Here I think I'll just rattle off remarks as they occur
--and before another time-out!
1) Your strength for
SmitHunter's bend (aka
"Rigger's") quite
surprises me, as various other testings have shown in to be
not-so. IMO,
"RiggersX" shows a better graduated curve for
the SPart, and so should be expected to be the stronger of
these two --and pretty good beyond. But you got what you
got, in that particular cord; be nice to understand why!
2) I simply do not accord the non-offset knots with
meaningful "flat"ness --they all have parts that will
abut and snag and hang-up on edges, rough surfaces.
(
Thrun's bend --aka
"zeppelin"-- can be oriented so
that it has a better vs. worse approach; but needing
to understand/set/retain such orientation is beyond
reasonable for practical use!)
3) My idea of key desiderata / criteria for an abseil-ropes joint
(ARJ) is :
a. security with mixed-dia/-nature ropes
b. easy *flow* over edges & rough surfaces
c. easy to tie
d. easy enuff to untie
...
4) Perhaps the most remarkable one
--which you I think allude to but Search isn't landing it--
is the (to coin a name)
"EDK-backed EDK"."remarkable" IMO as quite simple and I think that it can
survive quite a variety of bad tying,
and so might become the go-to-2BSure knot say in bad
conditions --think high-altitude fatigued white-out and
mitten'd hands! It is nice in that the 2nd of the 2
overhandscan be put in on either side --behind ("backed") or before (!)
the initial knot (should one tie that in haste and then think
"dang, tails are too short for making another...") !
No, it's not elegant --esp. if sloppily tied--, but one isn't
entering an arts contest.
SOME tester (I forget who) managed to get it to "roll";
I'd sure like to see this occurring --and it surely did not occur
at abseil forces.
5) My
"offset 9-Oh" shows a point worth taking : it's not
a so-simple matter to just apply offset loading to a knot;
having so loaded, there is likely a twin strand in this knot
that needn't --maybe SHOULDn't-- be so entangled, but
can be spared that, as it will be the partner twin that effects
the "choke" on the two SParts at their entry.
Thus, my naming "9" & then "Oh" (for "overhand") signals
the primary/choking strand to have a Fig.9 knotting, and
--not needing this, and not contributing it to possible lessening
of the other's work(!)--this *inner*-path strand makes just
an overhand.
(Another example would be taking the
offset grapevineinto a (er)
"offset strangle-Oh" joint --point being that
the strangle in the choking strand gets the extra surrounding
at the SParts-entry point, and all that's needed in the other
strand is stopper effect against this first knot (in the pull-together
structure).)
Your "Pivotal bend" is a case for this :: put in a full
("round") turn for the choking strand (and cross those
tails* for less hard bending => easier setting), and you
get the wanted security-stability of the offset knot.
*Oh, I see, done for
"PiX".
I once dismissed the
"End-Bound Offset (Water) knot"as weakening the point of extra wraps --which are better
made all-at-once in the choking strand, not spaced apart
by having a twin part running alongside--, but later came
to see its good effect coming not from that so much as
from simply securing the choking strand's tail against pulling out
--which can also be done by tying IT off with an overhand stopper
(esp. easy of a thinner rope around a thicker).
6) Oh, your
DoB-3/4 photos could be changed (ONE
of them, i.e.) so that the same color rope is doing the
choking --this will also highlight my point about the
gratuitous knotting of the interior strand, the exterior
one handling the choke with the extra turn and the
interior not needing it. (Ockham's Razor)
7) Among my initial explorations for improved ARJoints,
I had some lovely, beehive-looking structures; but these
were not simple to tie, not so easily loosened, and not
really what one wants --they were symmetric!
Hmmm, I think it might be your
"Helix3" --lovely looking
surface-bottom, yes! But not so great in mixed ropes,
et cetera.
Similarly for the
Longhorn, another idea we share!
8 ) Dressing & setting :: most importantly, IMO for most
of the knots, is
setting qua stopper knot --not ends joint!
You nicely show the offset fig.8 in 3 orientations;
but the 88t ought not to roll is one has set it as
I recommend : pull tails to tighten the choke;
THEN set knot qua stopper, hauling on SParts
to bend down the nipped tails.
IMO, the problem comes w/o the above method
as setting in pulling SParts apart will occur as there
is untight knot to yield material into the should-be
choking part as SParts pull it open.
9) THE ASPECT OF ORIENTATION OF KNOT TO
AXIS OF TENSION. (cf. Mark Gommers's work
on "Analysis of Offset Joining Knots" at the PACI
site, and (currently) p.20 of 33 shows what I mean
by this. It's like "dialing" : have the offset knot
rising up upon a desk before you and just reach
out and wrap a hand around the knot and one can
sort of "dial" it through a range of about 180 degrees.
The SParts thus can go from making (in the OWK)
a forward arc to a backward loop, with the mid-range
orientation maybe the most vulnerable to flyping
--current conjecture w/o much testing.
His site ref.:
www.paci.com.au/knots.php (at #5 in the table, Analysis_Offset-Joining-Knots)
...
<whew, head spinning, maybe with some
confusions above, sorry>
Thanks again,
--dl*
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