Glossary Harpenden and Wheathampstead Scout District Anchorage Immovable object to which strain bearing rope is attached Bend A joining knot Bight A loop in a rope Flaking Rope laid out in wide folds but no bights touch Frapping Last turns of lashing to tighten all foundation turns Skills for Leadership Guys Ropes supporting vertical structure Halyard Line for raising/ lowering flags, sails, etc. Heel The butt or heavy end of a spar Hitch A knot to tie a rope to an object. Holdfast Another name for anchorage Lashing Knot used to bind two or more spars together Lay The direction that strands of rope are twisted together Make fast To secure a rope to take a strain Picket A pointed stake driven in the ground usually as an anchor Reeve To pass a rope through a block to make a tackle Seizing Binding of light cord to secure a rope end to the standing part Scouting and Rope Sheave A single pulley in a block Sling Rope (or similar) device to suspend or hoist an object Rope without knowledge is passive and becomes troublesome when Splice Join ropes by interweaving the strands. something must be secured. But with even a little knowledge rope Strop A ring of rope. Sometimes a bound coil of thinner rope. comes alive as the enabler of a thousand tasks: structures are Standing part The part of the rope not active in tying a knot. possible; we climb higher; we can build, sail and fish. And our play is suddenly extensive: bridges, towers and aerial runways are all Toggle A wooden pin to hold a rope within a loop. (I.e. sheepshank) possible through the medium of rope. Even a modest facility with Trestle 4 spars in trapezium with 2 spars as diagonal braces. rope makes us handy, useful, safer and enables a lot of fun. Whipping Twine binding the end of a rope to prevent strands unwinding Working end The active part of rope in tying a knot As our ambitions rise, dangers lurk: tension within ropes increase, heights get higher, rafts take us to deep water. If we would be adventurous, we must likewise be skilled. Be reliable in the basics – Parts of a rope teach Scouts well so they may have fun and stay safe. Teach also the disciplines because how Scouts regard rope and the structures they build determines their safety and much else in their education. WORKING END We teach rope-craft because projects are generally on a larger scale than Scouts are used to and so there is need for teamwork, practical CROSSING LOOP problem solving and technical mastery. If we, their leaders, challenge them proportionally to their abilities, and see that they succeed, we BIGHT will have given Scouts far more than the knowledge of a few knots. STANDING RV 12 April 2012 PART Rev. Dec 2015 STANDING Building the Ethos END Skilled scouts have most fun 12 Foreword o teach rope-work needs rope that is a pleasure to work with. String, particularly A Bosun’s Chair sisal, is hopeless because of its character and scale. The common blue 6mm a training project Tpolypropylene rope is low cost, immensely strong but is hard, stiff and retains kinks and so is not good for teaching. Choose rope that is of one light colour (avoid multicoloured rope for teaching) from 6 to 10mm. When bent, it should not tend to A simple and fun project for 2 or 3 Scouts. The build is self explanatory return to its former state but stay bent. Ideal ropes do not retain kinks but avoid soft Round, Turn and ropes that are lifeless. Buy enough of suitable quality so Scouts can engage properly. but it needs organisation and a little Two Half Hitches skill to make it level and at the desired Whip or melt all ends because nicely finished ropes engender higher standards. (or see text) Joining knots height. Have spars and staves of sizes that suit the training ropes. As far as possible, if necessary demonstrate by application. For instance, if teaching the Scaffold Hitch, make a It is possible that the overhead beam Bosun’s Chair and actually swing in it. If our purpose is to train Scouts for independent is, say, a branch that is unreachable. Instead of RT&2HH, take a long rope adventure, then Scouts must learn how to tie knots, which to use and their strengths. Bowline When teaching, practise so you do not fumble, learn how to shape knots into their and tie an Alpine Butterfly Knot at its correct identity and leave knots open enough for their structure to be seen. middle. Throw the rope end over the branch, thread it through the