Help me identify the knots used in this video
August 28, 2022 8:17 AM Subscribe
I found this great method of driving stakes in to the ground that ought to work great for long, flexible stakes that can't easily be driven from the top. What knots should I learn to replicate this? Short, potato-quality YouTube video
Best answer: I agree with bricoleur. No special knot is used in the video. The only knot is the one fixing the rope into a loop. From what I can see, it looks like the rope was looped twice and then it’s fixed at the open end by bunching the whole loop together and tying it in a simple overhand knot. There is nothing special about that not, however. You could just as easily make a single loop using a square knot, and then double the loop over until it is short enough to be convenient for the work you are doing.
posted by slkinsey at 10:10 AM on August 28, 2022
posted by slkinsey at 10:10 AM on August 28, 2022
The easiest way to plant your stakes would be to make a short stiff stake of the same hole size that you can drive into the ground to the depth you want while leaving enough above the surface to bash it back and forth a bit and wiggle it around to pull it out and leave a hole. Then you just put the tall flexible stake in the hole that's left.
That's how we did it in gramp's garden and it's also the way Primitive Technologies plants big bendy poles to make a hut. At most you just need to put some dirt around the surface to wiggle down into the hole so it really stands up straight. The bottom of the hole will be tight, it's the sides that may have been wiggled a bit to large. Depends on how much wiggle it takes to pull the stiff stake back out of the ground.
Seems much easier than repeatedly doing the loop wrap thing. Which yeah, it's just a loop of rope wrapped around enough and levered into a really tight wrap. Nothing special. Might be best to use some sort of rope that is rough and grippy.
posted by zengargoyle at 11:33 AM on August 28, 2022
That's how we did it in gramp's garden and it's also the way Primitive Technologies plants big bendy poles to make a hut. At most you just need to put some dirt around the surface to wiggle down into the hole so it really stands up straight. The bottom of the hole will be tight, it's the sides that may have been wiggled a bit to large. Depends on how much wiggle it takes to pull the stiff stake back out of the ground.
Seems much easier than repeatedly doing the loop wrap thing. Which yeah, it's just a loop of rope wrapped around enough and levered into a really tight wrap. Nothing special. Might be best to use some sort of rope that is rough and grippy.
posted by zengargoyle at 11:33 AM on August 28, 2022
While the video does not seem to use knots, there are knots that might be helpful for this situation.
There are knots that grip tightly when load is applied in one direction, but slide relatively easily when there is no load. A prusik is probably the simplest of these, and then the klemheist/icicle hitches are a bit more complicated but usually more effective.
https://www.animatedknots.com/prusik-knot
https://www.animatedknots.com/klemheist-knot
https://www.animatedknots.com/icicle-hitch-knot-end-method
posted by mrgoldenbrown at 8:40 PM on August 28, 2022
There are knots that grip tightly when load is applied in one direction, but slide relatively easily when there is no load. A prusik is probably the simplest of these, and then the klemheist/icicle hitches are a bit more complicated but usually more effective.
https://www.animatedknots.com/prusik-knot
https://www.animatedknots.com/klemheist-knot
https://www.animatedknots.com/icicle-hitch-knot-end-method
posted by mrgoldenbrown at 8:40 PM on August 28, 2022
The technique shown in the video reminds me of the Autoblock friction hitch. In addition to the resources mrgoldenbrown linked above, here's one directed at climbers: https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/prusik-types/
posted by invokeuse at 8:57 AM on August 29, 2022
posted by invokeuse at 8:57 AM on August 29, 2022
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posted by bricoleur at 9:00 AM on August 28, 2022 [1 favorite]