USEFUL KNOTS

[Music] an airplane just like any other ship in the Navy must be properly secured when not in operation securing or tying down an airplane is one of the jobs of the aviation machinists made this job requires the ability to handle rope and to tie good workmanlike knots a good knot can be tied with both speed and ease and it will hold fast after it is tied it can be untied or cast off with equal speed and ease speed of course comes only as the result of practice but when learning to tie knots it is best to go slowly one step at a time to begin with you should learn three terms commonly used in explaining how to tie knots first is the bite a bite or a simple Loop forms the basis for tying most knots the second is the standing piece or part this is the long or unused portion the short or free end the piece on the other side of the bite is called the fall piece so we have the bite or a simple Loop the standing piece or long portion and the fall piece or short end the overhand knot is a simple one but it forms the basis of many other knots to tie this knot simply form a bite or Loop then pull the fall piece or end through the bite and tighten next the slip knot this has many uses and it is also an easy knot to tie to tie again form a bite but this time pull a portion of the standing piece up through the bite and tighten there you have a slip nut a reef nut or Square nut is one of the best nuts to use when joining two lines together a properly tied square knot will not slip and will develop about 85% of the strength of the line let's take a careful look to see just how it is tied to make it easier to follow lines of different color are used first cross the lines over and form an overhand knot bend the fall piece of one line back until it lies alongside its own standing piece now bend the other fall piece over and pass it through the loop formed in the first line Titan and the square or Reef knot is formed let's watch it again first a simple overhang and not then fold the fall piece back making sure it lies alongside its own standing part now bend the other fall piece over and pass it through the loop in the first line but be sure now that you haven't tied a granny or fall false Reef knot in a granny knot the fall pieces are separated by the loop no true sailor will tie a granny knot principally because it doesn't hold however a granny can be easily changed to a square knot by simply reversing the top overhand knot so that each fall piece lies alongside its own standing piece a thief nut also looks like a square nut and the fall pieces do lie alongside the standing pieces but the fall pieces are not in line with each other as a result when tension is applied the thief knot will roll out so in tying a square knut keep the fall pieces in line with each other and the standing pieces in line with each other the result is a sturdy knot that will withstand either jerks or steady strains a square nut is one of the fundamental nuts and you should learn to tie it with speed another useful nut for joining two lines is the sheet band the sheet Bend is a variation of the square knot to tie the sheet Bend take the fall piece of each line in each hand take the right hand fall piece cross it under the leftand fall piece and hold it at The Crossover with the left hand now grasp the standing piece of the right hand line and loop it around its own fall piece notice now that the right hand standing piece comes down between the fall pieces next take the left hand fall piece bend it down through the bite so that it lies alongside its own standing piece grasp the right hand standing piece and tighten let's try it again right hand fall piece under the left hand fall piece if you should ever tie this knot with lines of unequal size the smaller line is held in the right hand thus when the hitch is completed the crossover will be in the smaller line a sheet Bend is a knot with which every sailor should be familiar practice it often two half hitches are useful when bending or fastening aligned to a ring however this hitch should not be used where considerable tension must be put on a line for it will pull so tight it will be difficult to untie to make this hitch pass the line through the ring cross the fall piece over the standing piece to make a bite the left hand holds the crossover the fall piece is then put through the bite to form the first half hitch the second half hitch is made exactly as the first now once more pass the line through the ring make a bite with a fall piece pass the four piece through the bite to make the first half hch repeat Titan two2 hitches two half hitches is one of the knots commonly used for bending a moing line to a ring for a temporary fastening a slippery hitch is best because it can be cast off in a hurry even when the line is taught the difference here is that a loop in the fall piece is drawn through the bite pass the line through the ring and form a bite by crossing the fall piece over the standing piece reach through the bite grasp the fall piece and draw it back through the bite in a loop cramp the loop tightly against the ring and then pull the standing piece tight once again line through the loop and form a bite reach through the bite and pull the fall piece back in a loop tightly there you