Knotting for Scouts

1. What they did

This is an old Scout training booklet on rope work, reissued on the internet by The Dump at scoutscan.com and the Canadian Sea Scouts Homeport, who kept its original look for historical accuracy. It opens with a quote from Baden-Powell (B-P): every Scout ought to be able to tie a knot, there are right and wrong ways of doing it, and lives may depend on a knot being properly tied. The booklet sets out to give Scouts all the knots they need for their grade and proficiency badges. For brevity it keeps to generally useful knots and, where there are several ways to tie one, picks the most adaptable method or the one that best shows how the knot works.

Each knot has a line drawing and short instructions, with notes on what it is used for. The booklet comes with printing and folding instructions so that it can be made into a pocket-sized copy for a Scout’s uniform.

2. What they found

Rope basics

• A rope is thought of as two ends and a standing part. Some knots are made with two ends (reef knot), some with an end and the standing part (bowline), and some with the standing part alone (sheepshank).
• Even complex knots break down into three basic turns: bight, loop and overhand.
• A practice rope should be about one inch in circumference and about 20 feet long, and treated with care because it will be used for a long time.
• Rope ends fray unless protected. A figure-of-eight knot works as a temporary stop; for a lasting finish the booklet shows simple whipping and sailmaker’s whipping.

Knots, bends and hitches

The booklet covers 28 knots, with two ways to tie the clove hitch, among them:

• Joining ropes: reef knot (for first aid and for joining string or cord of equal thickness, not recommended for rope), slippery reef knot, surgeon’s knot, sheet bend (the most important knot for joining two rope ends, especially of unequal size), double and slippery sheet bends, carrick bend (for large ropes and towing) and fisherman’s knot (for joining gut or thin twine; it tends to jam).
• Fixing a rope to a spar, ring or hook: clove hitch (the start and finish of some lashings, used in boat work, pioneering and rope ladders), slippery clove hitch, round turn and two half hitches, timber hitch, rolling hitch (will not slip even on smooth surfaces), fisherman’s bend, highwayman’s hitch (for mooring boats and tethering horses, released with one pull), cat’s-paw, marlin spike hitch, and single and double blackwall hitches.
• Loops and shortening: bowline (a loop that will not slip or jam), bowline on a bight, overhand loop, figure of eight knot, middleman’s knot, butterfly knot (for harnesses, hauling and climbing), guy line hitch (for tent guy lines) and sheepshank (for shortening a rope fastened at both ends).
• Rescue: the fireman’s chair knot, with one loop under the arms and one under the knees.

Lashings

Four lashings join spars for camp structures: diagonal lashing (to “spring” two spars together), square lashing (for spars crossing at an angle), sheer lashing (for parallel spars and for “sheer legs” that support bridges) and tripod lashing.

The booklet ends with a list of five other books on knots.

3. What they concluded

• Through study of the booklet, constant practice with all types of rope under many conditions, and good instruction from experts, every Scout can become thoroughly competent in rope work.
• The editors believe the booklet should be in the breast pocket of every Scout and Sea Scout, as much as a notebook and pen, and they allow it to be copied and shared free of charge for Scouting and Guiding.

6. Other technologies, skills or innovations

• The PDF is laid out for home printing: two booklet pages per sheet, printed on both sides, cut, folded and stapled into a booklet small enough for a Scout’s uniform pocket.