used, while knots used merely as temporary fastenings and which must
be readily and quickly tied and untied are commonly known as "bends"
or "hitches." Oddly enough, it is far easier to tie a poor knot than a
good one, and in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the tyro, when
attempting to join two ropes together, will tie either a "slippery" or
a "jamming" knot and will seldom succeed in making a recognized and
"ship-shape" knot of any sort.

The number of knots, ties, bends, hitches, splices, and shortenings in
use is almost unlimited and they are most confusing and bewildering to
the uninitiated. The most useful and ornamental, as well as the most
reliable, are comparatively few in number, and in reality each knot
learned leads readily to another; in the following pages I have
endeavored to describe them in such a manner that their construction
may be readily understood and mastered.

THE AUTHOR.

JANUARY, 1917.




CHAPTER I

CORDAGE


Before taking up the matter of knots and splices in detail it may be
well to give attention to cordage in general. Cordage, in its broadest
sense, includes all forms and kinds of rope, string, twine, cable,
etc., formed of braided or twisted strands. In making a rope or line
the fibres (_A_, Fig. 1) of hemp, jute, cotton, or other material are
loosely twisted together to form what is technically known as a "yarn"
(_B_, Fig. 1). When two or more yarns are twisted together they form a
"strand" (_C_, Fig. 1). Three or more strands form a rope (_D_, Fig.
1), and three ropes form a cable (_E_, Fig. 1). To form a strand the
yarns are twisted together in the opposite direction from that in
which the original fibres were twisted; to form a rope the strands are
twisted in the opposite direction from the yarns of the strands, and
to form a cable each rope is twisted opposite from the twist of the
strands. In this way the natural tendency for each yarn, strand, or
rope to untwist serves to bind or hold the whole firmly together (Fig.
1).

[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Construction of rope.]

Rope is usually three-stranded and the strands turn from left to right
or "with the sun," while cable is left-handed or twisted "against the
sun" (_E_, Fig. 1). Certain ropes, such as "bolt-rope" and most
cables, are laid around a "core" (_F_, Fig. 2) or central strand and
in many cases are four-stranded (Fig. 2).

[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Bolt-rope.]

The strength of a rope depends largely upon the strength and length of
the fibres from which it is made, but the amount each yarn and strand
is twisted, as well as the method used in bleaching or preparing the
fibres, has much to do with the strength of the finished line.

Roughly, the strength of ropes may be calculated by multiplying the
circumference of the rope in inches by itself and the fifth part of
the product will be the number of tons the rope will sustain. For
example, if the rope is 5 inches in circumference, 5 X 5 = 25,
one-fifth of which is 5, the number of tons that can safely be carried
on a 5-inch rope. To ascertain the weight of ordinary "right hand"
rope, multiply the circumference in inches by itself and multiply, the
result by the length of rope in fathoms and divide the product by
3.75. For example, to find the weight of a 5-inch rope, 50 fathoms in
length: 5 X 5 = 25; 25 x 50 = 1,250; 1,250 / 3.75 = 333-1/3 lbs. These
figures apply to Manila or hemp rope, which is the kind commonly used,
but jute, sisal-flax, grass, and silk are also used considerably.
Cotton rope is seldom used save for small hand-lines, clothes-lines,
twine, etc., while wire rope is largely used nowadays for rigging
vessels, derricks, winches, etc., but as splicing wire rope is
different from the method employed in fibre rope, and as knots have no
place in wire rigging, we will not consider it.




CHAPTER II

SIMPLE KNOTS AND BENDS


For convenience in handling rope and learning the various knots, ties,
and bends, we use the terms "standing part," "bight," and "end" (Fig.
3). The _Standing Part_ is the principal portion or longest part of
the rope; the _Bight_ is the part curved or bent while working or
handling; while the _End_ is that part used in forming the knot or
hitch. Before commencing work the loose ends or strands of a rope
should be "whipped" or "seized" to prevent the rope from unravelling;
and although an expert can readily tie almost any knot, make a splice,
or in fact do pretty nearly anything with a loose-ended rope, yet it
is a wise plan to invariably whip the end of every rope, cable, or
hawser to be handled, while a marline-spike, fid, or pointed stick
will also prove of great help in working rope.

[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Parts of rope.]