Knots

Knots are incredibly useful, but outside of sailing, rock climbing, and the boy scouts, few people seem to ever learn even the basics. The following knots are easy to learn and worth their weight in gold:

• Bowline: The gold standard. Used to keep boats in place and climbers attached to their rope. Works under tension and slack. Works wet and dry. Easy to untie but never unties itself. If you only learn one knot on this list, the bowline should be it.
• Sheet bend: Actually also a bowline, but with two pieces of string instead of one making a loop. It will keep any two ropes together, even if they are dramatically different widths, materials etc.
• Clove hitch: Want to wrap string around something? Want that wrapping to stay in place but also be adjustable later? The clove hitch is the answer. Easy to tie, surprisingly useful.
• Trucker’s hitch: Need a cord to be tight? The trucker’s hitch is the answer. Useful for tent pegs, clotheslines etc, and obviously for lashing things to the bed of a truck (or on top of a car or to the side of a tree).
• Overhand knot: The most basic knot. But with another end of string running through it it’s a slip knot. Doubled it is a useful, and gorgeous, stopper knot. The uses for the simplest possible knot are endless.