What Are the Best Books on Knots?

[CraigHardy]

A while back, I became fascinated with tying knots. I went camping in the woods twice and during those times, there were a few knots I needed. I think one of them was to hang a clothesline and the other was to hang a tarp over my tent. I forget what I used for both of them, but they weren't correct. I know that. Looking back, I think I should have used a Blake's Hitch to secure and then adjust the lengths of those ropes (paracord for the tarp). That knot would have been perfect as I've used it on many other occasions. I use it in tree climbing a lot. That's where I learned it.

Anyway, I'd like to buy a book on knots. I don't need a huge one that will teach me every knot under the sun, I just need about 20 good knots that are useful for the outdoors and every day life. Any ideas?

I used to own The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Knots and Ropework by Geoffrey Budworth, but I have no idea where that went. It was too big anyway. Lots of useless knots in that one. Great explanations and photos though. I've also read that The Ashley Book of Knots by Clifford W. Ashley is the one to own. Have you seen that though? Talk about overkill. I'd be swimming in useless knots if I owned that. Also, if memory serves, I don't think there were good photos in that. Just illustrations.

What would you suggest if you were going to go out and buy a book on knots today?

 

[CampFireJack]

Now you're speaking my language. The first knot book I ever owned was the best one, in my opinion. It was simple and to the point. It didn't inundate and overwhelm the reader with an entire collection of esoteric knots that no one will ever use. Just handy practicality.

The book was called The Klutz Book of Knots and it's available on Amazon right now. The pictures are easy to read and the book even comes with two pieces of rope that you can practice with. So very cool. I'll remember that book forever. It seems like books were so much more fun back then.

Basically, instead of giving the reader a knot for each and every scenario they may come across (many knots), they give a knot that will handle a bunch of things well. So they're easier to remember that way because there are fewer of them. The knots they gave were for very common uses, which was great. For the person (like you) who only wants to learn a few really great and useful knots, this may be the best book.

I actually just looked this book up on Amazon for prices and the paperback is pretty cheap. Brand new, they want $7.06 and used you can get it for $3.08, plus shipping, I'm sure. That's for the paperback though, so there's not much special about that. The spiral version is the fun one with the ropes. That goes for $33.27 though, so that's pretty expensive. Much more than I paid when I was a kid. I think I got mine at a book fair or something and I can guarantee you that I didn't pay $33.

You can check out the book here: https://amzn.to/3mmG7S1

The reviews are great. Everyone loves the book. It gets 4.4 stars from 51 ratings, so that's gotta say something. Good luck.

PS - And yes, that bible put out by Ashley is overkill, big time.

 

[CraigHardy]

Now you're speaking my language. The first knot book I ever owned was the best one, in my opinion. It was simple and to the point. It didn't inundate and overwhelm the reader with an entire collection of esoteric knots that no one will ever use. Just handy practicality.

The book was called The Klutz Book of Knots and it's available on Amazon right now. The pictures are easy to read and the book even comes with two pieces of rope that you can practice with. So very cool. I'll remember that book forever. It seems like books were so much more fun back then.

Basically, instead of giving the reader a knot for each and every scenario they may come across (many knots), they give a knot that will handle a bunch of things well. So they're easier to remember that way because there are fewer of them. The knots they gave were for very common uses, which was great. For the person (like you) who only wants to learn a few really great and useful knots, this may be the best book.

I actually just looked this book up on Amazon for prices and the paperback is pretty cheap. Brand new, they want $7.06 and used you can get it for $3.08, plus shipping, I'm sure. That's for the paperback though, so there's not much special about that. The spiral version is the fun one with the ropes. That goes for $33.27 though, so that's pretty expensive. Much more than I paid when I was a kid. I think I got mine at a book fair or something and I can guarantee you that I didn't pay $33.

You can check out the book here: https://amzn.to/3mmG7S1

The reviews are great. Everyone loves the book. It gets 4.4 stars from 51 ratings, so that's gotta say something. Good luck.

PS - And yes, that bible put out by Ashley is overkill, big time.

Thank you for the recommendation. I swear that was the book my father told me about. I just got off the phone with him and he was talking about something that came with ropes. It's got to be a popular book.

I think what I'm going to do is look for a book that shows popular tree climbing knots for arborists. Those are the ones I'm very interested in and I think many of them can translate over to other situations. I found a book called Knots at Work that was put out by Jeff Jepson that might do me well, but I can't seem to see inside of it. The "Look Inside" doesn't work for this book. You can see the book here: https://amzn.to/2KwCADb.

The book says it's got over 50 arborist knots, so that would be awesome if they were all the popular ones. I also wonder if arborist knots are the same ones that rock climbers use. That would be good too. There can only be so many knots out there. I'll let you know what I decide.