loop and Last point: knots are not only chosen to be secure – they must also be undoable. Even Scaffold Hitch pull until the loop binds on the correct knots will jam if they are overloaded and so rope size is not only about breaking branch. Repeat for a second rope. strain; knots will easily come apart after huge strains when tied in suitable rope. Build the Bosun’s Chair on this with Encourage the Scouts to high standards and have fun. rv 10 Apr 2012. joining knots (Double Sheets Bends or Bowline Bends) as shown. To recover the ropes, simply pull the idle Bowline Overhand Knot Everyone knows this knot but not all side of the ropes. can give it a name. It is worth knowing High branch (Thumb Knot) because it forms part of other common knots. On its own the Alpine Butterfly Knot Thumb Knot is used as a stopper Long knot perhaps to arrest a rope from Scaffold rope running through an eye. Hitch Recover by Load this line Overhand Loop The Overhand Loop is a thumb knot pulling this line tied in a bight at the end of the rope. It is simple but it jams and is bulky. Best for string and when untying it doesn’t Whipping matter. Rope ends Figure of eight knot Figure of Eight Knot is a stopper knot for the end of a rope. Sometimes Rope ends matter for the rope, for safety and for used to tie two ropes together by good standards. Synthetic rope can be melted but it weaving the second rope through all is best to put a temporary tape on first to keep the parts. Secure but permanent. lay tight. Put the end in a flame to let it melt then Figure of eight loop shape it with pieces of wood to a point or dome that The Figure of Eight Loop is flat, in- is the same diameter as the rope. Avoid sharp line and very secure. Often edges that may cut hands. Whipping is easy and Pull to bury both ends permanent after heavy load. quick and often benefits from a rubbing of wax. under turns. Trim excess twine and cut rope end to a neat finish. 2 11 Sheepshanks Joining ropes When tying parcels, the Reef Knot is Sheepshank The Sheepshank is a shortening unique in that it is tied in two stages: knot or a way to overcome a weak the first part gathers tension, the point in a rope. It is rarely seen Reef Knot second part secures it. Shoe laces complete but useful to teach for it depend on the Reef Knot in the form principle. of the Slippery Reef or Bow Knot). Toggled Sheepshank Also good for joining strings and The Toggled Sheepshank increases light stuff but because it may jam the security. Strong wooden pegs are when hauled very tight, the Reef Knot normally used. is not used for joining heavier ropes. Half Sheepshank ! The Granny Knot has so little The Half Sheepshank is a simple Granny Knot internal friction it cannot be trusted for way to put a strain bearing loop in a any duty whatever! It is usually a reef working rope. The harvester’s hitch knot tied wrongly. NEVER TO BE uses a half sheepshank. USED! Harvester’s Hitch Deflected Sheet Bend bight The Sheet Bend is the first knot of Twice as The Harvester’s Hitch choice to tie (or bend) two ropes much Tripods tension is used to gain twice as together. It is stable in all but hard Thick rope Thin rope on the much pull on the rope to slippery ropes. If ropes are unequal A fast and effective (if unequal) (if unequal) load secure a load. Any loop way to make a light thickness, the foundation ‘staple’ will do but the half tripod is to lay the 3 must be the thicker. Under strain, the sheepshank is easy and poles together bight is deflected preventing the knot will fall apart when (heels aligned) from binding. It can be undone by folding the knot back on itself to free dismantled no matter then start with a Double Sheet Bend how much strain is put clove hitch on one the bight. on it. The toggle is not pole and weave always needed. around each pole A Double Sheet Bend simply takes Pull Every Scout should in loose figure-of-eight turns and the end around the knot a second know this hitch! finish with a clove hitch. Take the time to increase friction. Used where centre pole and lift it right over ropes are hard or when strains are Some kind of anchor which will tighten the lashing and Fisherman’s Knot greater. bind all turns to the poles. If the structure is heavy as in the A Fisherman’s Knot is often used to hourglass tower (p6) lay the poles make a sling where the two ends as shown (see inset) and wind must be tied very securely.