What Kind of Knot Should I Use?

Using a single strand of cord, about 4 feet long, I want to make a
lanyard. I want it to have a big loop to go around the neck, and a
small loop at the bottom. I want it to have only one knot, at the
juncture of the 2 loops. It would be nice if it was symmetrical,
and/or decorative. What kind of knot should I use?

Make a "Dogbone" with a Double or Triple Fisherman's Bend which
enclcoses the opposite strand of the Loop. This gives you two
communicating loops that can be adjusted to the sizes you deem
appropriate.

Darwin


"Imagine" wrote in message
...
| Using a single strand of cord, about 4 feet long, I want to
make a
| lanyard. I want it to have a big loop to go around the neck,
and a
| small loop at the bottom. I want it to have only one knot, at
the
| juncture of the 2 loops. It would be nice if it was
symmetrical,
| and/or decorative. What kind of knot should I use?

Before things get too far, you might want to specify if it's OK for
the two loops to communicate. By communicate, I mean that tension on
either or both of the legs of one loop affects the other loop.

You'll have more options if loop communication is acceptable, but two
fixed loops are possible as well.

-roo

Imagine wrote in message . ..
Using a single strand of cord, about 4 feet long, I want to make a
lanyard. I want it to have a big loop to go around the neck, and a
small loop at the bottom. I want it to have only one knot, at the
juncture of the 2 loops. It would be nice if it was symmetrical,
and/or decorative. What kind of knot should I use?

On 5 Apr 2004 15:26:44 -0700, (roo) wrote:

Before things get too far, you might want to specify if it's OK for
the two loops to communicate. By communicate, I mean that tension on
either or both of the legs of one loop affects the other loop.

You'll have more options if loop communication is acceptable, but two
fixed loops are possible as well.

I'll go with "loop communication is acceptable", and more options.
Thanks.

-roo

Imagine wrote in message . ..
Using a single strand of cord, about 4 feet long, I want to make a
lanyard. I want it to have a big loop to go around the neck, and a
small loop at the bottom. I want it to have only one knot, at the
juncture of the 2 loops. It would be nice if it was symmetrical,
and/or decorative. What kind of knot should I use?

On Mon, 5 Apr 2004 11:46:59 -0700, "RigPilot"
wrote:

Make a "Dogbone" with a Double or Triple Fisherman's Bend which
enclcoses the opposite strand of the Loop. This gives you two
communicating loops that can be adjusted to the sizes you deem
appropriate.

I seem to end up with one end of the cord which is free to slip right
out of the Fisherman's Bend.

Darwin


"Imagine" wrote in message
.. .
| Using a single strand of cord, about 4 feet long, I want to
make a
| lanyard. I want it to have a big loop to go around the neck,
and a
| small loop at the bottom. I want it to have only one knot, at
the
| juncture of the 2 loops. It would be nice if it was
symmetrical,
| and/or decorative. What kind of knot should I use?

Try this:

http://www.climerware.com/dogvine.shtml

On Mon, 05 Apr 2004 18:17:41 GMT, Imagine
wrote:

Using a single strand of cord, about 4 feet long, I want to make a
lanyard. I want it to have a big loop to go around the neck, and a
small loop at the bottom. I want it to have only one knot, at the
juncture of the 2 loops. It would be nice if it was symmetrical,
and/or decorative. What kind of knot should I use?

My favorite for this application is the Sailors
Knife Lanyard knot (Ashley #787).

It is a tight, symmetrical ball that looks
like it is covered in a basket weave or
over and under pattern. In hard cord, the
knot is about 4 times the diameter of the cord.

Usually this knot is made with two strands
coming in at the top and two strands coming
in at the bottom. It makes a knob in a lanyard.

I do most of my decorative knotting with nylon
parachute cord, which is strong enough to hang
a person with. There is a very real danger to
putting a loop of this stuff around your neck.

This is why I like ABOK #787: if you tie it with
a small loop coming out the bottom for your
knife, whistle, keys or whatever, there will be
two leads coming out of the top. Trim one short,
flush with the knot and heat fuse it. (I actually
trim and heat fuse first and then work the line
back through the knot until the end is flush with
the surface of the knot.) Then take the other lead
around your neck and back to the knot. Loosen the
knot and pass the end right down through the center.
Slide it up and down until you like the length, mark
the lead where it comes out of the bottom of the knot,
and cut it off and heat fuse it. Now draw the knot
up very tight and pull the heat fused end up until
it is flush with the bottom. If you were tying in
cotton or some other un-meltable cord, you might be
able to dip the end in glue or whip the end with thread.

