Untying knots

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Garfield

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I had a 1/2 inch double braid line I put a lot of pressure on and could not get the knot undone. I put it in the vise and pecked on it with a small hammer. The knot almost fell apart. I was amazed. Now everyone can get on here and tell me that all good tree guys know this.
 
A knot is only good if you can untie it. Bowline is a fine knot also a clove works very well.
 
I've been known to use a rock or carabiner to beat my knots out...

If I know there will be a big load on a knot, and it's practical, I'll shove a stick in the knot somewhere before it gets loaded. Wiggle that stick, and it comes undone
 
I've been known to use a rock or carabiner to beat my knots out...

If I know there will be a big load on a knot, and it's practical, I'll shove a stick in the knot somewhere before it gets loaded. Wiggle that stick, and it comes undone

That's the same thing we do, usually when pulling with something.
 
Never have had a problem untying a bowline, even after some real hard pulls, like with a bucket truck or big excavator.
 
I use a long tapered punch (sometimes called a Fid) to
separate the Knot components being careful not to
damage the rope , but what I find that really works
the best is to not put My ropes in that situation....
My 2 cents.........

Night Owle.......
 
It is all in how you dress and set.

The worry point of a knot is that turn that is most likely to unload. On a bo'lin it is on the "top". This is where using a follow through comes in handy. It will make this turn wider and more pliable. I find a double bo'lin works well in heavy loading also.

aie_bowline_5.jpg


bow-yos.jpg

Above is has a Yosemite follow-through

Note the tail runs fair with the working end of the rope. Knots are logical and can be expressed in several ways. The bo'lin has four, left right, up and down. Left and right are more mathematical parsing, but up and down determines if the knot tails into it's self, or out of it's self. For this reason some call them inside and outside bo'lin's

bow2.jpg


So prior to the Yos-follow through you have an inside bo'lin,

If you see me at the Expo, ask me about the Daisy-Chain Bo'lin (DCB). I've never had it lock, no matter how much we pull.

I've actually seen a rope break pulling, and it was not at the knot bend either. the DCB pulled apart easily.
 
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That's why I replaced the butterfly with a BOAB for mid-line block attachment. Nothing says professionalism like beating and kicking and yelling at a knot that you just looked so cool tying.
 
Is the bowline usable as a midline knot?

No it isn't.

Best mid-line in my opinion is a butterfly knot. A figure-eight will work depending on how you are loading the knot and if you also need loading forces to go through it.
 
The bowline is our master knot for all occassions. Never had one come undone (thank you Lord) and never had one we couldn't undo.

Mind you, my climber tends to tie them with the tail to the outside, which, I read, reduces the holding power by half.

Edit: Nice link for the knots, TreeCo, thank you.
 
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I prefer the butterfly rather than the BOAB if both ends of the line are going to be loaded. The tight bends put in each end where it croses the bight of the BOAB create high friction points that seem to load the knot unevenly. The butterfly is a symetrical knot that loads equally from both sides.
 
I've been known to use a rock or carabiner to beat my knots out...

If I know there will be a big load on a knot, and it's practical, I'll shove a stick in the knot somewhere before it gets loaded. Wiggle that stick, and it comes undone

Same here if I have alot of heavy pulling to do, but I use a 12" piece of pvc. Pulls right out and the knot comes apart easy.:greenchainsaw:
 
We use any convenient piece of wood when we add a "peg" to the knot. But choosing the right knots is a better solution, rather than "pegging" an incorrect knot. If the peg comes out, there is a greater chance of failure from shock loading the knot.
 
We use any convenient piece of wood when we add a "peg" to the knot. But choosing the right knots is a better solution, rather than "pegging" an incorrect knot. If the peg comes out, there is a greater chance of failure from shock loading the knot.

:agree2: Plus your changing how the knot cinches down possibly changing the efficiency and failing strength.

I don't have any hard data to back it up though.
 
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