Pocket Guide to Knots & Splices [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Des Pawson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2001

A complete step-by-step guide to making any and every knot there is, and then some. From the Monkey Fist to the Sink Stopper, these detailed descriptions will get you caught in a tangle in no time.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 257 pages
• Publisher: Book Sales; illustrated edition edition (November 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785814469
• ISBN-13: 978-0785814467
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,087,568 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #83 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Outdoor Recreation > Sailing > Instructional

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for beginning knotters!, April 14, 2002

By 

Jack D. Treloar (Springfield, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pocket Guide to Knots & Splices (Hardcover)

I checked out his first book from the local library, and I was impressed with the photos and detail. So, I figured that this second book would be just as good. It is more than good... it is great! The photos are very colorful, the details are easy to follow, and the book has more content. Plus, the physical size of the book makes it stay open while you have your hands busy with a rope. Now, I leave it on the coffee table with a hank of rope to help entertain guests. Thank you Des Pawson. Your book has brought me a new hobby!

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good and bad, February 22, 2003

By 

Alan Winston "blockplay.blogspot.com" (Seattle) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pocket Guide to Knots & Splices (Hardcover)

Some fine information from a very knowledgeable and interesting knot expert. Beautifully illustrated and laid out, but the step-by-step illustrations require magnification to be of any utility. I find it difficult to hold a magnifying glass and tie a knot at the same time. Even then, some of those illustrations are with such dark rope that they are still a puzzle. For "bowline on a bight," the illustrations don't follow the text. I lost interest in pursuing that exercise, so I'm not sure how unusual that error is.

The lack of an index is the biggest killer. Isn't an index an absolute must in a book such as this? That deficit is compounded by the hiding of the table of contents, and compounded again by the only actual listing of knots being hidden in, and divided among, the chapter headings. My guess is that to get the book to fit in 256 pages (16 sixteens) the publisher simply dropped the index and stuffed the table of contents into the reverse of the title. Extremely poor choices of where to cut. Either lazy or placing style over utility.

Consider this a "miniature coffee table book," and buy or pass on that basis. Get the "Handbook of Knots" by the same author, or any of several other good knot books, for an actual guide to knots.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Knot for beginners, February 19, 2003

By 

chatchi (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pocket Guide to Knots & Splices (Hardcover)

If you thought you learned everything there is to know about knots while you were in the Boy Scouts -- think again!

Before I bought this book, the only knots I knew about where the ones I tied my shoelaces with. And even those knots weren't as effective as I'd hoped.

"The Pocket Guide to Knots and Splices" is the ideal resource for the rope-smith on the go. With a number of knots to choose from, the only difficult part of this book is deciding which knot to try first. I found that the "Sink Stopper" knot does a good job of doing just what it says. However, my attempts to find a productive use for the "Monkey Fist" have produced only disastrous (and painful) results.

Don't be intimidated - grab your substantial length of rope and start tying! Because there's an exciting world of knots waiting for you!