Author Topic: hitching cousins  (Read 19731 times)

xarax

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Locked Cow hitch (B)
« Reply #15 on: January 17, 2014, 03:47:16 PM »
   I think I found a way to improve the "Locked Cow hitch (B)" ( shown at Reply#5 ) - which is a cousin of both, of the wonderful Squarebanks-Alaskian Hitch#4 and of the humble Cow hitch. How ? Elementary, my dear fellow knot-tyers - but I had first to try every trick I knew ( one of them presented at the previous post ) before I was able to realize something that should had been obvious to any knot tyer worth his salt right from the first moment !  :)
   After we pull the Tail end as hard as we can, we have to pull the Standing end against the pole - but, at the same time, we have to press the knot s nub on the surface of the pole - in other words, we have to pull the Standing end ( the key ) against its locking point ( the keyhole )  :).  If we do not do this, the nub may yield to the pull, and drag the wraps ( the door ) along the direction of the pull, releasing their grip, even in a unnoticed degree, on the surface of the pole ( the frame of the door ).
   The interested reader can actually see such a tightly tied hitch, at the attached pictures : the rope s cross sections have been flattened out - a sure sign of the force with which the wraps are squeezed upon each other and on the surface of the pole.
   By pulling the Standing end while holding the nub of the hitch on the surface of the pole, it seems that we can tighten this Locked Cow hitch (B) almost s much as the original Locked Cow hitch. However, I still believe that the later is simpler and tighter from the former { as I still believe that, qua hitch, tied on the surface of a cylinder of some diameter relatively to the diameter of the rope, the original simple-hitch-a-la-Gleipnir (2)(3) is simpler and tighter than Lehman s Hitch / binder #35 ( to be named soon, I hope...)(1). This might seem odd : after all, Hitch#35 is a closer relative to the Cow hitch, Locked or not, while the simple-hitch-a-la-Gleipnir is not. The answer lies in the major role played by the convex curvature of the pole, which acts as an additional, invisible and inversed, riding turn, multiplying the nipping potential of the Gleipnir s inverted nipping loop. }

1. http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=2981.msg17782#msg17782
2. http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=2075.msg30227#msg30227
3. http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=2075.msg30229#msg30229
« Last Edit: January 17, 2014, 03:59:15 PM by xarax »
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xarax

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Re: hitching cousins
« Reply #16 on: June 02, 2014, 06:33:51 PM »
  I had shown this tight hitch elsewhere (1), but I believe it belongs more to this thread, along with the nice Alaskan hitch, presented by Andrew / squarebanksalaska, and all its other hitching cousins.   
  Although it utilizes the zigzag path of the Standing Part on the surface of the pole, and so the mechanical advantage offered by a Cow hitch, it is not based on a "whole" Cow hitch. Perhaps because of this, it can not be tied in-the-bight, ( so, in comparison to the Locked Single and Double Cow hitches, it is less versatile ) - but, in-the-end, it can be tied very easily, especially if one follows the tying procedure illustrated in the two attached pictures.
  First, we form the "half" Cow hitch", shown by the blue rope. Then, we tie a half hitch around the Standing End, shown by the yellow rope. To set up and finish the knot, we push / translate this (yellow) half hitch through / beneath the ( blue) bight of the "half" Cow hitch, and we pull the (blue) Standing End against the pole, as hard as we can. ( When the Stranding End of a tight hitch, which also utilizes a mechanical advantage, can be pulled towards a direction perpendicular to the surface of the pole, we may use our hands and feet, like rowers  :) - and so we become able to induce, and "lock" within the wraps, an enormous amount of tensile forces, enhancing, in this way, their gripping power without increasing their number ).
   Now, the point I would like to make here, is that the locking mechanism of this hitch resembles the opposed bights locking mechanism, described and shown ( in a "simplistic" representation ) at (2). The first of the two bights is the U-shaped blue bight, and the second bight is the O-shaped yellow bight. So, here the second bight is not U-shaped - and it is not L-shaped either ( like the second bight formed by the sharp, 90 degrees deflexion of the Tail End around the Standing End at the Locked Single Cow hitch ). However, the way the Standing Part is immobilized in this tight hitch ( and that is exactly the meaning of a "tight hitch"/ binder : a hitch / binder where we do not secure only the Tail End, but the Standing End as well, in order to be able to pre-tension its wraps ), this way remains essentially the same : the straight, more or less, line, is squeezed in between two opposed tensioned bights, and the whole arrangement of all those segments of the rope works, regarding any induced tension during pre-tensioning, like an efficient ratchet-ing device ( in short, it is a rope-made ratchet ).
   To the curious reader, who might wonder how I had joined the blue and the yellow rope, I show the back side of the pole, too  :) : a flat, most simple, nice little tumbling thief bend, was enough.
 
