How To Tie A Knotless Knot

 Tying a knot when you don't have to is the mark of an amateur. It takes time and it can slip, jam, or otherwise come undone at the most inopportune times. If you're stuck with only one good hand there's no hope for tying anything that requires two hands. As they say "necessity is the mother of invention", and I'm about to show you how to tie a knot that doesn't need any knots.

This is the Knotless Knot, as its name implies it can be formed without using knots fishing. It's simple but strong enough to hold just about anything together from tree limbs to people. It was used during WWII by paratroopers to haul heavy equipment out of airplanes. It's also called the Grief Knot due its history as a way to kill yourself without using your own hands. I've got no idea if people actually used it that way, but it makes for an interesting story.

I first saw this knotty little trick on survivalmonkey.com. It was presented as a survival trick to employ when you only had the shirt on your back, but I think it's good for any situation where you're stuck with nothing but your fingers. Once you see how it works try forming it without looking at the instructions. You'll feel like Macgyver!

I've never met Macgyver, but if he's anything like his fictional persona then this knot should be right up his alley. He sure did get into a lot of sticky situations where a good knot would have been handy. In each episode he always had one or two little tricks that he employed to save the day.

Okay maybe I'm stretching things a bit with the Macgyver reference, but the Knotless Knot is still a pretty cool trick. It's also very practical when you're working with gloves on. I'm not sure where else I'd employ it, but I bet there are some clever uses out there in addition to its more common applications.

I'll leave that up to you… Now here's exactly how to tie the Knotless Knot…