I’m repairing a static line that controls the raising and lowering action of the rudder on an older poly touring kayak. It’s simple to envision but hard to execute. The loop is created by what looks like two double fisherman’s knots joining two lengths of rope… creating a long loop with two nice fat “grab” points that are easy references for which side to pull. I tried to replicate the knots with the repair line… but in a double fisherman’s join, the final step is to slide the two knots together — which creates slack on either side, no matter how tightly I wove the knots. Resulting in a sturdy but sloppy loop.
I must be using the wrong knots to join two pieces of rope, right? Is there a knot that allows you to tighten the overall loop of line once the pieces are joined?
Is there enough friction if you set the knots really well, that you can actually slide them apart to create the desired tension, and not have them slip in use? I’ve done this with loops in shock cord and it seems to hold well enough.
I’m using the generic paracord that you’d buy from a marine supplier and it’s pretty slick. The knots are meant to slide together in the traditional demonstration of the hitch, so I’d be looking at a different knot to “grip” the line it’s joined to… just not sure which one.
If I am correctly picturing what you need to do, the use of a taut-line hitch would work, but using a pair of them with their loops connected. You can eliminate all chance of slippage by installing a second taut-line in tandem with the first using the leftover tag line (leave a longer tag line and simply use it to tie the second knot behind the first). Do this for both loops. I use the tandem taut-line for setting up tarps, and it absolutely will not slip, but it’s simple to adjust. The cool thing about the taut-line hitch is that it can be tied in a fully-tight position, so even though sliding the knots apart will make the line tighter, doing so shouldn’t actually be necessary. Thus, you can achieve that “one bulky knot” situation that you want.
How about a fixed or sliding loop at one end, then a taut-line hitch on the other end, making the length adjustable but locking one way? It should work well with small diameter cord.
One nitpick. On the tautline hitch, all three wraps are in the same direction. Sparky’s example shows the third wrap reversing direction. With all three wraps in the same direction, it looks like this:
https://www.netknots.com/rope_knots/tautline-hitch
I’ve used the tautline for tarps and it is easy to learn and remember… How well does that reversal work? I’ve like GBG have done all wraps in the same direction. Does it matter?
Sorry. It was late and I just wanted to show the concept. It isn’t a knot I use often.
I’m still curious to see if someone else can figure out what looks like a double fisherman but pulls the line tight. I couldn’t come up with anything workable.
thanks so much for the input thus far; I’m going to dig into taut-line hitches and see if that’s the ticket. Will take a photo if I get it right.
@Sparky961 said:
Sorry. It was late and I just wanted to show the concept. It isn’t a knot I use often.
I’m still curious to see if someone else can figure out what looks like a double fisherman but pulls the line tight. I couldn’t come up with anything workable.
Oboy Sparky961. Let me take a stab. This is a huge knot website so look around if I am wrong
http://www.animatedknots.com/sheetbend/index.php#double
