After I mentioned that I have a knot book in my camp gadget post a couple of days ago, I received a couple of inquiries about the book I like. It is the Klutz Book of Knots.
Sadly this book is now out of print, although you can still get a copy from Amazon. If you can’t find this one, I also recommend Pro-Knot Best Rope Knot Cards for a visual way to learn knots.
This book was recommended a few years ago when I went to Cub Scout BALOO training (which stands for Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation I think). I am not a “knot person”. I can watch someone do a knot and repeat it, but an hour later it is forgotten. If I used these knots every day, I might remember them, but that is just not the case. So when one of the trainers recommended this book, I wrote it down and when I got home, I tried to find a copy. I ended up getting a used one from Amazon for a reasonable price.
This book has really great illustrations and instructions for tying knots. Ropes are shown in red and blue so you can tell which is which when you are working with two, The pages are heavy duty and some are thick – like a child’s board book. The really thick pages are adjacent to the instruction pages. They have holes in them and pictures of the knots, so you can tie the knot right on top of the picture and compare.
This book is great for Scouts also. From time to time I see my kids have it out and are tying knots on the book. Even my older boys still use it occasionally, especially if they are brushing up to teach the younger scouts in the troop something.
The edition I have is an older edition which is no longer available. The link above is for the newest edition. From the description, it sounds almost identical to mine though. Mine has instructions for the bowline, the clove hitch, two half hitches, tautline hitch, the better bow, the bow tie, sheet bend, square knot, fisherman’s knot, grass bend, trucker’s hitch, constrictor knot, ring knot, Prusik knot, timber hitch, Killeg hitch, sheep shank, rolling hitch, coil, package knot, harness loop, short end sheet bend, figure 8 stopper, and the incredible magic loop.
This book only has minimal information about the purpose of each knot. You’ll have to look elsewhere for detailed information about the reasons you would choose one knot over another. But if you are just looking for something you can practice with or even take to a meeting with you to help you remember how to tie the knots, I agree with the trainer who first recommended it to me that this is a great resource.
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