It's knot a mental block, or is it?
July 24, 2015 8:17 AM Subscribe
I'm trying to learn hitches, knots for times when I need them but failing miserably..halp!
There are many times when I'm loading lumber or other miscellaneous stuff from the home center in my truck and I need to secure it. I've tried for years to learn the trucker's hitch just for this purpose but I can never remember how to do it, even 10 minutes after I practiced it for an hour.
I have a book on knots and I go through it trying to learn them but I simply cannot retain how to do them. Even if I do remember them for a week or so, invariably when I get in the parking lot with a bunch of crap to secure I have no clue how to tie them down! What is going on? I'm beginning to think I have early stages of alzheimer's. Is there a better way to learn this?
What's odd is I can remember in detail how to thread a projector from a movie theater I worked in for 6 months 30 years ago! Or commands from emacs I learned 25 years ago and used maybe for 3 months. Halp!!
There are many times when I'm loading lumber or other miscellaneous stuff from the home center in my truck and I need to secure it. I've tried for years to learn the trucker's hitch just for this purpose but I can never remember how to do it, even 10 minutes after I practiced it for an hour.
I have a book on knots and I go through it trying to learn them but I simply cannot retain how to do them. Even if I do remember them for a week or so, invariably when I get in the parking lot with a bunch of crap to secure I have no clue how to tie them down! What is going on? I'm beginning to think I have early stages of alzheimer's. Is there a better way to learn this?
What's odd is I can remember in detail how to thread a projector from a movie theater I worked in for 6 months 30 years ago! Or commands from emacs I learned 25 years ago and used maybe for 3 months. Halp!!
how are you remembering them?
i don't remember knots as a sequence of instructions. i remember them as a final structure. and then when i need to tie one, i kind of work out (quickly) the movements needed, given that structure.
for example, a reef knot is flat. and you need to tie it that way. so when you get to the second twist, one way is right and one way is wrong.
posted by andrewcooke at 8:21 AM on July 24, 2015
i don't remember knots as a sequence of instructions. i remember them as a final structure. and then when i need to tie one, i kind of work out (quickly) the movements needed, given that structure.
for example, a reef knot is flat. and you need to tie it that way. so when you get to the second twist, one way is right and one way is wrong.
posted by andrewcooke at 8:21 AM on July 24, 2015
You forget what you don't use. Practice tying them once a week for a few minutes and you should retain the knowledge.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:25 AM on July 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:25 AM on July 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
Just keep practicing them! I send my Girl Scouts home with 2' lengths of rope to just sit and practice with when watching TV or whatever. Do it until it's muscle memory.
posted by phunniemee at 8:36 AM on July 24, 2015
posted by phunniemee at 8:36 AM on July 24, 2015
One thing I find really key is practicing in the sorts of situations where I actually use the knot. So just using a couple of lengths of rope in front of the TV is only so helpful. I need to at least simulate throwing a line over a batch of stuff and then deciding where the hitch is needed, threading the line back up... so try practicing on your actual truck a bunch of times.
That said, I Love trucker's hitches and always love when my dad ties one and can Never remember them myself. So I make due with less perfect knots when I have to, because they're the ones I can remember. So I might use a clove hitch and a bowline or something, which is nowhere near as elegant, but works. So if you try practicing on your truck a few times and it still doesn't take, see if there are other knots that you might use more often and thus will stick better with you.
posted by ldthomps at 8:44 AM on July 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
That said, I Love trucker's hitches and always love when my dad ties one and can Never remember them myself. So I make due with less perfect knots when I have to, because they're the ones I can remember. So I might use a clove hitch and a bowline or something, which is nowhere near as elegant, but works. So if you try practicing on your truck a few times and it still doesn't take, see if there are other knots that you might use more often and thus will stick better with you.
posted by ldthomps at 8:44 AM on July 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Are you practicing them inside with the just the rope or practicing using them to tie something down? For me, some knots become a different enough animals in practice that, even for something simple like a bowline, I need to practice it and also practice using it in a specific context to get it down.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 8:45 AM on July 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 8:45 AM on July 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Yes, I'm practicing it with the book and not out in the driveway..good idea.
posted by dukes909 at 8:59 AM on July 24, 2015
posted by dukes909 at 8:59 AM on July 24, 2015
The truckers' hitch in particular is really 2 simple knots: an 8 knot to make the loop in the standing part and two half hitches to secure the end once it has been pulled tight. Practice them separately and it'll be easy to combine them.
posted by nicwolff at 9:22 AM on July 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by nicwolff at 9:22 AM on July 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Practice practice practice.
If you have a smartphone, I love the Animated Knots app (website here, apps for all platforms available). It goes step by step and has mirror image as well.
