Knot Me! Kite Loops & Snarls

If you've seen neon coloured twine at Masters or Gorham's recently, you may be considering incorporating it in your Good Friday kite design this year.

But have you considered the last - and probably most aerodynamically important - step in getting a kite to actually fly properly?  Yep - the LOOP.

A loop is just a knot, right?  I have to confess that tying knots in public strikes me with more than mild anxiety.  You see, beyond a basic overhand or square knot and variations like tying shoelaces or a gift bow, I just produce snarls or, worse, lashings that come undone under light pressure.

Oh, I can fake it.  I've hopped off the boat and casually looped a dock line around a cleat.  You will, however, see hubby discreetly check it thereafter.  Same with fenders - I've learnt that they are expensive to replace when they mysteriously float away.  My mother tied my school uniform knot and secured it with a tiny safety pin for years.  As a teen, I spent too many hours trying to tie silk scarf variations with limited success.  I could never hope to sensually adjust a necktie for an attractive man.

If you think about it, knowing how to tie proper knots is a useful skill even if you are not a sailor, surgeon, or climber.  It tends to come in handy at those times when technology is not front and centre.   Like securing a tarpaulin after a tropical storm, or tying up that envy-worthy stuffed boneless leg of Easter lamb.  Which brings me back to kite loops.

My next post, Kites & Bubbles, will talk about the showy part of kite building.  Selecting a design, picking paper and glue and carefully assembling it all into a masterpiece to be proudly displayed at the Good Friday kite party.

But on that day, you will not want to be fumbling with the knotty loop thing which, like adequate lengths of kite tail, you will have forgotten about after hours of cutting and gluing tissue paper and then protecting it from little fingers and cat claws.

Each Spring, I pull out my copy of BERMUDA KITES How to Make - and Fly Them by Frank Watlington.   It has wonderful diagrams and detailed instructions like this...

Credit:  Bermuda Kites How to Make - and Fly Them by Frank Watlington

"If your loop isn't right, your kite won't fly".

"Tie all knots very tightly".

Mounting loop... Pulling loop...  Tail loop.  Great - how does one make a knot with a loop that stays tied?

Well, it turns out there is an app for that - several, in fact.

After trawling the web and going down the rabbit holes of paracord bracelets and survivalist tools, here are some useful links for anyone who is also knot-challenged.

Animated Knots by Grog.  This site is comprehensive.  Knots for every occasion as well as iOS and Android apps. The  supercilious voice over is clear and hilarious.  This app includes the butcher's knot among other 'household' knots like Windsor and shoelaces.

Knot Guide from Winkpass.  I bought this one thinking that the Animated Knots app was more than I needed or cared to spend.  Not bad - but second choice.

3D Knots.  Pretty good as well - though the presentation makes me suspect it's more about selling apps than knot knowledge.

Of course, none of these apps refers to a kite loop, never mind mounting, pulling or tail loops.   Look up fixed loops - a simple bowline should do for a kite loop knot.  But don't forget to measure the length of the strings on the loops.  Apparently these determine the angle of flight - whether the kite sits "too flat" or on the wind.

If you really want to dive into knots, the ultimate authority is The Ashley Book of Knots by Clifford W. Ashley.  Apparently this was published in 1944 by Doubleday (New York) and (according to Grog) "is a stunning compilation of knots and their uses.  Nothing comparable has been published since and it remains the authoritative source."  Well, except for the websites and apps that are basically  re-skinning Ashley.

If you can tie a secure knot, you'd better learn to untie one.  Most of these sources tell you which might be easier to get apart.  Good to know if you need to pack up in hurry.  Or if, like me, you are not only knot-challenged but your fingers and eyesight are not as deft as they once were.

So happy knotting and looping.  And just in case - in the words of Steven Tyler - Fake it 'til you make it!