How to Tie a Knot Around a Rock to Throw the Rope

One easy way to get the end of a rope across a high branch, or across a chasm, is to attach one end of the rope to something heavy that can be thrown, like a rock. Tying a rope to a round rock or a rock without many edges, however, is a bit of a brain teaser. It seems like it should be easy, but in practice is actually quite difficult. But by employing a monkey fist knot you can easily secure a round rock to the end of a rope.

Instructions

    • 1

      Place the rock on a flat surface. Give yourself about two feet of rope to work with, assuming your rock is about the size of a baseball. Your rope should be long enough, minus the two feet you are using for the monkey fist knot, to throw the rope wherever it is you plan to throw it. So ,for example, if you are throwing the rock over a tree branch, there should be enough rope to reach from the ground, to the branch and back to the ground, plus two additional feet for the knot.

    • 2

      Wrap the rope around the rock three times, so that the rope is laying flat on the surface of whatever you have placed the rock on. Keep these loops slightly loose, and not tight to the surface of the rock.

    • 3

      Pass the active end of the rope over the top of the rock and under the loops of rope on the other side.

    • 4

      Wrap the rock three more times, this time wrapping the top and bottom of the rock, as well as the first three loops, but wrapping perpendicular to the first set of three loops.

    • 5

      Pass the active end of the rope through the middle again, underneath the last set of three wraps and above the rock.

    • 6

      Wrap the rock three more times with the rope, this time wrapping perpendicular to the second set of three loops, going inside the first set of three loops. The rock should now be wrapped on the X, Y, and Z axes.

    • 7

      Tie a knot in the active end of the rope and tuck the knotted end inside the cradle you have created around the rock. Tighten each loop that you did around the rock in turn, until everything is tight and the rock is tightly enclosed in the loops of rope.

    • 8

      Throw the rock, and when you are done with it, gradually loosen each wrap of the monkey fist knot until you can retrieve the knotted end of the rope and disassemble the monkey fist knot.