The Book of Climbing Knots [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Peter Owen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
When suspended hundreds or thousands of feet in the air, on the side of a mountain, you won't want to forget how to tie that alpine butterfly knot around your chest, a skill that may keep you from literally cutting your life short.

With this guidebooks, forgetting how to tie essential knots is unlikely. It includes detailed line drawings and precise instructions that will teach you to tie whippings, seizings, splicings, stopper knots, loops, running knots, bends, hitches, and applied decorative knots-using both natural- and artificial-fiber ropes.

Also included are explanations of the various uses of each knot, advice on choosing the correct knot to use in a given situation, and easy-to-use indexes, all of which help to make these guides essential companions on any climb.

From the Back Cover
When suspended hundreds or thousands of feet in the air, on the side of a mountain, you won't want to forget how to tie that alpine butterfly knot around your chest, a skill that may keep you from literally cutting your life short. With The Book of Climbing Knots, forgetting how to tie the essential climbing knots is unlikely. Included in this handy guidebook are detailed line drawings and step-by-step instructions that will teach you to tie stopper knots, bends, loops, shortenings, hitches, and other outdoor knots. Also included are explanations of the various uses of each knot, a glossary of terms, and an index of knot names. (5 1/2 X 8 1/4, 144 pages, diagrams)


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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1st edition (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558219285
• ISBN-13: 978-1558219281
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,656,906 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book is dangerous, October 10, 2000

By A Customer

As climbing on the wrong knot may get you killed, only proper knots should be in a book of climbing knots.

The sheepshank is discussed in the section SHORTENINGS and is suggested as a way to take up a piece of damaged rope. Climbing on a damaged rope that has been taken up by a sheepshank could get one killed as this knot is very likely to untie in the stresses of climbing, fall the length of the taken up rope, put a large stress on the damaged rope that could break it. There are much safer knots for this use.

The section ESSENTIAL OUTDOOR KNOTS is introduced by saying that the section contains knots that "may be used in all situations" (including climbing this reader guesses). This section discusses the reef (or square knot) and the sheet bend. These two knots should never be used in climbing. The author does not provide this caution. They are used to join two ropes. Climbing ropes may be joined by much safer knots, even when the two ropes are of different diameters.

One gets the impression while reading this book that the author may be a very good knot tier, but he does not climb much, if at all. If he has climbed using the sheepshank, reef knot and the sheet bend, then he has been lucky. One has the option of buying several of the other books on climbing knots that are written by experienced climbers. I have over 10 such books and I trust all of them more than this one.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is not dangerous, March 15, 2002

By A Customer

The book carries very clear warnings about knots and climbing. The following warning appears on the title page - "The instructions herein are intended to help you learn to tie knots in a safe environment. DO NOT use any of these knots in the field without the supervision of a climbing instructor."

The section on the sheepshank knot clearly states that it is a knot for "a climbing emergency". Both the reef knot and sheet bend are included in the ESSENTIAL OUTDOOR KNOTS section, a section for general outdoor use and divided off from the climbing knots sections.