Posted by surprisetalk 7 hours ago
The advantage of the continuous loop is that it can’t end up inside the waistband during laundry.
He published an addendum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbTYCHPLWLI
Recently, due to Scouts, learned more and I can't believe how often I use them.
"Dryer's busted! My DIY laundry line sags! What to do?!"
"If only I could make a loop that won't move in the middle of this rope!"
The way that loading it crosswise causes it to shift into a double half hitch, turning from a "hold fast" knot to a slipknot... That's funky behavior and should disqualify it from being among the first few knots people learn. If you're using it for its advertised purpose, it's downright dangerous, and the square/granny confusion is just needless pain to discourage a newbie.
If you wanna tie two ropes together and have a less finicky experience, use a fisherman's knot. Which is basically a pair of overhands, each around the other rope.
It's a much more reliable knot for trying two ropes together, lacks the annoying gotchas of the square knot, and for a long list of reasons I won't bore you with here it is a better foundation for learning other knots. (It's no good for drawstrings though, too reliable, no quick release).
Reefing a sail or tying a parcel, a reef knot the role will fulfill. But joining two ends one should only use bends, And a reef knot's a sure way to kill.
⸻Stuart Grainger, ex-Master Mariner, 1985. Referenced from "The Complete Book of Knots" by Geoffrey Budworth.
Same thing with solving a rubics cube. I spent 3 months getting pretty good at it, like I could consistently solve them in under 15 secs. That was two years ago. I picked up a cube two months ago and tried to solve it and couldn’t remember even the first step. I had an app I used to set up, solve and track the cube and I logged 10,000+ solves and I can’t remember how to do it less than 2 years later. Sigh.
The flag rope for our 12 meter flagpole broke. I seriously debated getting a drone to replace it in situ. Then I realized hauling just a few hundred grams of rope needs a fairly serious drone.