Out of the closet: anybody familiar with rope-aholism ?

This is a sort of coming out for me.

I've always been a bit of a gadget nerd. Knives, tools, flashlights, and lots of other 'handy' things. Nothing new in CPF-terms. But what I also always have with me (since I was 6 or so), are some pieces of rope or cord. This may vary from a piece of 2 yard's lenght of paracord in my pocket, to 10-15 yards of 8 mm nylon rope in my bag. Usually something in-between in my coat pocket.

I use these on a regular basis for tying up luggage on my bike, makeshift repairs, securing my backpack in the train's luggage compartment, pulling a sled, a temporary dog leash, wash line, etc. Especially on holidays I will make it a point to have a lot of these with me. And of course, extensive knowledge of knots comes with it.

My latest fling is a piece of 6 yards of 3 mm thick Dyneema in my coat pocket. This has a strength of over 600 kilograms, and ways almost nothing. It's enormous overkill for tying a sack of cat litter on my bike, but that's what it's all about with flashlights as well. Most times you don't really need the overkill, but it's so nice when you can use it, and 'save the day' (if only in your imagination).

Does anybody else have this?

Kees

Um, not exactly, but I just made myself one of these for just in case moments :duck:Easy way to carry 2 or 3 yards of paracord, and they look cool too. oo:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Paracord-bracelet-with-a-side-release-buckle/

Alright I will bite, where did you purchase teh Dyneema yarn from?

Hmm. You're right, some cord is a good thing to have around. I've found myself needing to carry various things on my motorbike many times, yet for some reason never thought to EDC some. No more! *cuts string of heavy nylon cord, rolls it up, tucks it in pocket*

Good suggestion, having some rope never hurts, The rope you have floats in water BTW, Where do you get dyneema rope at a good price? Most places are about $1 a foot

AlexGT

I bought the Dyneema at a local shop at €1,85 per meter (about $ 2,75?).
So, not cheap by any means, but what the heck.

Kees

http://www.dsm.com/en_US/html/hpf/home_dyneema.htm

Edited: link added

Those clever Dutch !


Very interesting stuff, it appears.


Thank you for bringing this to our attention. :wave:



Hope to see a U.S.A. supplier for this wonderful material, soon.

_

nbp said:

Um, not exactly, but I just made myself one of these for just in case moments :duck:Easy way to carry 2 or 3 yards of paracord, and they look cool too. oo:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Paracord-bracelet-with-a-side-release-buckle/

Click to expand...

Hi nbp,

Nice! A good conversation piece as well. Let me know when you actually find use for it, and how it worked out.

Kees

Yep, always carry a bit of paracord with my EDC stuff.

This is my 2007 EDC, not much has changed but the paracord remains.




Have tinkered with a few knot books too, Ashley's book of nautical knots is a fave.

It all started from that scene in Jaws when Quint demands that Hooper tie a sheep-shank in a bit of rope!


Be knotty....

Not so much now, but I always used to buy a bit of rope down the market. I used it to make rope-swings and zip-lines.

There used to be a really good place to build a rope swing where my dad used to live, but it was made of off-cuts of rope, bailing string, washing line and other not so desirable materials. I always felt the need to put something stronger up. I bought some 160 kg rope, carefully plaited it to make a 480 kg rope and then plaited it back on itself to make the loop at the end. I then completely covered the rope at the end in thick electrical tape to prevent wear and tear. I then took a length of not so strong string and tied that to the none-looped end, threw the loop over the branch and then threaded it through itself. I then tied a static loop into the other end to sit in. It was great! We could run off the edge of the embankment and pull somersaults and all sorts during our 4-5 seconds of air-time. I really miss those days. Oh to be 10 years younger again. But I could afford better rope nowadays.

Nyctophiliac,

Boy, you certainly take having backup seriously (11-light EDC; wow)! Nice collection of small lights.

MS,
Sounds like very good fun. Yes, 10 years ago ...:sigh:
But, we're wiser now, aren't we? .


BTW, the Dyneema is quite slippery. I always make my EDC ropes grippier by the following process.

I pull it a few times through a folded piece of fine sanding paper. Just enough to make it a bit fluffy. Then I pull in through a medium flame of my cooker, constantly rotating it, just quick enough to melt the frays. This gives the rope a very grippy exterior.

