The Fisherman's Knot

You may already have seen the fisherman's knot, which is a way of tying two ropes together securely. Unfortunately untying the knot usually requires the Swiss Army technique if load has been placed on the ropes.
Here is a novel way of tying the knot, which once learned leads to a fast and accurate way of tying the knot, and something to impress your SL! This method was taught to me by my current Group quartermaster!

[fish1.gif] Start with the cord held betweem the first two fingers of each hand - see diagram, then hook (towards you) the left side of the bight with your right thumb, and then the right side with left thumb.
[fish2.gif] You should now be in the position illustrated in the diagram, now tuck the two thumbs into the two triangles made by your first finger and the cord.
[fish3.gif] Now here comes the tricky bit to explain: Twist your thumbs through 360 degrees, coming towards yourself at first.
[fish4.gif] This should leave you with a half hitch around each of your thumbs and the cord. This bit requires a little bit of dexterity - pass the end of each cord through the half hitch, and then ease the two thumb knots together, and there you have a fisherman's knot.
Once you have mastered this, you should be able to get this down to about five seconds without great difficulty. It is both a faster and more reliable way (you can never get the thumb knots the wrong way round) of tying the Fisherman's Knot.

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