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The Monkey Fist is
used as an end knot for a heaving line. A heaving line is a line
used for throwing from one location to another. This enables a
larger line that could not be thrown over the distance to be
pulled over. The most common use of a heaving line is at sea, to
pull a cable to shore from a ship. A cable is not easily thrown
over a distance of 10m [ft] or more, so instead one throws a
heaving line. The line is tied to the cable and when it has been
received the cable can then be pulled over. To make it easier to
throw one needs to connect a weight on the end of the line -
usually a stone, lead-ball or a small bag of sand is connected
to the end. Better still a small rope ball is tied on the end.
It is neat, it will endure many tosses last long and it is
easily thrown. That is what the monkey fist was originally used
for. Now it is also used as fancy knot for key-rings, necklaces
and so on. The knot can be done with or without a central core
(i.e. a round stone or ball bearing) to add extra weight but it
is recommended to use extra loops depending on the size of the
object. |
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lashing