I can vouch for the Kelty Triptease - coincidently I've got it on my Akto since day one as well. Holds a bowline & tarbuck knot just fine.

This triptease stuff sounds good. Like the idea of it not soaking up water and being reflective. I really cant be bothered to order it from the states though - lot of hassle.

Anyone else know of somewhere that stocks it in the uk?

Regarding knots in paracord - a sheetbend will hold (its just a bowline tied the other way round, after all). Figure of eight, fishermans bend and round turn & two half hitches are others that would work fine.

HTH

Si

PS Before the pedants attack me, I know that the "knots" I listed above aren't knots but bends and hitches - but its too early in the morning.

If it looks like a knot....

Never had a problem with any knots in paracord...

Of course now I have to go find some to see what won't work...

Si, whats that about the sheetbend being a bowline in reverse?

<mutters> can't beat a sheepshank <muttering>

A sheetbend is the same knot as a bowline, they're just tied differently.

If you were taught the Bowline with the bunny and the tree story then have a think about how a sheetbend is tied and its just the hole and tree being tied around the bunny.

Of course, if you WEREN'T taught with the tree and bunny method - then all that will be nonsense.

Alternative explanation: To tie a bowline, you start off with a full loop (complete circle) in one part of the rope then feed the end through, round and back through, right? Well, with a sheetbend you start with a "u" shape in the rope and then feed a loop around it.

Hopefully that is clearer than it looks when I re-read it.

If not I'll try again later, - but just tie the two knots and then look at them closely and I hope you'll see what I mean.

Si

Sheetbend is good for joining ropes of differing thickness - like my 2.5" hawsers to 12mm. However, they can shake loose if not under constant tension.

Cheers Si, see what you mean...

However, I think it's one analogy I won't use... Tree & hole tied around the tree indeed! ;)

..don't forget the tie the bunny up ;oP

Mark, my excuse is that its easier to teach kids that way - they remember it better.

I, of course, NEVER have to resort to muttering under my breath"bunny comes out of the hole, goes round the back of the tree and goes back down the hole again" .

Ooooh no. Not me. Never.

As a kid I was taught how to tie a bowline one-handed (just in case I broke an arm!).
That has stuck with me all my life (so far) which is amazing with my poor memory.
When I tie one the normal way 25% of the time I get my hole the wrong way around (I hope you knotters will know what I mean).

I got my Kelty Triptease from:
http://www.backcountry-equipment.com/index.html

It is in the USA though, but their service is excellent & with small stuff like this they make sure the paperwork is inside the envelope so it tends to come through hassle free. I have even had a phone call from them 10 minutes after making an order online just to confirm a small detail.

The appropriate bend for paracord is the Hunter's Bend or Rigger's bend (Hunter being a chap's name and rigger, in this case, being someone who moors airships or 'builds' parachutes - put that on yer CV).

Sheet bends and weaver's knots work just as well, the former doubled if likely to suffer from shock loadings. The bowline is appropriate for a loop.

I thought all you mountaineering types had given up proper ropework (bowlines, alpine butterflies, etc)in favour of the universal Figure 8 loop?

3mm braided synthetic cordage in various colours is available from yacht chandlers but tends to be a bit 'stiffer' than paracord.

i'm trying to imagine the process of tying the bowline into 2.5" hawser, any hints as to how it might pass that through a 5 ton tirfor? that person would need greater manual dexterity than i .... Gungerdin!

here's a few links for knot tying pages:

http://storrick.cnchost.com/VerticalDevicesPage/Ascender/KnotPages/

www.mistral.co.uk/42brghtn/knots/42ktmenu.html

www.northnet.org/ropeworks/archive/Aconstri.html

www.netknots.com/html/outdoor_knots.html

just to keep a the theme going along the lines of useful information.

U don't tie bends into 2.5" hawsers, you 'seize' them instead.

A 'Seizing' is just like whipping the ends of rope, except that you whip two thicknesses of rope together. Doesn't look like it'd work, but it does, as long as the seizing is at least as long as 3 times the diameter of the rope.

2.5" (8" in old money?) hawser for guylines?
:-))

The knot to know with guylines is the Rolling Hitch as it saves having to use one of those slider plates.

Pull the guyline (single or doubled) round the peg and tie the rolling hitch. Slide the hitch up the standing part until the guyline is taught. Use polyester line and it won't go slack in the rain. Thin is good.

Rolling hitch sound like a good idea.
Just in case you're likely to forget how to do one when you need to (if your memory is as bad as mine)the Tarbuck is a good knot for guylines that slips but not under tension.
http://www.scoutingresources.org.uk/knots_az03.html#tarbuck

I think I read about this years ago in the classic Derrick Booth's Backpackers Handbook.