Get a little piece of paracord or some other sturdy string, keep it in your pocket, and practice when you're waiting in line at the supermarket, at the doctor's office, picking up the kids, whenever you have a bit of time.
I also agree that practicing in context is important. So much of it is unconscious muscle memory and habits, not intellectual application, that a thing you do in the same way all the time will become second nature.
posted by epanalepsis at 9:49 AM on July 24, 2015
If you have a smartphone, I love the Animated Knots app (website here, apps for all platforms available). It goes step by step and has mirror image as well.
Get a little piece of paracord or some other sturdy string, keep it in your pocket, and practice when you're waiting in line at the supermarket, at the doctor's office, picking up the kids, whenever you have a bit of time.
I also agree that practicing in context is important. So much of it is unconscious muscle memory and habits, not intellectual application, that a thing you do in the same way all the time will become second nature.
posted by epanalepsis at 9:49 AM on July 24, 2015
I learned to tie a bowline by practicing, and it's a knot I frequently use. Agree with the advice to practice a lot. I also use a figure 8, often to bundle up the laptop power cable, or the dog leash.
posted by theora55 at 10:20 AM on July 24, 2015
posted by theora55 at 10:20 AM on July 24, 2015
Different knots take different approaches. A trucker's hitch is best practiced on a load.
You can practice a bowline while watching a movie.
A clove hitch is a most underrated knot. Think of it as alternating half-hitches. I have use a series of these to put a pack saddle back together after my sweetheart of a mule decide to roll over in a meadow--he'd split the bar on one side in a diagonal break. I used about 50 feet of suspension cord to make an extended clove hitch that covered most of the wood on that side of the pack saddle. I intended to throw the packsaddle away when I got off the trip, but the repair held up for several seasons.
I once had a book by Joe Back, Horses, Hitches and Rocky Trails, that was a joy to read. Although much of the equipage (and some camping tactics) he used as a guide and wrangler in the forties is outdated, his horse info and basic hitches remain timeless. Some packers' hitches, BTW, are handy for tying loads onto truck beds.
I believe it's still in print. I challenge you to read it without learning at least one useful hitch. If it makes you want to lead a string of mules into the back country, then so much the better.
posted by mule98J at 11:21 AM on July 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
You can practice a bowline while watching a movie.
A clove hitch is a most underrated knot. Think of it as alternating half-hitches. I have use a series of these to put a pack saddle back together after my sweetheart of a mule decide to roll over in a meadow--he'd split the bar on one side in a diagonal break. I used about 50 feet of suspension cord to make an extended clove hitch that covered most of the wood on that side of the pack saddle. I intended to throw the packsaddle away when I got off the trip, but the repair held up for several seasons.
I once had a book by Joe Back, Horses, Hitches and Rocky Trails, that was a joy to read. Although much of the equipage (and some camping tactics) he used as a guide and wrangler in the forties is outdated, his horse info and basic hitches remain timeless. Some packers' hitches, BTW, are handy for tying loads onto truck beds.
I believe it's still in print. I challenge you to read it without learning at least one useful hitch. If it makes you want to lead a string of mules into the back country, then so much the better.
posted by mule98J at 11:21 AM on July 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
i know a crap-ton of knots from climbing and boating. some i learned from books. the books i succesfully learned from are:
Ropes, Knots, and Slings
The Boy Scout Fieldbook
Pioneering merit badge
most i learned from seeing it done and then immediately practice-practice-practice.
pro-tip: when you are done tying one correctly, stare at it. for minutes, even. memorize what it looks like. from all sides. see the steps you did.
again, with your eyes closed. repeat.
posted by j_curiouser at 1:30 PM on July 24, 2015
Ropes, Knots, and Slings
The Boy Scout Fieldbook
Pioneering merit badge
most i learned from seeing it done and then immediately practice-practice-practice.
pro-tip: when you are done tying one correctly, stare at it. for minutes, even. memorize what it looks like. from all sides. see the steps you did.
again, with your eyes closed. repeat.
posted by j_curiouser at 1:30 PM on July 24, 2015
Picture yourself tying the knot around something familiar you see everyday like a kitchen chair. Or better yet actually do tie it around the kitchen chair. Tying (ha ha no pun intended there) a new peice of info to thinking about a familiar place or object is supposed to help implant it in your long term memory. I'm gonna go try it myself with a clove hitch (which for the life of me I can never remember when I need it!).
posted by WalkerWestridge at 2:35 PM on July 24, 2015
posted by WalkerWestridge at 2:35 PM on July 24, 2015
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posted by The corpse in the library at 8:20 AM on July 24, 2015