have a slippery hitch here is the way to do it after you've practiced a cloth hitch is used for securing a line to a post or pile this hitch is easily made and it is easily loosened when tied on a large pile it will hold up to 90% of the strength of the line watch how this is done form a bite or a loop with the fall piece under the standing piece Loop it over the top of the pile in the the free end form a second bite again with the fall piece under drop this Loop over the top of the pile and tighten let's try it again form a bite with a fall piece under Loop it over the pile again form a bite with a fall piece under Loop it over the pile if you remember the word under you can't go wrong keep the fall piece under the standing piece one of the best hitches is the rolling hitch also called The midshipman's Hitch this hitch can be tied in a tight line will not slip and can easily be cast off regardless of how much tension there is on the line pass the line through the ring and for this knot allow plenty of length for the fall piece cross the fall piece over the standing piece some distance from The Ring bring the fall piece up through the bite to form a half hitch draw the half hitch as tight as possible still holding tension on the half hitch pass the fall piece through the bite again making a complete turn around the first half hitch tightening the fall piece Kinks the standing piece ensuring that the first half hitch will hold another half hitch or lock hitch on the standing part completes the rolling hitch let's try it again pass the line through the ring and make the first half hitch notice how the second turn goes above the first and how pulling it tight makes the line take a kink this is the whole secret of making this nut hold now the second or lock hitch is made the rolling hitch is cast off by simply passing the end through the bite first formed and then pulling it to break the hitch open the rolling hitch requires considerable practice but when you get the neck of tying it you'll find plenty of use for it for example two lines passing through the same ring at different angles can be tightened by placing a half hitch around both lines on the V and then pulling them together a half hitch might slip but can be secured by forming a rolling hitch this is especially useful when tying down airplanes now let's see how a line can be fastened to a CLE this this is one good way the line is first pulled to the cleat looped around one log then brought up over and around the other log then looped again over the first blug and is made secure by forming a bite with the fall piece under then looping it over the second lug then make a second bite again with the fall piece under the standing piece and loop it over the first blug of the CLE around back under and over and under make a bite with the fall piece under Loop it over the second lug then another bite with the fall piece under and loop it over the other lung if the fastening is to be only temporary one half hitch or bite is all that's needed when bending to a cleat a bowan is frequently used to tie a loop in the end of a line here is a bowan tied through a ring to tie the Boling pass one end of the line through the ring and cross the fall piece over the standing piece to make a bite reach through the bite and pull the fall piece through forming an overhand knot a second and smaller bite is then formed by pulling on the fall piece notice that the fall piece must be pulled straight so that this bite will be on the standing part now pass the fall piece around under the standing part of the line and down through the small bite so that the two lines inside the bite are parallel this completes the bowling now let's repeat pass the line through the ring and form an overhand knot tighten the fall piece causing a bite to be formed in the standing piece pass the fall piece around under the standing piece then down through the small bite so that the two Lin lines inside this bite are parallel Titan and the result is a bowan there are several ways to tie Boling but this is one of the best to tie a Boling on a bite take a length of double line cross it back over the standing part and loop a bite from the standing part over it pull the short end far enough through the bite to get enough slack so that it can be passed around the lower portion of the knot now pull it tight making sure that the original bite stays in the standing part of the line and the bowling on a bite is completed this knut forms a loop in the middle of the line and provides a double Loop which has a variety of uses now let's do that again to tie a Bolan on a bite take a length of double line cross it back over the standing part and loop a bite from the standing part over it pull the short end far enough through the bite to get enough slack so that it can be passed around the lower portion of the knot now pull it tight making sure that the original bite stays in the standing part of the line and the bowling on a bite is completed this knot forms a loop in the middle of the line and provides a double Loop which has a variety of uses speed in tying knots and the ability to tie them under all conditions even in the dark come first from a knowledge of the fundamentals and second from continued practice [Music] a [Music]