Important Knots
Here you will find six of the knots I have found most useful in life. Tying a good, strong, knot is of the utmost importance. Learning how to tie a knot, and tie it well, can mean the difference between dumping a load of trash on the freeway or your couch coming loose when you’re moving and landing on the hood of the car behind you!
Read the short instructions and follow along with the accompanying videos, and you’ll be tying knots in no time at all!
Shell Knot
Let’s start with the most common knot, the Shell Knot. This is used to tie your tie.
The Windsor
The Windsor is another knot you would use for your tie. It’s a bit more complex than the Shell Knot. This knot was not coming through clearly on the video so I tried an animation of how the knot is performed and it came through much easier to see exactly where the end is going through, over, under and up through again.
Emergency Release Knot
The emergency release knot is a common knot found when tying a horse. You never know when a horse is going to panic about something and this knot can be released with a simple pull of the rope.
To create this knot:
- loop your rope around the item you’re tying your horse to.
- using the excess length, bring a loop up through the first loop.
- using the same excess length, bring another loop up through the loop.
Continue bringing loops up through the previous loop until you have the rope five or six loops long. To release just pull the excess cord hanging down.
Clip Knot
I call this the clip knot because it is the knot that I always use to hold the clips on lead lines and my dog leashes. I’ve had horses break the clip while this knot remained true!
To tie this knot:
- Set your clip where you want it on the leash or lead line.
- Fold the line over onto itself.
- make a loop with the doubled lines.
- Bring the end back through the loop.
- Pull tight.
Square Knot
The square knot is a great way to connect two ropes; it’s a strong knot and easy to remember. It’s left over right, and then, right over left. :
- With a length of rope in each hand. Take the left length of rope and put it over the right length of rope.
- Then take the right length of rope and put it over the left length of rope.
- Pull the two ends opposite each other to tighten.
Old Western Knot or Hangman’s Noose
When the sliding length of rope on this knot is pulled the loop becomes smaller. It can become highly difficult to loosen this loop once it has become snug. Use this knot with care. To tie this knot:
- With one length of rope create an “S”.
- With one end of the rope twist it around seven times.
- Slide the end of the seven twisted length into the loop.
- Now pull the other ends loop until it becomes snug enough to hold the other end threaded through the loop.
If you enjoyed tying those knots here are some more: