Quote:
Originally Posted by Cothron Theiss
EDIT - The monkey's fist was purposefully omitted from the list of stopper knots.
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Why? While it was not invented as a stopper knot (more of a starter knot), and uses a lot of line, it's not terribly difficult to tie; I learned it in an hour or so. If you use a single overhand knot as the core, you can nest them, beginning with a "two loop" for the first layer and adding about two loops per layer. For use in the davit fingers with smaller lines, tt also distributes the force of the support quite well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ether
I ran some somewhat-less-than-scientific tests several years ago to find the best knot for tying two pieces of same-size string together.
What would you recommend? Sole criterion is breaking strength.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cothron Theiss
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In theory, the strongest knot would be the the knot that has enough internal friction that the rope breaks before it slips but reduces the rope's breaking strength by the least amount. And in general, the tighter the turn a rope has to make in a knot, the more strength lost. ...
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I agree with this completely. Among the really small knots, the surgeon's knot would be good, presuming the line isn't too slippery for that to hold. If you're willing to use a lot of line, I suggest braiding the lines to each other, which would result in a section which is actually stronger than either line. A bit of web searching turned up the
blood knot, which seems to do a great job of relieving the stress in each line before it is doubled over.