To anyone who goes into the woods, plays/works on a boat, plays/works in high places, plays in caves or any other activity that may require rescuing or the general use of ropes, this is 1 skill you really need to know: learn to tie a bowline!
The bowline is the quintessential survival knot. It's a loop knot that will never slip. I know a bunch of climbers are going to read this and say "why not just learn the figure 8?"
Don't get me wrong, the figure 8 is a really strong knot... but let me pose a situation for you: you're on a long hike. You slip and fall into a ravine. You slide about 30 feet and manage to catch yourself. You have 1 free hand, the other is keeping you from falling to certain death. Someone lowers you a rope. What do you tie around you and how do you tie it? Unless you have ninja skills, you will not be able to tie a figure 8 with 1 hand. You can, however, tie a 1-handed bowline.
With a little practice, you can tie this thing pretty quickly too. In a survival situation, speed can mean the difference between life and death. With a little practice, you can tie 1 of these things 1-handed faster than any experienced climber can tie a figure 8 using both hands.
Here's how:
Video courtesy of YouTube. I thought about making my own but my camera has been acting a little funny lately.
