To attach a shroud line to the parachute (lpr) I use two half hitches. Fast, simple and it does not come loose.
Frankly it looks a little bit difficult to do at small sizes. I'm just going to need to get some thread and practice and see.I love the taut line hitch.
I understood "doohickey".Adjust the length of sunshade or rainfly guylines WITHOUT one of the little plastic or metal doohickeys, just rope. PFM!
That is very plausible. I generally have good spatial reasoning, but knot proficiency has eluded me, no doubt from lack of effort and practice as much as anything. I would love for it to click at some point.I was talking to some other scout leaders a couple of months ago as we were teaching knot tying. There seems to be something about knot tying that needs to "click" for people -- some tacit knowledge or some fundamental understanding -- once that clicks for you knot tying becomes easy. If it does not then it is always confusing.
Taught-line hitch looks complex but basically just a loop around the fixed structure, two wraps of the working end around the long end inside that loop, and finally one half hitch around the long end outside the loop.
Frankly it looks a little bit difficult to do at small sizes. I'm just going to need to get some thread and practice and see.
I understood "doohickey".
That is very plausible. I generally have good spatial reasoning, but knot proficiency has eluded me, no doubt from lack of effort and practice as much as anything. I would love for it to click at some point.
I always think of those two as looking a bit like an elephant. Even if it has three ears, it should only have one trunk.Yep. My mantra while tying the taut line is Two in and one out.
two half hitches is One in, one out.
I am excellent at tying knows [edit: knots. . . Note to self: when making smarty pants comments, pay attention to autocorrect. . . /edit], but only in certain materials. Orange extension cords and water hoses are one of my preferred materials, as I can tie a bunch of knots without any effort at all!I need to up my knot-tying game, which is right now at level 0 (and even that is generous). I have gotten a whole lot of mileage out of plain old square knots, which can work (for LPR rocketry, at least) in a pretty wide variety of circumstances. Recently, though, I was somewhat dumbfounded when trying to assemble a Newway parachute, and the shroud lines (some type of thread) absolutely would not hold a square knot. So I resorted to my next option, which is... oh wait, I don't actually have a next option.
And so: I need some suggestions as to which basic knots I should know for basic LPR flying, and what's the best way for someone who is knot-clueless to learn them. I don't need to go full merit badge here, but I need some basic competence.
All ideas welcome.
I think if you extend the shrink tube over the knot that would pretty much anchor it in place. For most applications, of course, that is overkill.Another way is to capture the (or each) loose end with its nearest holding line (and perhaps the entire knot) in a piece of shrink tube. Still, a really slippery material, like, like polypropylene, could even slip out of that.
Since the six or eight shroud lines are actually three or four droops, I hold them as if one, pass them through a rigid look (nose cone base or one side of a swivel) and make a lark's head.Collecting all the shroud lines together: figure 8
Single half hitch or figure 8 on a bight. Yeah, I know, but it hasn't made trouble for me yet.Loop in the middle of a shock cord for a chute: alpine butterfly
I like the pass through, because it's east to replace that leader. For the loop around the base of the MMT, I settle (again) for the half hitch on a bight, then both the knot and the loose end go back up inside the rocket to hide my shame.
I think, at least for me, it's deeper than that. There are, all too often, important differences between what I see in my mind's eye and what I see in my face's eyes. I have trouble with knots beyond very simple ones, and I can't draw a kitty any better than the average five year old, and I think there's a common deep reason for both weaknesses.I am not 100% sure what it is but I think maybe it has something to do with understanding how the rope binds to or holds itself in half-hitches and/or knots. I see kids try to tie knots and they do not seem to notice that the ropes are not oriented in a way that it will be stable -- to me it is obvious that they will simply unwind but they are just going through the motions and not really looking at the loops to see how and when they will lock the rope into the knot.
Don't you also put your right hand in and shake it all about?Taught-line hitch looks complex but basically just a loop around the fixed structure, two wraps of the working end around the long end inside that loop, and finally one half hitch around the long end outside the loop.
That used to be my biggest problem too. My solution was to decide that it's not more important. For little LPR parachutes, a quarter inch difference in shroud lengths won't keep it from bringing the rocket to a safe landing. I just had to curb my perfectionism, and it became no big deal to make them match acceptably.but more importantly I need to be able to tie it to the same length for all 6 shroud lines.
That is definitely a keeper for all kinds of endeavors, @jqavins<<snip>>
That's one of many times I've had to relearn that it's easier to be good when you stop trying to be perfect.
When tying the shroud lines to my Angled Invader parachute, I had a devil of a time controlling exactly where the knot ended up and how much extra would be left over (at least, with the non-slip mono knot on that particular thread). Fortunately I found that it tended to average out about the same, and everything ended up pretty even. Even enough, at least.That used to be my biggest problem too. My solution was to decide that it's not more important. For little LPR parachutes, a quarter inch difference in shroud lengths won't keep it from bringing the rocket to a safe landing. I just had to curb my perfectionism, and it became no big deal to make them match acceptably.
That's one of many times I've had to relearn that it's easier to be good when you stop trying to be perfect.
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