There are a bare minimum number of knots, bends, and hitches that will make your fastening equipment (and yourself) safe, efficient, and easy, with step by step instruction. And for more advanced camp craft skills, you can learn to wrap and frap to make tripods and other camp furniture from practically anything.
The most readable book on general camping knots is Cliff Jacobson's Basic Illustrated Knots for the Outdoors, released March 2008. Illustrated by Cliff Moen, this book shows both left and right-handed techniques. Various other books by Cliff Jacobson also illustrate specific knot uses.
Cliff also shares his belief that "as an avid wilderness canoeist and backwoodsman, ten knots and hitches are enough - They're the ones you want to master first."
Every one of these ten (as well as many specialty knots), are richly detailed through illustrated step by step instruction. Directions on how to properly prepare, coil, and maintain ropes for durability and reliability is included.
Other books by Cliff Jacobson can be found on the Camping, Knots and Wilderness Navigation pages of this website, by clicking on the page title at the upper-left section on every website page.
________________________________________________________
|
Fishermans Knot - Right and left handed
Taken from Cliff Jacobson's book
Basic Illustrated Knots for the Outdoors
|
Prussik Knot
Taken from Cliff Jacobson's book
Basic Illustrated Knots for the Outdoors
|
|
Hammock Hitch
This hitch works great where many other knots and hitches slip off when a heavy weight is to be held.
|
This hammock hitch easily held the weight of roughly four gallons of water reliably, and repeatedly.
|
Hammock Hitch
Taken from Cliff Jacobson's book
Basic Illustrated Knots for the Outdoors
|
|
_________________________________________________________________________
A true story
The utility, safety, and protection of using the proper knot, tied competently, can never be over stated. En-route to begin a 120 mile canoe trip down the Churchill river, by a group of twelve during the summer of 1988, began with near disaster. The result of either using the wrong knot, or it being tied improperly, would plague the entire trip. Twelve people, six three-layer polyethylene canoes, and one Cessna 185 aircraft shuttled people, canoes, and equipment from a small lake on the edge of town in Churchill Manitoba, Canada, where the trip really began.
Two travelers loaded their personal gear, paddles, and a portion of the group's equipment, including food, into the small but powerful Cessna, while the pilot lashed one canoe along the length of one float. This equaled one flight over and along the white rapids and brown stained water of the monstrous Churchill river. The intermittent burning tundra and taiga passed below on either side, on to our starting destination. The first team arrived at a pre-determined location, and landed in a slender lake, near a tributary of the enormous Churchill river midday, after a 70 minute flight through turbulent thermals due to the fires and rising smoke. After quickly unloading the plane, the powerful engines prop sprayed water as the floats got on step, then broke free of the lightly chopped water.
Time dragged slowly by as the hours passed, the two companions waiting for the planes return, which held the next team of two adventurers and their load. Finally, a distant dull drone of the 2nd teams flight could be heard, although just barely over the incessant hum of insects. With hours of daylight left, the sun neared the horizon on its slow, long arcing path, as the plane's floats skimmed the surface of the dark cold water. The canoe met the laden Cessna as the pilot shut down the now-throttled back engine. Doors opened, two adventurers emerged with long faces, stating "you're not gonna believe what happened", which mixed with our "what took you guys so long?" A long straight arm with a single finger pointing, directed our attention to the stern of their canoe, still lashed to the float. We stared in awe and disbelief at what was obviously impact damage, compressing and bending the stern of the canoe at an odd angle, "It fell off" came an announcement from the other fellow. The pilot chimed in with "it flew pretty straight", paused a moment, then finished with, "at first". Light laughter started coming randomly from the trio, until one of them said "then it started nose diving", as laughter began breaking out from all three of them. The finger pointing long arm cocked back, made a fist, and punched the other hand, as the fellow said "Then it dove straight down into the river". We all were laughing by then.
In truth, this was not a laughing matter, if it wasn't so funny as they verbally relived the whole incident. Several truly disastrous outcomes could have resulted, if how that canoe slipped its knots had gone any other way. Needless to say, that craft had a new permanent rudder. As the canoe didn't leak in the slightest, all twelve of us had the fortuity to battle negotiating the ever-contravening craft, during the four-and-a-half-day paddle down river.
- James D. Ross
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
Knack Knots You Need: More Than 100 of the Best Sailing, Fishing, Climbing, Camping and Decorative Knots
Written by Buck Tilton, who has the knack! He is a wilderness medicine expert and a writer on backpacking and hiking related topics. See his other books in the "Camping" and the "Wilderness First Aid" web pages of this site.
Untie the mystery of knot-making with this clever and handy guide. This new volume presents all the knots you need to know, and it's brightly colored photographs take you step-by-step through each bend and turn. The book provides information on using these multi-purpose knots in most popular activities and covers a full range of stoppers, bends, loops, and hitches. This is the one volume you can count on to guide you toward quick success for all your knot needs. Knack: Make it easy.
Other books by Buck Tilton can be found on the Camping, and Wilderness First Aid pages of this website, by clicking on the page title at the upper-left section on every website page.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
Camping and Woodcraft: A Handbook for Vacation Campers and for Travelers in the Wilderness (2 Volumes in 1)
Written by Horace Kephart, Copyrighted 1917.
A truly great book for information on how they did it in the good 'ol days. And surprisingly, these techniques still work today. There are several sections in this book that explain uses for different types of knots, hitches, and loops, with drawn diagrams on how their tied This book also has information on everything from how to walk, making the proper campfire, finding your way through the forest, to building a log cabin, and everything in between.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
Ashley Book of Knots
Written by Clifford Ashley, Published 1944. Later revised by Geoffrey Budworth and the International Guild of Knot Tyers.
This book is also a classic among primarily sailors. It is chock full of almost every knot one could think to tie, and has wonderful pen and ink drawings throughout. Images of great sailing vessels, and life aboard ship, with course drawings of knots and how to tie them.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
The Complete Book of Knots
Written by Geoffrey Budworth. He is the co-founder of the International Guild of Knot Tyers. He was responsible for updating and revising the classic knot guide, The Ashley Book of Knots.
This book provides easy-to-follow instructions for selecting and tying more than 100 of the most useful knots. With knots for climbing, sailing, and fishing, every knot entry contains a brief introduction to the history and development of the knot, its alternative names, and information on its uses and special features.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
The Outdoor Knots Book (Mountaineers Outdoor Basics)
Written by Clyde Soles, through The Mountaineers Books. A nonprofit publishing arm of the Mountaineers Club, an organization founded in 1906 and dedicated to the exploration, preservation, and enjoyment of outdoor and wilderness areas.
This unique book explains how to select and use rope, cordage, and webbing for the outdoors, along with the most popular knots used by hikers, campers, paddlers, and climbers. Invaluable information is provided on rope handling techniques and the best methods for rope care and maintenance.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
Klutz Book of Knots (Klutz S.) [Spiral-bound]
Written by John Cassidy. Practice tying knots using the nylon cord that is color-coded to the illustrations provided, and tied through the holes on each page. This book is a fully illustrated step-by-step guide to tying the worlds 24 most useful knots. The directions are easy and clear.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
For the fisherman, and or woman;
Written by an international expert in knotting matters, Geoffrey Budworth, The Book of Practical Fishing Knots provides easy-to-follow, step-by-step diagrams and instructions for tying more than 75 knots for use in all forms of fishing. Over 280 illustrations and 140 full color photographs guide the reader through the stages of tying each knot correctly and safely.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
|
|
