How to Tie Knots for Sea Cadets & Scouts

A double overhand stopper knot.

Many children learn how to tie knots at a young age after joining a cub scout or sea cadet group. Having the knowledge of how to tie a knot is not only useful in everyday situations, but also for camping, boating, survival training and rock climbing. If you are interested in learning how to tie sea cadet and scout knots, you can learn several simple knots in a few easy-to-follow steps.

Things You'll Need

• Two pieces of rope
• Piece of wood or a peg

Instructions

1. Tie a double overhand stopper knot. To tie a double overhand stopper knot, first hold 1 foot of rope out in front of you with your right hand. Place your thumb on the rope; using your left hand, loosely wrap two loops of rope around your thumb. Then, take the short end of the rope and pass it through the two loops going from the bottom up. Remove your right hand from the rope and pull on the end rope to tighten the knot.

2. Tie a constrictor knot. To tie a constrictor knot, first create a single loop in the middle of your rope. Twist the loop to make a figure-8 shape. Next, fold the figure-8 in half, so the crossing parts of the figure are folded down upon and form two separate loops. Now place both loops onto a peg or other structure, then pull the ends of the rope tight. The loops constrict on the peg and form a knot.

3. Tie a timber hitch. To tie a timber hitch, you need a piece of wood. First, loop your rope around the wood once, then take the end of your rope and pass it under the remaining rope. On the part of the rope that is looped around your piece of wood, wrap the rope three times to form a coil shape, then pull on the end of the rope to tighten it.

4. Tie a double fisherman's knot. To tie a double fisherman's knot, you need two pieces of rope. When learning this knot, use two pieces of rope that are different colors, like red and blue. To start, take one end of each rope and overlap the ends. Take the blue end and wrap it around the red rope two times. Next, pass the end of the blue rope through the two loops you just made around the red rope. Make sure that the end of the blue rope is now facing away from the end of the red rope. Pull the end of the blue rope tight to form a knot around the red rope. Next, wrap the end of the red rope around the blue rope two times. Make sure that the two loops you make with the red rope are located next to the blue knot. Then, pass the end of the red rope through the two red loops. Pull on the end of the red rope to form a knot around the blue rope. Last, pull on both ropes to butt both the red knot and blue knot up against each other.

References

• Animated Knots: Double Fisherman
• Animated Knots: Double Overhead Stopper Knot
• Animated Knots: Constrictor Knot
• Animated Knots: Timber Hitch