In article <
[email protected]>,
catzz66 <
[email protected]> wrote:
> > On Thu, 04 Oct 2007 19:53:37 -0000, datakoll <[email protected]>
> > wrote:
> >
> >
> >>
> >>http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20071004/sc_livescience/thescienceofknotsunraveled
> >
>
> The thing about knots is if you want them to stay knotted, they don't.
> If you want them to come undone, they resist it. I think there must be
> some kind of knot mojo at work. It is similar to the law of long lines.
> If you are in a line that you think is the longest line and you change
> lines, your new line will become the longest line.
Learn different knots. There is a knot for every
purpose. One of the handiest is the bowline. The same
crossing diagram can be a sheet bend. Put a bowline in
the end of a line and put the standing part through to
make a noose. Easily untied.
A clove hitch used to make a noose and snugged down
will not untie, even flapping in the wind.
Do your shoe lace bows align parallel to the lead of
the lace or cross-wise? The latter is a granny an
_will_ come untied.
Use the figure eight at an end for a stopping knot,
_not_ a half hitch. The half hitch does not untie, the
figure eight does.
Ever want to bind a bale of newspapers? There are
knots you can use that allow you to take up all the
slack, then lock without giving up any slack. Meat
cutters use them for rolled roasts.
I can bend (*) all kinds of slippery stuff, such as two
derailleur or brake cables using a knot. (This is not
practical in the field for a parted cable because of
the amount of cable needed for the bend.)
A double carrick bend can be put in hawsers, wet down,
used to tow a ship, and taken out by hand. I have put
this bend in small stuff, asked my lovely assistant
to haul on it as hard as possible, then untied it
in a trice.
(*) bend; verb, transitive. To fasten, as one rope to
another, or as a sail to its yard or stay; or as a
cable to the ring of an anchor.
The reference is _The_Ashley_Book_of_Knots_.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ashley_Book_of_Knots>
--
Michael Press