What do readers think is likely to be the knot most used today?
The likely candidate is probably one tied by machine. My bet is the knot used to tie the twine on a bale.
What would your candidate be and why? Can we list the top six hardest working knots in use today?
Hi Derek,
Good question! I would probably opt for the knot tied around the newspaper that is delivered seven days a week to millions of customers around the US. I think they are all tied by machine, but I don’t know for certain - I’ll check. Also, how about machine-tied netting for fishing nets using the sheet bend? There have to be millions of those tied every week, surely?
Lindsey
thumb (overhand/underhand). when someone says “tie a knot” almost the entire world expects a thumb knot. 2 thumbs (depending on orientation) make a granny or reef (yes, technically different knots but…).
most people tie their shoes with a granny or reef on the bight. before the advent of velcro or popularization of the shoe with an elastic tongue, not everyone wears shoes and of those that do, not all of them involve laces, but there’s got to be at least… 100 million out of the 6.5 billion (http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/popclockworld.html) world population that wear laced shoes, with the younger set tying and untying their shoes several times a day.
machine tied newspaper bundles can’t compete with the sheer numbers of that.
Yes, that would sure beat the once a year bale operation. In the UK we do not have the custom of tying up individual papers. Blocks of papers are delivered tied up to the newagent and are then hand delivered through the letterbox so no tying is necessary.
Do you know what knot is used for the papers?
I have analysed a sample knot from a straw bale and found it to be a simple tucked overhand knot tied using both ends as one. I guess the machine production simply takes both ends, twists to make a loop then forces a loop of the tails into the first loop before cutting. I guess the elasticity of the compressed straw then takes up slack and tightens the final knot. Considering the cheap poly it is tied in, it is a really effective knot as I have never seen one slip, even long after the twine has been removed from the bale.
Do you know if the tucked overhand has an ABOK #
Yes, of course, shoe laces. And not just once but many times a day.
So top of the list is Carols double tucked Reef or Granny, or as Carol has put it Granny on the bight.
Second at the moment is Lindseys (unknown) News paper knot.
Then the third/fourth places with the baler knot - Tucked overhand and the Fishing Netting Sheet Bend.
I wonder where the necktie knot would come in this list?
What do readers think is likely to be the knot most used today?The likely candidate is probably one tied by machine. My bet is the knot used to tie the twine on a bale.
What would your candidate be and why? Can we list the top six hardest working knots in use today?
You might want to narrow your criteria down a bit. For example, what if we decided to count the repetitive knotted structure found in certain clothing?
I bet the sheetbend is the second, after the shoe bow.
the amount on knots involved in any net is big, nets are used all over the world, and not just in fishing, and all sheetbends do count, not just those in nets.
That is if we count the knots as they are, instead of counting the knots being tied. If we sount the knots being tied the sheetbend will still be high in the lists, I think, but maybe not second place.
Willeke
the problem with neckties is that there are almost a hundred different variations with probably 5 or so that are consistently used (and only once a day), thus diffusing it’s ranking. 8) 8)
during the height of it’s craze, the double half hitch (or friendship bracelet knot http://www.geocities.com/hbernb/knots101.html) would have been a good competitor with thousands upon thousands of kids making the same knot thousands of times a day.
similarly macrame’s primary knot, the square knot, is made hundreds if not thousands of times a day by an artisan working on a serious project (hi, Vince! 8).
tatting’s primary knot is the lark’s head, if i’m not mistaken. if a machine-made doily is actually done with a lark’s head then this might also a serious competitor for a top placing.
knitting and to a certain extent crochet is based on the slip stitch (the exact same thing is done with machines to make knit fabric). is the slip stitch a knot? if it is, there’s your winner. i would tend not to think of it as a knot, however.