We're talking about the same killick hitch, yeah? To me, that's a half hitch, and then another half hitch, with the tail wrapped around the rope a lot.
That's not a knot :) It's half a timber hitch, really, and the only bit that makes it a "killick", as far as I can see, is the multiple wraps of the tail at the end. Which is something I do just to tuck tails out of the way after, say, a clove hitch - if I have a loose end, I'll do a half hitch and then a "killick". So better to say I'll use it to finish another hitch, but I'm more likely to use a clove with an extra half, or timber hitch.
Sorry. This is why I bit my tongue in the first place - arrant knot snobbery. But now that you've learned the beautiful Carrick, does the Killick not start to seem ... graceless? Uncouth, even? A bit of rope just wrapped around itself a few times?
Oh, the picture in that entry is so unromantic, it's no wonder you're anti-killick. Technically, I guess you're right. But bear in mind I'm a) a complete beginner, and b) the Killick is (as I mentioned) both the name of a character in the Patrick O'Brien novels, and also an old Gaelic word for a makeshift anchor, which is why I like it. The pictures I've seen are far more elegant; instead of a piece of nylon cord wrapped 'round a plastic bucket, it's a piece of nice rope securing a craftsman-made barrel rather elegantly and simply; the subtleties of 'locking' based on the direction of the knot in relation to the direction of the rope's weave is something I'm just starting to appreciate.
I get where you're coming from, but I'm still liking the things I'm starting with. I mean, I've ridden international standard dressage horses, but that doesn't mean I can't see the beauty in the ponies I use for teaching.:)
But all this is really me gearing p to asking - what's your favourite knot, then? Which one do you love?
The carrick is a beautiful knot. I'm a big fan of the bowline, with a slight variant - once the "rabbit" has gone back in the hole, tuck it back up next to the standing end. That keeps it out of the loop so it doesn't interfere.
For all its flaws, I like the clove hitch - it's simple, fast, can be tied on the bight, and is effective.
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Re: Knot nerdery.
Date: 2009-03-12 10:48 am (UTC)That's not a knot :) It's half a timber hitch, really, and the only bit that makes it a "killick", as far as I can see, is the multiple wraps of the tail at the end. Which is something I do just to tuck tails out of the way after, say, a clove hitch - if I have a loose end, I'll do a half hitch and then a "killick". So better to say I'll use it to finish another hitch, but I'm more likely to use a clove with an extra half, or timber hitch.
Re: Knot nerdery.
Date: 2009-03-12 01:41 pm (UTC)Re: Knot nerdery.
Date: 2009-03-12 02:29 pm (UTC)Re: Knot nerdery.
Date: 2009-03-12 02:28 pm (UTC)I get where you're coming from, but I'm still liking the things I'm starting with. I mean, I've ridden international standard dressage horses, but that doesn't mean I can't see the beauty in the ponies I use for teaching.:)
But all this is really me gearing p to asking - what's your favourite knot, then? Which one do you love?
Re: Knot nerdery.
Date: 2009-03-12 03:01 pm (UTC)For all its flaws, I like the clove hitch - it's simple, fast, can be tied on the bight, and is effective.