This book is a simple, step-by-step guide to tying functional knots. If you have never had to tie anything more complicated than a shoelace - or anything at all - you might find the process daunting at first, but don't worry! To become great at knot-tying, all you have to do is get comfortable with a few fundamental ideas. This book will teach you about ropes and rope safety, what the common mistakes are, how to solve them, and the fundamental knots that everyone should know. Practice the tips in the early chapters until they're second nature. Once you have mastered these basic ideas, you will find that memorizing knots and increasing your repertoire is very fun. This book is full of knots for every sort of practical situation.
Knots can change the shape and function of a rope by holding it in place or forming a loop, but they also bind things together, decorate things as an adornment, or serve as a signal to convey information. Knots are one of the oldest technologies the human race has to take control over the world around us. Knowing basic knots will make it easier to solve problems, help keep you safe in potentially dangerous situations, and make it much faster and easier to manage your surroundings.
Making knots is an art form. Practicing knots is a way of connecting yourself to human history in a very tactile and beautiful way. Artifacts dating back 300,000 years show evidence of the use of knots! A knot was famously used to seal the door of King Tut's tomb. The Incan empire used knotted strings, called Quipu, for centuries before written records were introduced. Decorative knot-work in China has been practiced for thousands of years in too many contexts to list here. Think about that: for hundreds of thousands of years, in more cultures than we will ever be able to document or remember, people have been making twine and using it in uncounted ways.
The art of knot-tying experienced an explosion of ingenuity beginning in the 16th century with the Age of Sail, where properly rigging ropes was fundamental to the success of a ship's journey. By the end of the 19th century, however, steam was beginning to supplant wind power in ships, and the need for such vast lengths of rope died out. Today, we still love to learn these knots for their practical value and the fun of making them, but it's easy to forget how fundamental they once were.
When you learn knotwork, you can keep this very ancient tradition alive. For thousands and thousands of years, tying knots has been a foundational skill of ropework. - and therefore civilization.
