Bowline Knot - Seeking Advice

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Permalink Reply by James Conlow on November 9, 2009 at 2:53am

Try going to a rock climbing gym.

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Permalink Reply by Randy on November 9, 2009 at 3:16am

to practice like I did, try tying it around say a pole while you stand in front of it. I found it easier to tie that way.

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Permalink Reply by capt4021 on November 9, 2009 at 3:34am

one easy way i remembered make a hole and the rabbit went through the hole around the tree and back through the hole

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Permalink Reply by Kayli Borell on November 9, 2009 at 5:02am

I think we have all struggled with it. I really have no advice to you other than good luck. I guess I just ahd a really good FF2 instructor when I went through it but I got her down now. I can even do it behind my back with my eyes closed with my gloves on! The tricky part is actually being able to tie the darn not to an object. Good luck with that and I hope you get it down!

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Permalink Reply by lutan1 on November 9, 2009 at 5:38am

Here's some advice- don't tie it.

Bowlines were designed for 3 strand layered rope and if you tie a bowline against the lay of the rope, it can be prone to slippage.

The figure 8 on the bight was developed for use in single strand rope, such as kernmantle, in-lieu of the bowline because there are not channels or gaps between the strands where the crossing section of rope can bight into, therefore ensuring that it does not slip.

The other advantage of the figure 8 over the bowline is the ease in which it can be undone after exposure to a load.

If the bowline was considered to be safe for single strand, then why would we invent the figure 8 and figure 9 series of knots. The family of 8's or the Figure 9 is a far superior knot.

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Permalink Reply by Tony P on November 9, 2009 at 5:49am

Quite likely mate, but if the course calls for the bowline, then you have to learn how to tie it! Like a lot of training, learn it by the book, then learn how to do it better in the real world.

Try this Andrew:
http://animatedknots.com/

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Permalink Reply by lutan1 on November 9, 2009 at 6:29am

Appreciate what you're saying, but it's also flawed thinking. If it's not being taught properly (ie: how to tie it, what it is for and what sort of rope it's suited to), then there's a flaw in the system somewhere.

I know plenty of organisations that teach the bowline. I also know plenty of operators whose only answer when challenged about the bowline is ,"That's what we've been taught".

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Permalink Reply by lutan1 on November 9, 2009 at 6:37am

I know my response doesn't help Andrew in his original question, but I think we often do things because it's tradition, or it's what we've always been taught, etc, and it just doesn't work....

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Permalink Reply by Steve Netherton on November 9, 2009 at 10:30pm

I have never herd that about the bowline but it has me thanking ill check in to it.

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Permalink Reply by Lt. Caleb French on November 9, 2009 at 9:09am

Lol, Tony. You beat me to the punch with that link.

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Permalink Reply by Mick Mayers on November 9, 2009 at 7:02am

I looked to see if anyone had forwarded you the Animated Knots link yet and they had. I have been teaching rope rescue since the 80's and had they had that when I began, teaching would have been so much easier.

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Permalink Reply by Chaplain Mike on November 9, 2009 at 8:56am

Andrew-try the following website, www.animatedknots.com , it will walk you through step-by-step and you can watch how the knot forms in either a slow pace or faster pace. It has all the knots you could or should want to know, and it makes it very easy to practice along with the animation. Good luck. Mike.

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