The Ashley Book of Knots (1944)

What I love about ABOK is that, while it&#x27;s exhaustive and technical, there&#x27;s still a lot of personality in the descriptions and commentary. Not only in the chapter headings, but even the knot descriptions sometimes have random little anecdotes, and you get the sense that the author must have been quite a guy.<p>A favorite quote:<p>&gt; The topsail halyard bend is said to be a yachting hitch, but it is possible that it has never appeared outside the covers of a book. It has one more turn than the studding-sail bend and this, like the second tablespoonful of castor oil, savors of redundancy.

The Marlinspike hitch is my favorite :) If you stick anything functioning as a marlinspike in there (stick, screwdriver, etc.), you get a great handle for pulling in tension. If you put a hook in there, you have a hitch onto the hook that can be released by slipping it off (and the whole knot collapses in on itself). If you stick the tag end one way instead, you end up with a great stopper knot (Oysterman’s Stopper Knot) that is triple the diameter of the cordage. If you stick the tag end in another way, you end up a Bowline—and it’s a whole lot faster tying it than the “rabbit-around-the-tree” method.

ABOK is wonderful. I have my grandfather’s copy, which is somewhat in need of a rebinding but otherwise in good shape.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.animatedknots.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.animatedknots.com</a> offers an app with some animations of knots that cites ABOK numbers and page numbers, and i have that installed on my phone.

Know knots or tie lots!<p>Knowing a few different knots for a variety of situations comes in handy. The right knot holds properly and can usually be undone when needed without having to cut it out.<p>If you&#x27;re starting out then the square knot, two half hitches, taught line hitch, clove hitch, and bowline cover most use cases. And, yes, those are among the basic ones taught to Scouts.

I think this might be my favorite kind of nonfiction book. Truly the Bible of knots.<p>For years I have looked for a list of &quot;Bibles&quot; of their respective subjects, but have never found anything quite right.<p>Chapman&#x27;s Piloting &amp; Seamanship is another example that comes to mind.

My understanding is that a lot of &quot;knot culture&quot; developed during the Nantucket whaling days. There were knots before, of course, but the variety and intricacy exploded. (a bit of a simplification of course, there are lots of cool Celtic knots and whatnot, too)<p>It was a somewhat special time, where you had a lot of relatively well-paid capable people stuck on a boat with nothing to do for sometimes weeks on end. Encourages some creativity, I suppose (: Scrimshaw is another product of that time — some really intricate stuff out there (eg: [1]).<p>For me, I feel like the bowline and trucker&#x27;s hitch give you huge bang for the buck. Memorize those, and you can handle many things, with a bit of rope.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;modelshipworld.com&#x2F;topic&#x2F;27614-prisoner-of-war-bone-model-c-1800-by-shipmodel-restoration-by-dan-pariser&#x2F;" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;modelshipworld.com&#x2F;topic&#x2F;27614-prisoner-of-war-bone-...</a>

i carry this book and a piece of string with me and try to tie various knots. very satisfying while i sit around.<p>i find it very difficult to remember how to tie a knot when not practiced.<p>i like the glue that the author recommends in the book for applying on string ends to prevent them from fraying, it&#x27;s called duco cement -- comes in a green tube.<p>some of the knots i&#x27;ve remember off the top of my head: bowline, constrictor knot, alpine knot, truckers hitch, midshipments hitch.<p>and i&#x27;ll end it with a fun fact,<p>The Midshipman&#x27;s Hitch Knot is promoted by Ashley (ABOK # 1993, p 325) as the only knot to tie in the following unlikely but critical circumstance: you fall overboard and catch hold of the line which you have prudently left trailing astern and find yourself hanging on with difficulty.

When I was a kid on the gillnetter I&#x27;d read that book all the time and would practice tying some of the more elaborate knots. I wish I still had my dad&#x27;s old marlin spike. Had it for years, with a wobbly old turk&#x27;s head I&#x27;d tied on the eyelet. Gobbled up by the mists of time (an old girlfriend threw my shit out a dozen years ago and it was a casualty)

I often keep a short piece of paracord or nylon rope in my pocket for tying knots. It works well for keeping my hands busy. I&#x27;ll often tie a chain sinnet, a series of half-hitches so that they spiral, a diamond knot, or just a bunch of other knots that I try to remember how to tie.<p>What knots do you tie when you&#x27;re just trying to keep your hands busy?

<i>Related</i>:<p>Big knots discussion earlier this month:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=37346115">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=37346115</a>

A long time ago, I took the Sierra Club Basic Mountaineering Training Course (which was since abolished after some lawsuits!).<p>We practiced the bowline-on-a-coil and belaying someone on flat land, and then we did rock climbing, belaying each other.<p>I had a gentleman on the climbing end, who shouted &quot;on belay&quot; to which I responded &quot;belay on.&quot;<p>Then he yelled &quot;falling.&quot; I was sitting with my feet braced, and I&#x27;d practiced holding with my legs instead of my arms, so I was able to keep him from getting hurt. I guess nowadays I could monetize that, if I had it on video.

Saw this video on Knot Theory a while back — the developments in this obscure branch of mathematics have been phenomenal in the last century, with wide-ranging impact.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;8DBhTXM_Br4?si=vDfNBPXpj4OMfLPY" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;8DBhTXM_Br4?si=vDfNBPXpj4OMfLPY</a>

I have problems with knots, I am terrible with them, despite having some books.<p>I think what I really need is a flowchart (what are you tying to what else? what kind of cordage do you have? what kind on the other end, if applicable?) with a list of knots at one end, with their various strengths and weaknesses.<p>The jargon is a bit of an issue, too.

Knot theory in topology is super interesting and have very practical applications in the real world (protein folding, chemical structures, etc). Fun fact: Conway was involved in tabulating 11-crossing prime knots.<p>I found this veritasium video helpful: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=8DBhTXM_Br4&amp;pp=ygULa25vdCB0aGVvcnk%3D">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=8DBhTXM_Br4&amp;pp=ygULa25vdCB0a...</a>

Knot tying is amazing. After all these years it&#x27;s still useful in everyday life. New knots are being invented... But the classic ones remain just as useful.<p>I like history, but I don&#x27;t often encounter old technology with that level of modern relevance, so it really seems like something special. I&#x27;m surprised they don&#x27;t make a bigger deal about learning them, like some people do about cursive.

I still have a copy I was given when I was a kid.<p>What&#x27;s kind of amazing is that it&#x27;s from when there were still a few commercial sailing ships around.

Knots are shared a lot here. There are sites listing hundreds of them each with its own strengths and weaknesses and use cases. But is there any science&#x2F;math to them? For example, if I want to have not with specific set of features, is there something like an algorithm to build that knot from scratch?

Although this is a good one, there are other interesting books and resources on knots here: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.locserendipity.com&#x2F;TitleSearch.html?q=knot" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.locserendipity.com&#x2F;TitleSearch.html?q=knot</a>

Doe anyone know how this compares to Knots Splices and Fancywork?<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;g.co&#x2F;kgs&#x2F;ciFr2n" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;g.co&#x2F;kgs&#x2F;ciFr2n</a>

Does it have an index pointing to each knot or categorizing them? It would be really nice to know which knot to use in each occasion. I couldn&#x27;t find the index.

Anyone has a mobile app recommendation for knots? EDIT(ABOK -&gt; Grog) has one but it&#x27;s outdated and not available on my device.

I just want to say that I enjoy and recommend Philippe Petit&#x27;s opinionated Why Knot? book.