I did not have an illustrious Boy Scout career. I think I lasted three weeks, a month tops. The reason? I couldn’t quite fathom why I should learn all those knots that seemed to be the basis of Boy Scouting.
Now I know. Knots are extremely useful, even if you’re not going to be going camping a lot. In fact, they’re extremely useful in ham radio, especially on Field Day.
With that in mind, the ARRL published the article, “The Knots of Ham Radio” in the June 2006 QST. The most useful knots covered in this article are the sheet bend, the bowline, and the clove hitch.
The sheet bend is a good knot to use to connect two ropes of different diameters (the square knot is prone to coming apart). The bowline is a good knot to attach a rope to the end insulator of an antenna, and the clove hitch is useful for tying the other end of that rope to a tree branch.
One knot that the author did not cover, but that I learned from Bruce KD8APB is the taut line hitch. This knot allows you to quickly and easily adjust the tension on a line, which is a good thing when you’re playing around with antennas. You can find out how to tie that knot at the I Will Knot website.
It does take a little practice to master these knots, but not overly long, especially once you recognize the utility of them. I’m sure that learning them will make my ham radio life easier.
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