I think we can all agree knots are useful things. They're handy when you're camping, but they're also useful in daily life. I'm not an EDC guy, but I do carry a 3-4ft piece of paracord routinely. It takes up very little space and it comes in handy every now and then.
Most of us know just one or two knots, and then there are the "super knotters" who have maybe spent years in Boy Scouts or climbing and know dozens of knots. This year I found the middle ground between those two extremes: I now know five knots.
Five is definitely closer to the "one or two" end of the spectrum than the "dozens" side of it, but I find that these five are pretty much all I need.
I'm going to share each of these, but in a first for ZSA Loves, I'll actually be embedding the video I used to learn the knot. YouTube is full of knot-related channels, the vast majority of which are clickbait. A couple of years ago I found this channel called The Bear Essentials, by a Canadian outdoorsman called DJ. His explanations of knots are clear — I can watch the video and then practice the knot. He also explains why the knot is worth learning and shows interesting applications, as well as variations. I've gone so far as to download a bunch of his videos just to have them offline, and when he came out with an iPhone app for knots I instantly bought it (it's called Knot IQ and is a one-time purchase, and works offline).
I know the thumbnails look clickbaity ("Amazing", "Wow", etc.) — you'll have to trust me on this one, these videos are actually good.
Here are my five knots:
Double Dragon
The Double Dragon is a "life supporting" loop knot. You can tie it in the middle of a line or at the end, and you can tie it around an object or just on its own.
If I want to attach a line to somewhere and be very confident it's not going to come undone, this is the knot I'll use. It's also easy to undo even after putting a lot of stress on the line.
There are other knots that give you this sort of loop, like the Alpine Butterfly or the Bowline. Those are good too — I just prefer knowing one single knot (or two, if you count each of the different ways to create this knot).
Here's DJ explaining the Double Dragon:
One thing I like about DJ's video is that he shows you how to inspect the knot — how to look at it and be confident that it's tied correctly before relying on it. This is an important step when tying any knot, especially one that you'll be trusting for anything important.
Taut line hitch
A classic way to use it is for tensioning tent guy lines, but I've used it for laundry lines, for keeping something in place in the trunk of my car, etc.
This is such a simple knot, and I find that I don't even have to remember it super precisely for it to work. Meaning, even if I place the loops on the other side, or do something a little different with the final wrap, I still get something that works for me as a taut line hitch (just a variation on the basic one).
Prusik hitch
This feels like an oddly specific one: It's a way to attach a loop of thin cord around a thicker line. You can then drag the thin cord around and it'll slide where you want it to go, but if you tug on it it'll bite down and stay right where it is. It's useful for putting up tarps when camping, but I also used it to string up a bunch of old CDs on a line to deter birds. It's also a nice way to create your own basic suspension trainer (TRX) — a few years ago I made one from some thicker cord, paracord, and a broken broom handle I cut up into two handles and drilled into. The Prusik knots let me adjust the height of the handles.
Trucker's hitch
This is a way to cinch down rope super tightly on something so it doesn't move. When I carry stuff on the roof of my car I use ratchet strap tiedowns, but this is a good backup to know, and can come in handy in less critical applications as well. This video assumes you already know the basic trucker's hitch, but DJ does cover the basic version at the start then offers some improvements, such as using a Prusik hitch as part of a trucker's hitch.
Woodland ziptie
My most recent use of this one was to close a bag of coffee beans before putting it in the freezer — we were traveling and I didn't have a rubber band handy. It's easy to make, cinches down super tightly, and can be undone when needed. It's also quite aesthetically nice in my opinion. You could actually use a taut line hitch for this purpose if you tie it "backwards" (making it a "jam hitch" which cinches inwards) but I find that having a dedicated hitch for replacing zipties works well for me.
I'm sure I learned this knot on DJ's channel, and it's in the app, but I just couldn't find the video for it... I did find another one though. This video shows another use for the same knot. I will say that the demonstrator uses a line that seems slippery (maybe nylon?) — not the best fit for this particular knot. I found that with standard paracord, the woodland ziptie bites down very tightly, just as much as a standard plastic ziptie.
The surprise
An unexpected feature of knots, for me, is that I need to regularly practice them to know them. Watching them once or twice on video doesn't cut it for me. That's part of why I focus on this handful of knots and keep coming back to this. The practice part is the surprise: It's fun to fidget with paracord. Practicing a knot is maybe a bit like doing crochet (which is just a series of knots, really). It's a calming thing to do with my hands, and it's nice to get comfortable enough with a certain knot that I don't have to look at what I'm doing to tie it correctly.
If you could only use five knots beyond your basic shoelace and overhand knots, would you pick these five? If you feel there's a better knot instead of one of the five I picked, I'd love to hear about it — email me anytime about knots, [email protected].
