Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Knot today

A site I really like is Animated Knots by Grog.  http://www.animatedknots.com/  Their motto is "Better to know a knot and not need it, than need a knot and not know it."  It’s a really good site and I use it a lot.  The site sells disks and downloads and an iPhone app but you can also get it all free right there on the website.  By purchasing a disk or download you can get this information without needing to rely on the internet.  They also claim that it’s faster, more convenient, and advertisement-free.  Perhaps if enough people who read this blog purchase the disk or download they’ll give me a discount…hint, hint.

They have a list of 166 knots that they show how to tie.  For example, if you go to “The Basics” eight knots are shown in good detail so you can easily copy the knot.  Not only that but if you move the mouse over the knot a description of the knot and what it’s used for will come up.  If you click on the knot you want to see a new page will come up.  This page is animated and will actually show you how to make the knot!

The eight knots on the basic page are Overhand Knot, Half Hitch, Half Knot, Square Knot, Sheet Bend, Figure 8, Slip Knot, and Noose.  The animated knot pages include the basic page and pages for fishing, boating, climbing, scouting, rescue, household, decorative knots and rope care.  And last, but not least, their knot store where you can make purchases.    

While the top of the page shows you how to make the knot if you look at the page carefully you will find lots more information.  In the box with the animated picture you can have it shown to you in a normal fashion, mirrored, inverted, and rotated.  This helps if you are like me.  I need to see it exactly in the fashion that I’ll be working with the rope.  It also has fast, medium, and slow for the animation.  It that’s too quick, or you have a question about any part of the knot tying, there are numbers that you can press to show each of the steps individually.  If you don’t like the animation you can watch the video.  There are also several paragraphs providing more information about each knot.

This is a really good site.  Check it out.

1 comment:

  1. Great site. I guess I get by with the knots I learned in Boy Scouts. The one I like to empress with is the one handed Bowline, supposedly used to tie a rope around yourself to be rescued if you break one arm. Bowline is also a very secure knot yet easy to untie. Thanks for the tip to the site.

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