Kees

I've always had a thing for rope and rigging. In the 80s I worked an interesting dive job where the divers were salvaging all maner of junk (literally) that had been thrown from an offshore production rig for 35 years. Because we were v e r y s l o w l y working our way all the way around the rig we were constantly tied up in ways that most could never dream a 200' boat could be tied. The wind, tides and seas took quite a toll on the hawsers we used to tie up with -- often wearing through as many as 6 a day. I was working 12 hour watches and many times I spent a full 6 hours a day cutting damage out of the 3½" diameter lines and making shorter and shorter lines out of them -- each with a big eye splice at the end.

I really enjoyed it. It was hard work but very satisfying. It totally mystified most who watched me doing it as even in deck gangs there aren't that many who do it anymore. One of the benefits of that job was that I could work all the straight time I wanted because it was hard to find anyone who could keep up with the splicing.

I was in rope heaven...

Sub Umbra,

Sounds like hard work.

I've never really worked with rope professionally, but I've done a lot of camping and yachting (only small ones, up to 30 foot, both sailing and motoring). What you describe is of another dimension, though. I guess you can splice with your eyes closed now?

Weren't you prone to sea sickness, in high seas, and being tied up like that?

Kees

DoubleDutch said:

...I guess you can splice with your eyes closed now?

Click to expand...

I'm pretty comfortable with the process. Working with big line is tiring and relaxing at the same time. When I had lots of it to do I'd tie the hawser up so I could work on it standing up and the splice would be just a little above elbow height. That saves lots of labor and minimizes bending and straining. That position also makes it easier to throw your weight where you need it effectively. I was lucky enough to occasionally work with real hardcores who had things to teach that weren't in the books...like how to finish off an eye splice that will pull back through the water with less resistance than a normal one will. That is so off the wall -- most sailors would never consider that they could make their daily life a little easier by splicing just a little differently -- let alone figure out a quick, easy way to do it. That's just one example of many. Even in the 70s and 80s there were very few real 'Marlinspike Sailors' around to learn from.

DoubleDutch said:

...Weren't you prone to sea sickness, in high seas, and being tied up like that?

Click to expand...

In years and years I only became seasick twice. 50+ foot seas in the North Atlantic in the winter never made me sick but I once got sick in the very choppy, disturbed seas of the Gulf of Mexico. The big hypnotic rollers of the Gulf of Alaska never made me sick but running against the tradewinds and their resultant 15 footers actually made me regret living for over a week once in the Carribean. Go figure.

I did sail with a few who seemed to be sick all the time. I felt sorry for them.

I keep about a three and a half feet of paracord tied on my wrist, comes in handy in all sorts of situations.

I actually have some Spectra cord too. REI sells it for a little over a dollar a foot. Mine is rated at about 20 kN. It's strong enough to use as climbing rope for emergencies. I have it for bear-bagging for backpacking and for rescues should the need arise. I may take it up Mt. Whitney next month. I attached a couple other pieces of spectra cord to it as a harness, a foot loop, and two prussuck knots to act as ascenders. I got the short pieces at an electric convention as free samples before it became available in stores (it was made for pulling wire). My long cord is 50 feet. I also have some thin reflective spectra cord to use as guy lines with taughtline hitches for my tarp tents. It doesn't sag when wet like nylon and weighs one ounce for 50 feet. I don't collect the rope. I just buy what I need for the situation and use it.

I guess I have a little bit of rope-aholism in a way. In general, I like knot-tying. I've read a lot of books, watched a few dvds, and spent many hours learning how to tie various knots. I'm not sure if this count.

I know knot-aholics...predominantly mariners :thinking:
not much people keeps a cord here and there just because he/she likes it...I keep dental floss on me...but thats really about it

Never so much with rope or Paracord, but I have to secure stuff in the back of my truck pretty darn often.

Ratchet straps for me. And I have one BIG HEAVY truck one that does duty as a tow strap when not holding something on my trailer.

Somewhere (I know not EVEN where!) I have some green paracord.....

I have orange, yellow, gray, black, red, brown, blue paracords all in 100' length. Some at home, some in the office, some in my car. The color ones are used to make key fobs, lanyards and stuff.

For anyone who enjoys learning or wants to learn how to tie knots, the best book is Ashley Book of Knots. It's pretty intimidating to read since it's a BIG book. It is an all time classic. There aren't too many knot-tying dvds out there, the only one I saw was "Why Knot". It's semi-corny, but I learned a few knots from the DVD ... it's also much easier to learn than from googling and reading from books.

I guess I got into knot tying from my outdoor excursions, and I always wanted to go climbing, but have been procrastinating for the last few years since all decent mountains are too far for me.