitch-knot</a>
It's been a decade or more but every time someone posts this website I swear to learn to make some basic knots and I never do. I should buy some rope.
This looks quite useful! I’ve also gotten good information from Ian’s Shoelace Site:<p><a href="https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/</a>
I've recently been learning how to tie some decorative knots. This site is fantastic, but suffers from the same frustration point all resources seem to: not explaining how to calculate the length of rope you will need for a given knot so you can cut it before starting.<p>I can't believe so many beginner tutorials seem to forget this very basic first question of "how do I prepare my materials?".
This was quite helpful during my early climbing days. It's a shame that sometimes you just can't beat a YouTube video with someone tying the knot you're trying to learn.
Seems to be missing the most animated knott.<p><a href="https://www.animatedknots.com/?s=don" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.animatedknots.com/?s=don</a>
The animations are nice, but I don’t know if I can trust a site that lost fishing knots that does not include a Palomar: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palomar_knot" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palomar_knot</a>
Great resource, especially that they take a stance on versions [] and include some history<p>[] <a href="https://www.animatedknots.com/midshipmans-hitch-knot" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.animatedknots.com/midshipmans-hitch-knot</a>
<a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=animatedknots.com">https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=animatedknots.com</a> this has been posted many times now.
I probably check this site every couple weeks, it's the best knot website out there. I tie knots while watching movies. I used to pick locks. Maybe knitting eventually.
I thought for a second that I'd see 3D animation of knots and thought "that'd be a cool math program to do: one that can animate a knot construction"...