I have had much fun with it over the years and NEVER had any escape.
Once as a student, I used the pull cord from a window shade. The subject panicked and pulled the shade down!
Starting with palms and elbows together, they can only chew through the rope.
Wrists crossed behind the back; there is NO ESCAPE!
Just use Alexander the Great’s method for solving Gordian knots!
Very cool science! Thanks for posting.
What was the knot?
Are you referring to the bowline? Any Boatswain’s Mate knows how good a knot it is.
You can’t come out of a good square knot. That is all you need to know.
MIT mathematicians and engineers have developed a mathematical model that predicts how stable a knot is, based on several key properties, including the number of crossings involved and the direction in which the rope segments twist as the knot is pulled tight.
Sailors and boy scouts didn’t need equations to tell them what they knew.
Beat me to it. Patel should have been tied up and tossed in a trunk. That’s the best way to do his testing.
All well and good in the ivory tower kingdom...except that everyone who's handle ropes, cords or lines knows that material type and mechanics play very important roles in practical usage. As an example, a simple slip knot tied with a hemp rope will retain it's shape and function whereas a polypropylene, stiff and slick, will not, due to difference in amount of friction. Soak the hemp rope, tighten the slip knot and it becomes more difficult to move, plus or minus depending on need.
MIT held off on publishing this discovery until after Odumbo was out of orifice.
Here’s the gCaptain link to his writeup of the article:
https://gcaptain.com/mit-knot-study-science/
It is interesting that someone figured out how to apply mathematics to knots. That is spectacular.
Tying a small knot on this thread so I can find my way back to it...
Japanese knots flummox me and I don't know how to tie a single one of them. They do look like a form of torture to me and I'll bet they have been used just for that purpose countless times.
One of the best knot references I own is The Encyclopedia of Knots and Fancy Rope Work by Hensel and Graumont. It predates Ashley by 10 years, but has become very scarce. You can buy it now, but when I bought mine I was on a waiting list for two or three years before it became available. It probably isn't as popular as Ashley because it's not a friendly howto book and there aren't always tying instructions accompanying the knots they cover, just pictures that are detailed enough you can figure out how to tie something yourself, without much handholding.
It has THE BEST handcuff knot I've ever seen. Once I figured out a way to tie it, I couldn't believe how secure it was, due perhaps in part to its many crossings, at least a dozen or so of them, yet is relatively quick and easy to tie. It's not covered by Ashley, or any other book I've ever seen. The authors point out that it was used on old time ships to bind prisoners. You can bet your boots that many a man went to the gallows bound by it.
I've given up trying to find it in other books, or even a mention, picture or drawing of it online. If ever the SHTF, we're going to need it! I've been thinking of taking a pic and posting it here myself. It'll put the "handcuff" crap you see in most books, including Ashley, to shame. Not counting your Japanese knot, of course. I would HATE to be tied up with THAT thing!