Basic Knots for Historical Camping – Workshop Notes
The Workshop
There are many workshops on knots available to re-enactors at events, but I often find they explore many types of fascinating knots without people really learning anything they can remember and apply later.
So, when I came to formulate an hour of knot instruction, I pared it down to just 5 very simple knots, based on how much I wish members of our own camp knew them. This fits neatly on a double sided handout to take away for later reference.
The Handout
The Knots
links to instructions on Grog’s Animated Knots site
- Round Turn and Two Half-Hitches
- Rolling Hitch
- Reef Knot
- Slipped Reef Knot
- Sheet Bend
And Then?
For a longer class, or as a follow-up class, I’d look at splicing (back splice and eye splice)
For further exploration, I can highly recommend ‘Handy Knots for Reenactors’ by Alasdair Muckart/William de Wyke, which I will link when it is available online. In the meantime, I encourage you to bother him for a copy (william@wherearetheelves.net) until he publishes the handout or asks me to desist.
Another great online reference is Grog’s Animated Knots, where you can learn a great many knots with clear animated examples.
