The knotting world just wouldn't be the same without the Sheepshank to argue over. How's that for something nice?
Hmmm, that depends on whether one thinks that changing the
knotting world would be a Good Thing or not!
If I need a shorter rope, I cut it. If I can't cut it I'll use an Alpine Butterfly (by far the best choice for strength!)
I'm still trying to understand the "need a shorter rope" problem;
it's as though there is some Rule requiring that principal knotting
must be done at the ends(!), and so the only hope to sizing
a length comes rather sheepishly in the midst via this shanked shot
at knotting.
As for the ("Alpine"-- a species?) Butterfly being "
by far the best
choice for strength," is that so?! One tester --
CMC Rope Rescue Manual (3rd)--
found it to be about 69% strong vs. an offset Fig.8 eye knot at 65%;
that is rather close, not far. But today we see in another thread mention
of the Reever, and that can be adopted in a tied-in-bight variation for
shortening rope, and I think it will show good strength. Beyond that,
though, I'm pretty sure a twin-eye variation of Ashley's #1408 will
be strong. But there is a lot of testing to do in order to put more
analysis into such conjectures. The Butterfly is a good safe choice,
and needing something stronger than any-ol'-knot suggests that
you need stronger material. (And, unlike this Reever variation,
the Butterfly will likely be able to be untied!)
--dl*
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