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Knots for perimeter line?

31K views 30 replies 23 participants last post by  OregonRafter 
#1 ·
Finally got some rope for my perimeter line, what knots do you guys use to tie off at the stern?

Thanks
 
#2 ·
I like to tie open girth hitches at the stern D-Ring, backed up on each side with a double overhand. Get the length right by playing with it a few times, deflating and inflating, until it's tight as a piano string. Some rope and cord will stretch when new. Get it wet before you start.
 
#3 ·
I like to run a continuous running line around d-rings, starting at stern, looping the webbing through each d-ring. As RD says, soak it for an hour or so beforehand and it will stretch. When it dries it will be even tighter. (Assuming we're talking about webbing here).

Also, some here have used cam straps with good success.
 
#4 ·
Haven't had a chance to test it out, but i figured the water knot would work well for webbing run continuous. Its strong and trusted frequently for climbing anchors. Just have to trouble shoot getting it taught. I imagine the figure 8 would work equally well for rope.
 
#6 ·
Curious as to why the perimeter line would need to be "tight as a piano string"? My line is to allow an unfortunate rider, or me, to grab the line and attempt re-entry or at least hold on. I've seen a couple that were so tight you could not get a finger in between line and raft. Don't see the point in that. Please enlighten me.
 
#8 ·
Yo man, maybe not like thattttt tight... (I think they say one or two fingers is too tight, a fist is probably too loose) The idea is that when you load the line/webbing with your full body weight while getting back in the boat, you will have enough firm support from the line to leverage on, rather than pushing the line down to your feet and not really getting too far. I'm all for having perimeter line to stay with the boat, but ultimately I'm haulin my ass back into it too.

-$$$
 
#9 ·
You want it super tight because the boat will soften on the water and saggy chicken lines are an entrapment hazard. You can always grab them and tighter makes it easier to climb back in.

The reason I don't tie a continuous loop is the girth hitch is easy to adjust.
 
#14 ·
I use cheap low stretch rope, and I tied an overhand knot at each D ring. I don't have it super tight or super loose. I use cheap rope because I might have to cut it. I'm not ever going to tie to it for boat extraction, because I could potentially do more harm to the D rings than help things. I row and paddle back and forth all year. When I row, my central D rings face up to tie off the frame, and naturally drape down when I paddle. I have just enough slack to allow for those changes.
A few weeks ago I flipped while paddling with 4 other victims. We were all able to easily grab the perimeter line and get the boat to shore and recover. It was a great day. That is all I plan for my perimeter line, it is a way to grab the raft.
One of the reasons I tie off at the D rings is so if I do cut the line, the tailings won't feed out into the current when I am most likely in a rescue/ recovery situation already.
At the ends, I tied a figure 8. Not really for more reasoning than I think it looks good. I have seen loose/ large diameter ropes get a boat hung up on trees that otherwise wouldn't have caused much of an issue. They were a pain in the ass to retrieve. My rope is 3/8's inch.
 
#19 ·
I took somebody's idea from here, use two buckle ends of two NRS loopstraps, one on each side at one end, and then just go completely around the boat with 1" soft web. If I'm energetic I may throw an overhand knot in each tag-end to make sure the web can't slide out (and thus qualifying as a knot discussion). I've never had a problem with the line being so tight I can't get a hand in. Tightening when saggy involves pulling one or both of the tag-ends thru their cam buckle. I came around to the web reluctantly, but it's so less bulky than rope, lays flat on the tubes, wraps easily around rings, tests in several hundred lbs, and comes in bright colors to attract women.
 
#21 ·
I like 1 inch military style webbing with water knot. I like a touch of slack, just enough to easily grab it, but still tight enough to not not be entrapment issue and to be able to help swimmers self assist with getting back into the raft.

I had worst swim of my life in Insignificant Rapid on the Gauley River in the mid eighties after too tight a line. It was a friends boat from Idaho, he had the webbing real tight for tying down gear loads. I remember they had the boat overinflated at the put in and I even commented on how tight the line was for swimmers to grab. I will never forget grabbing 3 times unsuccessfully at the bright red webbing when we got surfed in the big top hole after I got sucked out the rear of the raft.

The company I worked for would use 2 separate lines for each side with water knots tied to the front and rear d rings, it takes a little trial and error to get them perfect, but they work real nice once in place and never need maintenance. You tie the knots with the boat partly deflated and pre-wet the webbing.

If you using rope, go with in line figure of eight knot, pre wetted and boat deflated some.

Problem with truckers hitch and rope is you lose so much rope strength with the rope being bent 180 degrees thru the D ring and the friction, etc. Plus the "loop" on any kind of adjustable hitch knot could get a hand or ankle caught in it. If you need to unpin your raft some day, you might want the 1" military strength webbing so you could attach your z drag or self equalizing system in a few places so as not to blow out d rings. With a frame, you have better options
 
#22 ·
Ok, so here is my problem. I got the first figure 8 and threaded the rope through, but I can't get the second figure 8 to work when the rope is threaded through the D-rings. Is there a trick to this or am I just f-ing up this basic knot? Here is a pic of the rope I am using. And I was following instructions from this NRS video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaibn46f5FM
 

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#26 ·
Since I'm lacing in a new floor rope, I've been thinking about replacing the perimeter line as well. I was contemplating the 2 Polyester loop straps with a long piece vs tubular webbing with a water knot.

We had an incident practicing flip drill at the Glenwood wave a few years ago. The perimeter line was slightly slack. During a flip, the boat taco'd as it was overturned. A buddy ended up with his head under the perimeter line. His head was stuck between boat and line. The boat was upside down and his head was under the boat. He tried multiple times to pull the line over his head and the helmet visor kept catching the line and he could not figure out how or what was happening. He finally pulled out his knife and cut the line. The rest of the crew was increasingly frustrated as he was there when we flipped and was missing for a good 45 plus seconds when he finally surfaced.

I like a tight perimeter line.
 
#27 ·
I ordered custom polyester webbing loop straps from strapworks.com. Really like the way they lay against the tube and that I can adjust the slack just so. For my 15' boat in ordered 2x20' straps. Added a buckle pad to protect the tubes.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Mountain Buzz mobile app
 
#29 ·
The loop straps are just what you see there. The rest is tubular webbing from the gear shop in town. It is a bit tricky to get the tubular webbing through the cam the first time, but after it's in, you'll never have to do it again.
 
#30 ·
I'm surprised to see no mention of running hitches. It is the best setup I've seen yet. Each dring has a hitch that holds fast, so if you break or have to cut a section you lose only that section between those two drings. All the others stay put and you don't lose the whole perimeter line. It also allows you to take slack out of the line as it ages/stretches. I had to go get a refresher lesson tying the knot at the boat shop today I grabbed a couple of pics but they don't show the finished hitch. I'll post a couple of pics tomorrow when I'm replacing my line.
 
#31 ·
I'm also a big fan of the truckers hitch for a perimeter line. I use a small loop of a figure 8 to pull the rope through and back on itself. The truckers hitch allows you to adjust tension on the rope easily.

I run the rope in a continuous loop through all D rings, but I don't like to tie the line to any D rings. I do this for a couple of reasons. If anyone is entanged in the perimeter line I want to be able to cut it from anywhere to free them and not have to hunt down a section between two knots. Also when rope is tied to the end D ring as the raft is deflated and re inflated it puts more tension on one side of the D ring leading to the D ring enventually failing. Different strokes for different folks.
 
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