  1. http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=4845.msg31585#msg31585
  2. http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=4906.0
« Last Edit: June 02, 2014, 06:46:53 PM by xarax »
This is not a knot.

xarax

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Re: hitching cousins
« Reply #17 on: June 29, 2014, 12:35:00 PM »
   I have noticed that the (A) variation of the Oneiro s hitch is TIB, while the (B) one is not (1). Ceteris Paribus, a TIB knot is always a more versatile knot - for many reasons, one of which I had realized only recently : even if we can tie a knot in-the-end, it may be much easier, quicker and pleasing to tie it in-the-bight. If we have an easy to memorize, to remember and to execute TIB tying method ( like the "haltering collar" tying method of many TIB eyeknots, for example ), it is always tempting to "use" it, even if it is not strictly "needed". The almost ex nihilo creation of some of those marvellous rope-made mechanisms we call "knots", out of just a small segment in the middle of the continuous "line", without any involvement of the discrete "ends", even if it serves no "practical" purposes, is pleasing to us. We need knots, to make us happy, but we also need to be happy, to make knots !  :).
  It would be great if somebody out there would test all the 2-wrap TIB tight hitches we have ( a sample of which is shown at (2)) - but to test a hitch, is much more difficult than to test a bend or a loop. On top of the problem of how to measure the efficiency of the "locking" mechanism after pre-loading or loading, there is the problem of the ratio of the diameters of the rope and the pole, the variation of which may transform a fine knot into a "lemon", and vice versa.... 

1. http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=4739.msg30594#msg30594
2. http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=4739.msg30643#msg30643
« Last Edit: November 01, 2014, 12:56:46 AM by xarax »
This is not a knot.

xarax

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Re: hitching cousins
« Reply #18 on: July 03, 2014, 04:41:03 PM »
   In the SquareBanks hitch ( shown also in (1)), in order to achieve a very tight grip, we have better to pull the Tail End before the Standing End. If we do this first, when we will pull the Standing End afterards, this already tight hitch will become much tighter - because the first U-turn on the Standing Part ( which looks like half of the nipping loop of the simple-hitch-a-la-Gleipnir ) will "revolve" around its axis a little bit, and the pull of its first leg ( = the Standing End ) will drag its second leg ( = the first end of the first wrap ) along with it. As the hitch would had been tightened already by the ( earlier ) pulling of the Tail End, the amount of ropelength that will be consumed by the ( later ) pulling of the Standing End will be small - sufficient nevertheless to securely "lock" the ends, and increase the gripping power of the hitch more than we might had anticipated. One has to tie the hitch and tighten the way I describe ( pull the Tail before the Standing End ), to appreciate what this small little "click" of the U-turn is able to do... ( Same thing applies in the hitch shown at (2), which also " locks" the ends by the same mechanism ).
   Pulling the Tail End simultaneously, or even before the Standing End ( as it is required in this hitch ) might be considered a disadvantage - a self-dressing hitch, which is tightened continuously as long as we pull the Standing End, and the Standing End only, is a very useful and pleasant knot to tie, indeed. However, I believe that this peculiar "winding","revolving" U-turn / half-nipping loop, which acts as an efficient lock and capstan at the same time, is a very interesting mechanism, and that was what made me mention it in this post.

1. http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=4739.msg30603#msg30603
2. http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=4739.msg30595#msg30595
« Last Edit: July 03, 2014, 05:08:49 PM by xarax »
This is not a knot.

xarax

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Re: hitching cousins
« Reply #19 on: February 06, 2015, 03:08:43 PM »
   
   If, on the Standing Part before the first round turn, you insert a 180 degrees turn = nipping loop, you can immobilize the Tail End...
 

