Knots and Splices

Fernhurst 1998;64pp; £3.95;

£3.95 seems a small price to pay for reducing my shame at the visible splices on my shore-lines, never having really got the hang of splicing round a hard eye effectively. The step-by step diagrams in this simple book have helped enormously. It covers twenty five hitches, bends and knots as well as the basic whippings and splices for three-strand, braid-on-braid and braid-on-three strand rope. All are explained clearly and each is accompanied by straightforward drawings which are a great help. At the same time there are brief notes on the use of each knot and warnings of any downside in use. The whole is introduced with a few pages of definitions, how rope is made and the benefits of each type.

Though there are many books which give this subject attention as well as one or two which specialise, this has great merits of clarity and simplicity. -MJD