Hi Eric, thank you for bringing us your fathers knots.
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Hi Alan, it is clear from the array of variants you have presented, that you are well versed in the creation of functional knots. The second thing that strikes me is a reminder of the incredible divide between East and West when it comes to knot culture. Asian countries have not only perfected the use of functional knots (my favourite example being the binding used for scaffold poles - absolutely utilitarian - minimalistic yet totally functional), but they don't stop there as functional knots are often fused with art forms to produce artistic functionality - the Shamisen Neo springs to mind - many other far simpler knots would provide the functionality, but the Shamisen Neo adds art to that functionality.
Clearly, you are driven in your designs to follow this fusion of form and function.
However, I have to admit that, to my eye, simplicity is the greatest art form possible - to me, the simple hitch and the Chinese scaffold binding outshine all of the other fusion structures that struggle to perform the same function.
Most of your knots, I feel fall into this artistic 'fusion' category, all that is, but with one exception, and that is the one Xarax has rephotographed for us (thanks Xarax)
The binding is an end of line fixed loopknot {.EyeKnot} with two components arranged in a novel configuration.
The first component, made on the SP and shown by the orange rope, is a Carrick Component (CC), but it is not connected up in the manner most often used for this component. In fact, it is almost left unconnected, and is only stabilised by the loop end leg (white rope).
The second component, made with the Working End and shown by the white rope, is a Simple Hitch Component (SHC), and is made to take the force of the loop end leg into the SP. The end is pinned firmly against part of the CC and the main loaded SP. By itself this would be an adequate binding, but the finishing touch of taking the end out through the CC means that no matter which leg of the loop becomes loaded (ring loading), the end is gripped to give it the necessary anchor friction that is then amplified by the round turn about the SP. This is a very simple, yet very effective security touch.
But the good design characteristics of this binding do not stop there. Strength of this knot should be quite high. This is because the entry point of the SP through the loaded SHC loop causes it to be bent out of line by ca 10 degrees, shedding some of the load into the SHC. It then bends back in line and wraps around approximately four diameters of cord, before making a four diameter 360 degree rotation, and then a final one diameter 90 degree exit into the SP loop leg. This significant exposure to lateral pressure allows frictional transfer of load over a significant (ca 17 diameters unloaded, ca 11 diameters loaded) length of rope, thereby eliminating the single point concentration transfer present in the weaker knots.
Finally, making the binding is easy and memorable. Make a CC in the SP, thread the end through the CC loop, around the SP, under itself for the SHC nip, then into the CC eye for the ring loading protection.
All together Alan, a very nice knot and a novel way of configuring the CC that I would not have thought of using - thank you for bringing it to us.
Derek