   The nice and clever two-wrap hitch presented in this thread by squarebanksAlaska ( which I take the liberty to call SquarebanksAlaska hitch, or Alaskan hitch, in short ), and the similarly looking Locked Cow hitch shown at Reply#5 and Reply#15 (1)(2), although they work differently, they can nevertheless be tied in almost the same simple, quick, easy to remember and implement way. We have just to form a nipping loop before the first round turn, then drive the Working End around the stake ( following the same clockwise or counter-clockwise direction we had chosen for the nipping loop itself ), and reeve a second bight through this nipping loop. This is the common initial configuration for both hitches. To tie the Alaskan hitch, we have to twist this bight one time (= 180 degrees), and then pass it from the end of the stake, just like we do in the case of a Pile hitch. To tie the Locked Cow hitch, we have to twist it one more time (=360 degrees). Finally, we have to remember that, before the final tightening, both hitches should be pulled snug by pulling the Tail End, to eliminate any remaining slack.
   Just by reading the verbal description of this tying method, one can see that both hitches are TIB, because we have to tuck ( through the nipping loop ) only the tip of a middle-line bight, not the free end itself. However, I have to stress that, as it happens in almost all knots, one can tie those hitches in many other ways, too ( for example, one can tie them in-hand, and insert them on the stake only at the very end ) - the interested knot tyer should always try to tie any new knot he encounters by all tying methods he can think of, and at least a dozen of times each, and only then decide which one suits him most.

1. http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=4739.msg30595#msg30595
2. http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=4739.msg30666#msg30666
« Last Edit: February 06, 2015, 07:55:52 PM by xarax »
This is not a knot.

xarax

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Re: hitching cousins
« Reply #20 on: February 13, 2015, 07:57:03 PM »
   I can not say which of those two hitches is the most secure and/or tight - moreover, I suspect that it may well depend not only on how slippery is the rope itself, but how slippery is the surface of the hitched object as well. With slippery enough materials, which allow tensile forces to run along the wraps of the hitch without being hindered by friction too much, I think that the mechanical advantage offered by the Cow hitch / zigzag configuration would make a noticeable / measurable difference. However, I can not overlook the fact that the Alaskan hitch is more clever - and that perhaps explains why, although it is so simple, it was not discovered till now. Compared to this ingenious knot, the Locked Cow hitch (B) seems like an ordinary, straightforward implementation of the same idea which led to the TackleClamp hitch and the original single and double Locked Cow hitch : combine the mechanical advantage of the Cow hitch with the efficiency of the opposed bights locking mechanism (1). To me, a clever knotting mechanism has a merit per se : I can not but admire an ingenious tool, even if I do not use it !  :) Well done, squarebanksAlaska . 

 1. http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=4906
This is not a knot.

xarax

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Re: hitching cousins
« Reply #21 on: March 31, 2015, 03:18:29 PM »
   A great knot is a knot which, each and every time you tie it, you can not but enjoy it.
   The Alaskan hitch Squarebanksalaska has offered to us, is such a great knot - clever, unexpected, most simple, TIB, beautiful... The only reason I have not included it in my two lists of old and "new" best knots, is that I have already included another two-wrap tight hitch, the original Locked Cow hitch - which, although it is not as simple and beautiful as the Alaskan hitch, nevertheless it is more tight, so more versatile and useful ( because of the mechanical advantage offered by the Zigzag path of its Standing Part on the surface of the hitched / bound object(s)). Each and every time I tie the Alaskan hitch, I enjoy it so much that I feel I should, again, express my admiration and gratitude for the fact that it exists - as I do each and every time I tie a Gleipnir.
   [ On the contrary, I feel really sad that most knot tyers, even those who know the "similar", yet much inferior Ossel hitch, ignore or even snub this marvel - but I guess I have to live with this : in the history of knot tyers, it was always like that !  :) ]
« Last Edit: March 31, 2015, 03:20:33 PM by xarax »
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xarax