Now this knot will support a fairly heavy knife, but
if you should ever trip and fall and catch the lanyard
on something, the fused end will pull through the
knot instead of hanging you. I have never had it
come out for no reason, and have had it come out
once for exactly the reason I recommend it.

Aside from the safety aspect, the Lanyard Knot is
VERY attractive and gets a lot of interest from
people who see it. It is not hard to tie once you
figure it out for the first time. I have taught
it to many people.

--
--Pete
"Peter W. Meek"
http://www.msen.com/~pwmeek/

On 5 Apr 2004 20:20:52 -0700, (Treenail) wrote:

Try this:

http://www.climerware.com/dogvine.shtml

I saw that. It doesn't include instructions, but when I try it, I end
up with one end of the cord which is free to slip out of the knot.

On Tue, 06 Apr 2004 09:48:36 -0400, Peter W. Meek
wrote:

I could make a Friendship knot and join it to a larger loop with 2
Zeppelin bends. But why tie 3 knots when 1 will do?

This project is not difficult. I have already figured out a couple of
ways to do it, but my creative knot tying ability is so limited when
compared to the thousands of years of knot tying history.

Surely this problem has already been solved in elegant ways.

On Mon, 05 Apr 2004 18:17:41 GMT, Imagine
wrote:

Using a single strand of cord, about 4 feet long, I want to make a
lanyard. I want it to have a big loop to go around the neck, and a
small loop at the bottom. I want it to have only one knot, at the
juncture of the 2 loops. It would be nice if it was symmetrical,
and/or decorative. What kind of knot should I use?

My favorite for this application is the Sailors
Knife Lanyard knot (Ashley #787).

It is a tight, symmetrical ball that looks
like it is covered in a basket weave or
over and under pattern. In hard cord, the
knot is about 4 times the diameter of the cord.

Usually this knot is made with two strands
coming in at the top and two strands coming
in at the bottom. It makes a knob in a lanyard.

I do most of my decorative knotting with nylon
parachute cord, which is strong enough to hang
a person with. There is a very real danger to
putting a loop of this stuff around your neck.

This is why I like ABOK #787: if you tie it with
a small loop coming out the bottom for your
knife, whistle, keys or whatever, there will be
two leads coming out of the top. Trim one short,
flush with the knot and heat fuse it. (I actually
trim and heat fuse first and then work the line
back through the knot until the end is flush with
the surface of the knot.) Then take the other lead
around your neck and back to the knot. Loosen the
knot and pass the end right down through the center.
Slide it up and down until you like the length, mark
the lead where it comes out of the bottom of the knot,
and cut it off and heat fuse it. Now draw the knot
up very tight and pull the heat fused end up until
it is flush with the bottom. If you were tying in
cotton or some other un-meltable cord, you might be
able to dip the end in glue or whip the end with thread.

Now this knot will support a fairly heavy knife, but
if you should ever trip and fall and catch the lanyard
on something, the fused end will pull through the
knot instead of hanging you. I have never had it
come out for no reason, and have had it come out
once for exactly the reason I recommend it.

Aside from the safety aspect, the Lanyard Knot is
VERY attractive and gets a lot of interest from
people who see it. It is not hard to tie once you
figure it out for the first time. I have taught
it to many people.

Use the Dogvine. You are not tying it correctly.

Fold your cord in half. Grab the *center* and both working ends together and
lay your work out horizontally in front of you. Open the bights of the loop
at the right and left and overlap the working ends as if to tie your Bend.
It should look like a Dog Bone (or a Barbell).

Now tie a Double or Triple Fisherman's Bend (or Grapevine Bend) around both
sides of your loop at once (or the Top and Bottom). This *encloses* the
opposite side of the original loop and creates two loops.

The Standing Part will pass back and forth "through the Bend". This allows
the two loops to *communicate*, so that one becomes larger as the other
becomes smaller (and vice versa). When tied and set correctly, there are no
loose ends to slip out.


"Imagine" wrote in message
...
| On Tue, 06 Apr 2004 09:48:36 -0400, Peter W. Meek
| wrote:
|
| I could make a Friendship knot and join it to a larger loop with 2
| Zeppelin bends. But why tie 3 knots when 1 will do?
|
| This project is not difficult. I have already figured out a couple of
| ways to do it, but my creative knot tying ability is so limited when
| compared to the thousands of years of knot tying history.
|
| Surely this problem has already been solved in elegant ways.