You have spent most of your time discussing the Truckers Hitch,
and applying my Floating Constrictor knot in a situation I had not even described as an application.
...
I am willing to discuss the mechanical advantage of the Truckers Hitch in the thread ...
Goodness, you began by saying you had a thick skin, but it seems like
it's something else that's "thick"! I addressed the points of your query,
in all cases, plainly enough.
First up, I'm unaware of this structure having been published. (But it's a big
and old world, and maybe somewhere ... -- just as somewhere, many places,
others are unaware of what we are doing here, and previously, in private.)
**I** have played with this knot and the like, a little, in recent years.
Here's another twist on the structure, tying in the bight (which, yes, will
not suit many tasks): form a Clove Hitch but spread
flat and such
that the crossing part is generally perpendicular to the ends; take one
side/loop and rotate it around 360deg back into position -- thereby
putting in this "floating" nipping loop in the crossing part, and sort
of crossing the ends 'a la Constrictor. This structure inverts the central
loop (it points down into bound area rather than up away from it).
It's a quick method of making a similar binding structure for cases in
which the binding material can be put around some (likely known)
collection of objects -- set of stakes or paddles, e.g..
But to your motivation ...
I.p., I am well aware of the binding task you have in mind -- to wit:
"The basic problem I faced was tying together (and compressing) bundles
of sticks and branches for trash pickup."To which my suggestion above is that a knotted structure that requires
both ends to be drawn out (and esp. at 4:1 compression) will be material
inefficient. Did you miss this?
As for the Trucker's Hitch (which you persist in not understanding),
that actually is quite adaptable to just the circumstance you face:
- at one end, make a small eye (Overhand will do, or some other Oh-based one)
- lay cord where debris is to be collected & bound; place stuff over cord
- bring other end up, and whatever midline eye (even Slip-Knot) in it
- and reeve Versatackle-like from eye to eye -- it might self-lock thus
This method & structure can be tweaked to be TIB (tied in the bight) by
using a Slip-knot bight to span sheaves, the OH base being then the sheave
itself (vs. its bight, as w/Trucker's H.), and by tying the eyeknot of the
first step last (this being the ONE *end* available, the rest of the material
--binding twine, say-- yet in a spool/ball/whathaveyou). Tie to the slip-eye
AND end part, and the back'n'forth now goes one reeving further than with
the Truckers, which gets you a potential in-the-sheave nip good at least
for holding long enough to tie off a freshly cut 2nd end.
Also I assume that you were able to understand the words I used even if they offended your sensibilities.
My understanding is evident, not any offence. (In fact, the bit about "bitter"
is more aimed towards other(s).)
Neither the Clove nor the Truckers will serve in the situation the Floating Constrictor was designed to solve.
Actually, they can. I explained the adaptation of the latter, above.
As for the Clove, one can draw it up and while holding the tension put in
an Overhand of the ends such that they can be tightened down to lock
'a la Reef knot against the crossing part of the Clove. Which structure
was shown mistakenly by Verrill in 1917(?) as his interpretation of Bowling's
or one of Bowling's echoers' verbal description of the Constrictor! Try it.
But it, too, leaves one drawing out both ends, with one to chop or toss
along with the trash, if working with some ball of twine (although for light
stuff one could
walk the knotted part around until one end was short).
-- in some cases, anyway (though not so completely generally, binding across
pure space), such as a cluster of 3/4" ropes with cord (just tried).
But by all means tell me how the Sheepshank is no good either because it doesn't hold a a 1 inch piece of PVC.
Now you're tossing out non sequiturs. Slow down!
Pipe or no pipe, that was a check of the nipping loop's grip,
and as I stated, I found it wanting. Will you fare better with less
object surface? -- yes, likely so, but the PVC is slick and should see force
making it to the nipping loop; I didn't see enough to give me great
confidence in the structure, that's all I said.
As for the Sheepshank, I continue to puzzle over its supposed duties;
many books now present it even admitting it has no use. (Some years
back there was a debate over that here which went sour, missing some
obvious points.)
You ridicule the application of high force.
No, not at all; rather, I point to it as a necessary aspect to overcome
friction, that's all -- friction of the material against the object, and of
the material against itself, which will ultimately enable the self-locking.
--dl*
====