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Re: hitching cousins
« Reply #22 on: May 01, 2015, 11:25:12 PM »
   Using the same materials, diameters, and hand force, I had pre-tightened by their "main" end, and then loaded by either end, the Locked Cow hitch B, shown in Replies #5 and #15 ((1),(2)), and the more complex Locked Cow hitch II (EEL), shown at :
   http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=5250.msg34820#msg34820
   http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=5250.msg34825#msg34825
   http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=5250.msg34850#msg34850
   
   I had used a variety of slippery, easily "flattened" braided cheap/commercial ropes, with which those hitches can not be tightened as much ( I do not know why...) as with the climbing ropes, which are stiffer, and retain almost circular cross sections. I had thought that, if the simpler hitch presented in this thread ( the "B" ), can be EEL ( Either End Loadable ), and can be pre-tightened as hard as its more complex cousin ( the "II" ), why one would prefer to tie the later and not the former ?
   The nub of Locked Cow hitch B, when loaded by the "other" end, revolves around itself a little bit, and this may give the impression that the knot is unstable, and that it does not remain a tight and secure hitch. However, I had seen that this motion is a motion of the nub as a whole, and it does not transfigure it. Moreover, it does not influence the strength of the gripping power of the tensioned wraps, or the security of the locking mechanism of the ends. Therefore I had concluded that the Locked Cow hitch B is EEL, too. A very satisfactory result, which I had not predicted, because it was not my intention to load this hitch by the "Tail" end - up until now. After Moebius sent me back to the drawing board, I had to check many loops and hitches, and try to evaluate if they are suitable as EEL knots, or not - and that is what I did with this first cousin of the ingenious Alaskan hitch.
   Now, which of the two is mote tight ? I expected I would be able to answer to this question more or less easily, and decide.
   Unfortunately, regarding this issue I had NOT made up my mind, not yet... Both hitches seem pretty tight, both are TIB, EEL and easy to tie in-the-bight and in-the-end. To decide between the two, I have to actually TEST them, and MEASURE the tension that can be induced into the wraps during pre-tension, on the one hand, and the way they behave = how much and how fast they slip along the pole, when they are submitted to a lengthwise pull, on the other. Given my inability to perform decent experiments of any kind, of the quality I would had wished, this project will remain a thing of the remote future !  :)

1.   http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=4739.msg30603#msg30603
2.   http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=4739.msg30666#msg30666
« Last Edit: May 06, 2015, 08:24:29 PM by xarax »
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xarax

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Re: hitching cousins
« Reply #23 on: May 03, 2015, 03:43:45 PM »
   There is this sad thing I have to notice, because we have to tell "the truth, and nothing but the truth"  :), even if we do no like it. Unfortunately, the ingenious Alaskan hitch, which is as amazing as the Gleipnir, is not EEL. On the contrary, the down-to-Earth, "easy" Locked Cow hitch B, is. Here we have a case where something is clever, and something is not, but evolution ( represented by the idea of EEL, by Moebius ), kills the clever, and let the "easy" live... Just another fact of life we have to take and not leave it, sad, but true nevertheless.
   Let us imagine a situation where, not only we do not need to tie a TIB hitch, but also we can not tie such a hitch easily, because, ceteris paribus, a TIB knot can be tied easily only if we have enough rope length at either side of the loose knot, and we may not have this option. What am I going to do ? Will I tie an Alaskan hitch in-the-end, because I need only a hitch in-the-end, and the one end is very short to allow me to tie a knot in-the-bight easily?
   Noope... I will still try to tie the same TIB knot I usually tie, either in-the-end or in-the-bight, which, because I tie it many times, I can tie it more quickly, and I can dress it more properly, and I can inspect it more easily. Therefore, if my preferred 2-warps EEL hitch is the Locked Cow hitch, I will tie this hitch, and not the Alaskan hitch - which, with time, will fade out of my memory s screen, and it may even be disappear=forgotten completely.
   This does not mean anything about the importance of the contribution of squarebanksalaska : had he not presented the Alaskan hitch, probably I would nt had presented the Locked Cow hitch B either - which Locked Cow hitch B, when the knotting environment suddenly changed, and the EEL idea conquered the KnotLand, was offered the possibility to live.   
« Last Edit: May 06, 2015, 08:28:20 PM by xarax »
This is not a knot.