Quote from the Surrey Branch: "Now, you ALL have an opportunity to better our Six. I challenge YOU to come up with six knots for general purposes for use in modern rope which may, or may not, include some of "The Surrey Six"."
We'd have to agree on ONE total number of knots (e.g., 6 knots total). You can't cheat and have alternatives, add-ons or whatever. You also can't make assumptions like "Well, I showed the customer the Buntline, so now the customer knows the Clove Hitch and the Half Hitch." No, you showed the customer the Buntline, but did NOT teach the customer the Clove Hitch or the Half Hitch by themselves. You CAN teach the student various uses of the Buntline. Six knots are all you get, and six is probably the maximum number of knots you could teach to the average, disinterested "customer". (Five is even stretching it.) Then, each person here explains their reasoning behind their system of knots for pure beginners.
It's easy to criticize the Surrey Six, but let's see others come up with a system of six knots for a disinterested customer who knows nearly nothing about knots. This calls for a new thread so the discussion is focused...
So here we go. A new thread just for this purpose.
Things to consider:
What are the most common applications and scenarios the 6 knots should cover?
In my opinion they should be useful for everyday life (household,camping etc.) but also for extreme scenarios (survival).
You might need to catch animals/fish, put up a tent, tie a parcel, bundle something up, tie things together. You may need to clime trees, abseil, build a hut. your rope supply is probably limited in a survival scenario, so you need knots that can be untied and are easy on the rope.
In every day life you probably use a bend and a binder most. You might need to tow a car, drag something heavy.
Considering this we need:
A fixed loop, a bend, a binder, a hitch, probably a noose, a fishing knot, a friction hitch.
Do we need a stopper? Wouldn't an overhand knot be sufficient? Well, the surrey six solves that problem by using the figure eight, which is multi-purpose.
A knot that needs a stopper for security should be replaced by a different knot that doesn't.
Here my first tentative list:
1. Zeppelin loop (secure fixed loop, can be easily untied, easy to tie and remember (imo), can be used as hitch (similar to figure 8 of the surrey six), does not need any additional locking mechanism for critical use> abseiling, towing)
2. Zeppelin bend (secure, easily tied and untied, use the same method for loop and bend, works well for different rope sizes too, but in doubt, tuck thinner end twice or use two interlocked zeppelin loops instead)
3. Timber hitch (very simple, surprisingly secure, can be tied under load (especially in combination with a round turn), easily untied and has some resistance for lengthwise pull as well, stopper> tie timber hitch without an object)
4. constrictor (binder, can be used as a makeshift lashing and whipping, alternative hitch, use the double constrictor for heavy duty)
5. uni knot (universal fishing knot, noose, bend)
6. gripping sailor's hitch (friction hitch, put the zeppelin loop at the working end and you can use it for climbing ropes/trees, as tool for putting poles in and out of the ground...)
p.s.: It really hurts to omit so many clever and useful knots such as the butterfly loop etc. But we are talking bare essentials here and if somebody really needs a midline loop, he can tie an overhand not on the bight. I think we all agree that the overhand knot is a knot that everybody knows and thus does not need to occupy any of the 6 available slots and a round turn is also a universal concept (also used in the surrey six) and not really a knot. They also "cheated" by adding the double sheet bend for free, therefore I do the same for the constrictor.
p.p.s: show how to use the available knots as a truckers hitch, which is not really a hitch but a system to apply tension to a rope (and thus tie something down). The truckers hitch can be tied off with the timber hitch (instead of half hitches).