This has been suggested in a thread, but never really addressed.
What would be the most useful knots for backpackers?
I would think this question has several parts.
First, activities or situations would a backpacker need to use rope and knots for?
What would be the knots best suited for the job?
What would be the ideal rope or ropes?
What would be the best way to carry the rope?
What would be the major differences between backpacking and camping? I’m thinking the general definition of both, differences in needs situations, knots, rope, etc.
I think backpacking is different enough that it needs its own category in as for as knot groups or functions (i.e. camping boating fishing climbing etc.)
Backpacking where?
Location or terrain will make a big difference to choices.
Backpacking using hostels and trains I needed no knots beyond one to fix things to my pack when I had to much to carry and one to put up a line to dry my clothes on laundry day.
Backpacking has many meanings nowadays.
Willeke
Then I think that it’s up to you, posing the question and asserting the differentness of
“backpacking” to tell us what it is all about, what sets it apart; then we have something
to work with.
In American usage backpacking involves carrying your tent, sleeping bag, food, cooking gear etc, spending one or more nights away from your vehicle. The primary use of rope in this context is to support the tent or other shelter. If the tent is self supporting you may not need to deal with rope at all, though most benefit from some extra bracing when the wind picks up. Others use a lightweight tarp, which usually requires some ingenuity with rigging lines.
Typical tent/tarp line is about 1/8", several hundred pounds working strength. I think the most useful knot is a fixed loop for attaching the line to a grommet or webbing loop on the tarp. The bowline is fine for most tent lines and situations. I find the Eskimo (Boas) bowline to be an interesting alternative. I also like the extra security of one of the loop knots that uses overhand knots, for example, a follow-through version of shake hands.
For the other end of the line, I usually use an adjustable loop, such as the Budworth/Chisnal one of that name. Sometimes it is convenient to make a trucker’s hitch to get more tension. I’ve also experimented with the bowstring knot as a simpler adjustable loop, or the lighterman’s hitch as a way of tying on the tent peg.
There’s a Canadian company that makes a backpacking hammock, with integral bug netting. They recommend a form of the lighterman’s hitch to tie the hammock to a tree. Actually, you put a webbing loop around the tree, and the hitch passes through the ends of the webbing.
Another use of rope is to hang food out of reach of bears. Though where the bears are savy, backpackers have to carry bear proof food storage cans.
One could use line to lash gear in place, but most backpackers now use webbing with plastic buckles and fastenings.
River crossings and rock or ice scrambles can be made safer with the use of rope. But this borders on rock climbing techniques.
paulj
Hennessy hammock setup instructions
For what it is worth…
I think I could survive backpacking/camping with just one knot - The Figure of Eight. I would carry one 30ft hank of para cord and a spool of whipping twine.
Why the Figure of Eight - well, it can be a:
Stopper Knot (its usual purpose)
A fixed loop (Fig 8 Bowline)
A Noose (Packer’s Knot)
A Bend (Eiither the Fisherman’s Eight or Threaded method)
A Hitch (long end round the object and back thread through the 8)
And yes I have done a survival course
Gordon