Preventec47 and Sweeney,
I believe that you are both right - here is a paste from reply No. 3 to this post -
[i]
Tying up bean poles in the garden – cable ties? Gaffa tape? or a simple constrictor in hairy garden string?
Tying on a load – Bungee cord? ratchet straps? (and yes, I have seen a load strapped on with Gaffa) or an Alpine loop and Z hitch?
Stabilising a Gazebo – Bungee straps? or Sliding Grip Hitch in 3mm braided polyester?
Fixing to a pole and don’t want it to slip – cable ties and Gaffa? or a KC Hitch using old bailer twine?
Temporary closure – Magnetic catch? or a Chinese button tied in elastic cord?[/i]
Preventec47, I would make a guess that you do not know what a constrictor is, how to tie one or what it is particularly good at – I would also hazard a guess that once I showed you how easy it is to tie over your thumb, how easy it is to remember and how astonishingly good it is at doing what it is best at - staying tight - that two things would happen. First, you would wonder why no one told you about this knot before and why you have had to waste so much of your life tying multiple overhand knots that never quite tie tight enough and ALWAYS seem to loosen when asked to do some real work. Second, you would think - if the constrictor is so simple to tie and remember and so amazing at its job - what other knots are there that are brilliant at others jobs that might also be quite easy to tie and to remember???
Then Preventec47 you will have a choice - Take your newly acquired constrictor knot back to the land of the sane people and their reef knots and overhand knots, - or you can do as so many who come here have done, think that you can perhaps learn just one or two more useful ones and then stop there - which one should you choose? The sliding grip hitch sound useful, but then the KC hitch sounds good as well, just the thing to fix that lantern onto a vertical scaffold pole –
BUT BEWARE
One minute you are a sane user of overhand knots, and then suddenly your friends are giving you funny glazed looks as you explain to them why they need to learn a few more knots and why your Biro has a Turks head finger grip on it and you keys jangle on a fob and your pocket knife has its lanyard and - oh yes - there is now ALWAYS a handy piece of fiddling string in every pocket of your trousers – then my friend, you will know what it is like to be a knotting nutter.
Is there a sane middle ground? Somehow I doubt it, but equally I am sure that I would rather know how to easily and safely use cord and rope than not know, so I am stuck with the challenge of picking my opportunities to help out a friend with a quick Constrictor or perhaps even the impressive Boa - watch them struggle with the realisation that that was both easy and unbelievably effective, then wait for the moment to bewitch them with the incredible KC hitch.
My mission is simple - I do not want to make people into knotting anoraks I just want to show them that a few very simple knots work incredibly well and can make their lives so much easier.
Oh, and Preventec, do not give up on that slipped overhand knot - it is really easy to make it into one of the easiest and nicest knots to untie while making it a little bit stronger at the same time – interested in finding out how???
Derek