Bows and Squares

As someone who doesn't have to regularly deal with rope for any particular reason, there's only two knots to connect things.

Bows, for temporary usage like shoelaces and drawstrings, and square knots, for things which should never come undone. These are actually the same knot, a properly¹ made bow is just an unfinished square knot. If you pull out the loop of a bow it becomes a square knot, which is constructed such that pulling on the ends can only make it tighter.

Which is to say, the only difference is reversibility. Sometimes I cheat and split the difference, but it's always one of the two. This isn't the best way to do things, there's faster, easier to undo, and more secure knots. But I don't tie things enough to bother learning when these two are simple, reliable, and cover every use case.

You can always undo a temporary bow to replace it with something better later, and if a permanent square knot needs to be undone that's a mistake of your judgment, not a fault of the knot.

So learn to tie a proper bow and check for a sturdy square knot, and you're set for life.

- Rew

Nightly Notes

I'm not sure if there's anything else where reversibility is such a clear divider, though it seems like they should exist. If you write on paper at all, you probably want a permanent pen and an erasable pencil. The specifics are superfluous.

Is there anything else?

- Rew