Here is my list of nine basic favorites:
- Overhand Knot (used mainly to tie bread and produce bags closed--a very important activity)
- Reef-Knot Bow (used only to tie shoes and sweat pants)
- Figure-Eight Stopper
- Bowstring Loop (a.k.a. Honda Knot)
- The Fixed-Gripper Knot ([formerly called the Derived Hitch] using multiple constructs)
- Cow Hitch (using three varieties, but only in the contexts of loops and circular lines)
- Bowline (using three varieties)
- Butterfly Loop
- Double Harness Bend with Parallel Ends (ABOK #1421)
However, I will also allow any knot that is a subset or minor variation of a knot in this personal library, or a construct that utilizes these knots, such as Two Half Hitches, Round Turn and Two Half Hitches, Trucker's Hitch, Figure-Eight Loop, Double Figure-Eight Loop, Double Butterfly Loop, Chain Sinnet, etc.
See
http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=1839.msg12439#msg12439for an explanation of the Fixed-Gripper Knot.
Discussion of the Double Harness Bend with Parallel Ends (ABOK #1421)
This bend is strong, secure, efficient (i.e., uses little cord), symmetrical, easy to untie (though, apparently, Ashley was unaware of how to untie it easily), has tails coming out of the same side, can be made stopper-flush, is quick and easy to make, and is attractive and conveniently sized. In the tests I've conducted, using waxed dental floss, it did not slip after repeating more than 100 hard tugs, while four of the popular bends did. It is untied easily by placing a thumb (or a thumbnail, if the cord is thin) in the middle of the knot's SIDE and using the thumb as a pivot over which the knot can be bent. Bending the knot in this way quickly and easily loosens it for untying. If the tails of #1421 are reverse twisted, the knot's top will take on a slightly different appearance, and the knot will be as secure as the popular bends tested; make the knot as in the diagram, however, and the knot will be MORE secure than the popular bends tested (which were Hunter's Bend, Butterfly Bend, Ashley Bend, and Zeppelin Bend).
When making this bend, I think, "With the right line running above the left line; right goes over, under, under, and in between; left goes over, under, under, and in between." When the knot has been made and tightened correctly, the top of it shows a type of letter-Z shape.
JCS