A simpler jug sling?

Practical Knots
1

I was looking for a 2 strand lanyard knot which could be used by partially sighted people instead of the usual 2 strand diamond knot. The 2 strand Matthew Walker works and is not too bad to teach but searching through ABoK I came across the 2 strand footrope knot which in the tying method has some similarity to Solomon bar, regularly used for dragonflies and key fobs. But before the knot is dressed I noticed that it bears a close resemblance to ABoK 1142 - the jug sling. I find whichever method is used the jug sling (aka bottle knot) is difficult to teach though it is one of the most frequently requested knots by the public. The footrope knot seems to work pretty well at holding a flanged bottle and is far easier to follow. Has anyone tried this?

Sweeney

2

I’ve never tried the Footrope knot that way, but it looks like it could work.

On the rare occasion that I have toted a bottle I have opted for a multi-wrap constrictor or Strangle. Nothing fancy, just an effective and quick bottle sling.

SS

3

Jug slings don’t come up much and are tricky to tie. Most people need a book in front of them.

A fairly easy alternative is to have one end of a cord hitch to a 3 o’clock position on the cylinder, and the other end hitch to a 9 o’clock position.

A simple, firmly-gripping lengthwise hitch is four turns finished with a Gnat Hitch. You just have to work the coils tight.

I have such a setup suspending a variably-loaded straight cylinder with no lip or flange.

4

i was just looking at it this week,

it seems to work, but looking closer at it, there’s extra twists in the loops down the ‘ends’ end,

maybe those could be tied off level with the main bight,
to make a super secure one-handle sling

5

I used to use the jug sling on water bottles, but found it a bit messy to deal with once it was tied. My new go to knot for water bottles and coffee, etc. (Starbucks to go cups) is the double fisherman’s knot. I simply bend the ends together and separate the two knots far enough to insert the neck of the bottle or the upper portion of the tapered cup, and then pull the knots toward each other until the cup/bottle is held snugly and pick it up at the middle of the string.

JP

6

i’ve done this (to me) grommet before for other purposes, very nice ty!
i can see where the stiffened parts might be more favorable not crushing styrofoam cup than a formal Jug sling.
i don’t think the Jug was made for styrofoam, but rather much stiffer ceramics type and shouldering.

7

Here is another simpler bottle knot. Percy W. Blandford in his book Practical Knots and Ropework, 1980 (now published inexpensively by Dover, 2006) gives this alternative called a Single Bottle Knot.

Part of the problem people have with the jug sling (in addition to remembering how to tie it) is in getting the two handles to be equal length. In this Single Bottle Knot, it is very easy to adjust the size of the two handles.

8

The double fishermans bend idea just came up on another forum. I like it, and suggested a small enhancement - swap the double overhead knots with rolling hitches to add a zip-tie grip around the bottle neck.