What is your most usefull knot?

No matter what, I always bring 50 ft of 1/4" nylon rope with me. Sometimes it is only used to hang food, sometimes as a poor substitute for climbing rope. Anyway, what do you consider your most useful knots.

Figure eight and its variations - a close winner over the bowline and its variations. Once in a while you really find a clove hitch, truckers hitch, or double fisherman's knot really useful.

I must say, 1/4 inch nylon is indeed a very poor substitute for climbing rope. Good luck. My minimum climbing rope would be 60 feet of 3/8 (9mm) kernmantle.

Tautline Hitch and half hitch I say are my two most common

Elaborate hardware is not an acceptable substitute for the properly selected knot correctly tied. Good technique is:

Light weight (0 oz.)
Low cost ( $ 0)
Unbreakable, and
Misplaced only at low temperatures.

If I were teaching a one hour knot tying class this is the order I would teach them:

Clove hitch
Taut-line
Figure 8 knot
Lanyard Hitch
Mooring Hitch
Sheet bend
Prusik
Water Knot
Bowline
Square knot
Truckers’s hitch
Alpine Butterfly

I might have a different order, but that would cover it. While camping, I have used the tautline the most. But, I have been using the prussik more and more, especially on my adjustable tarp ridge line.

Ah, knots....I'm a big knot fan since scouts....about 40 years ago.
I take a different approach. Knots are simply tools in my mental toolbox. I use what I know to be the best knot for the application AND rope/string/mono. Some of the knots mentioned are not universal to every kind of string.
If I picked a knot I find myself tying the most, it would be the "truckers hitch". I use it for tying up the garbage, chinching down my kayaks on the car roof, even as a poor-man's hoist. I find myself using a "highwayman's hitch" for tying to docks (light boat, low load). Clove hitch gets used often and can be 'compounded' with other knots for things like hammocks or lacing bamboo together. Tautline hitch for flys/tarps.
Don't get me started on fishing knots.

I am definitely not the best or most experiences fisherman. But, I only use one knot while fishing. I think it is called the improved clinch.

I suppose it's bowline, taut-line hitch, figure-eight and square knot in roughly descending order. And oh, trucker's hitch.

I've learned and forgotton far more than those, so whether their absence is due to lack of need or lack of ability is anybody's guess.

cheers,

I was just interested in what other people were using. I've forgot most of those listed through lack of use. For me right now, in order of use, its taut-line hitch, overhand bow, sheet bend, clove hitch, and single or double loop bowline depending upon how much line I have. Chalk my remembering the last one up to the boy scouts. I also use a variation of the surgeons knot on my boots as each foot has taken to growing in a different direction. I have to ask...is there another name for the truckers hitch?

you asked about knots, then went on to hitches and bends... which is it?

I guess as far as knots go in order of useage but not of usefulness
half hitch
taught line hitch
figure 8 and variations
double or triple fishermans knot
don't know the name of my flyfishing knot
Jim
And I have rapped on very tiny almost metallic lines of prestretched plastics 3-4mm in diameter using a triple wrap around an oval carabiner to control it. It was scary, no stretch at all.

In the sense of the most used knot, aren't we all overlooking the bow knot most of us use on our shoe laces at least daily?

Velcro or loafers. No laces.

The bow is simply a slipped square knot.

The sheet bend and bowline actually are the same knot tied differently for different purposes, but the construction is identical.

Yeah, if you tie your shoes correctly, you end up with a square knot. If incorrectly, then it is a granny knot. You can tell the difference by how it lays across your shoes. Or, if you have to tie another knot so the original doesn't come undone, then it is a granny knot. A properly tied square knot will last all day without having to retie.

I had to teach my wife the difference between a "square" bow and a granny bow, now her shoes stay tied.

Yep fergot the square knot and its variations, and frankly I use a Larks head a lot.

I never tie my shoes, they're elastic enough to just pull on, so I only tied boots unless they buckle...
Jim

I'm a lumper with "knots" so I stick all that stuff under the same label for better or worse...stuff I do with rope and line. I don't know the names of any of my fishing knots either.

I am unclear as to what do you use the carabiner for? You said you wrapped it for control. Are all your biners wrapped to let the rope slide through easier and not pull on the protection you put up? Although the use of the word "an" suggests you only did this procedure to one.

the normal modern use of a carabiner is as a connection link between two ropes pulling along the long axis. However historically there was something called a carabiner brake and it has many variations. You can rappel using a few carabiners with a wrap of rope around each and all connected together so that a pull on the end of the rope tightens the rope on the biner brake. Depending on the cordage you can put 2 or even 3 twists around the spine of a round biner. I reccommend leather gloves when doing this, and I practiced from my chimney before going off an edge. Remember most really light corddage is either brittle, stiff, or melts at low temperature, or all three.
Jim

I had to look up these names because I wasn't sure what they were called, so here's my best guess at what they're actually called. I use mostly quick release knots, the only non-quick release I use is a bow-line for when I need a fixed loop (obviously!).

Otherwise I use:

Siberian Hitch, which is a quick release slip knot. Usually how I hang my tarp between trees.

Highwayman's Hitch, very quick release for fishing boat at the dock. Nice to pull the release and be off.

One I think is called a tensioning hitch which is almost a mix of a Prussik Hitch and a Siberian Hitch, since it's a quick release and won't slip when pulled from the load end, but by grabbing the knot itself, you can easily adjust the loop. I use this for guy-lines to stakes, since it's easily adjustable and quick release.

Another one, which I couldn't find the name of, but it's a quick release for attaching two ropes of the same size together. I use this when I need to extend a guy rope from my hammock or tarp that isn't long enough.


So far, these have been all I've ever really needed (don't even really need the Highwayman.) All I'm missing is a good quick release knot for shortening a rope and I'm all set.

In the Boy Scouts, we teach a lot of different knots and each one has its uses.
The most useful for me is the Clove Hitch and the Taut-line. Two Half-Hitches, the Bowline and of course, the Square Knot are all equally as useful.

no question: half-hitch and taughtline hitch...fast and useful!

There are 7 basic knots taught in Scouting
Square Knot
Bowline
Sheetbend (not sheepshank)
Clove hitch
Two half hitches (aka double half hitch)
Tautline hitch
Timber hitch

Of these, I use the bowline, tautline and clove hitch the most.
Tautline is on my guylines
Clove hitch at the stakes
Bowline is handy for all kinds of things.

I also use Prussik knots in short loops on my ridgeline to attach my tarp.