Home >> Hobbies >> Other Hobbies

How to Prevent the End of Rope From Raveling

Rope is twisted or braided lengths of fibers and can be made of anything from hair and hemp, to steel and nylon, as Shurdington.org explains. There are two definitions of "raveling" as it pertains to rope: to tangle the whole rope, or to unravel the end of the rope, according to Dictionary.com. There are methods to prevent both tangling and unraveling. The material of the rope has an impact on the method used to stop a rope from unraveling, but both methods for tangle prevention work on all rope regardless of material make-up.

Things You'll Need

Rope
Twine
Match or lighter

Instructions

Electrician's Braid
- 1
  
  Untangled rope is necessary for safe parachuting.
  
  Double the rope to begin the electrician's braid. Parachutists prefer this method to make sure their parachute ropes do not ravel, as explained by the Notable Knot Index. This method of braiding is also known as the doubled monkey chain.
- 2
  Take the folded end of the rope in one hand and make one coil with the other. The remaining length of the doubled rope should drop down as you hold the coil together.
- 3
  Pull one bight of the doubled length of rope through the coil until you have a new loop through which you can pull another bight. A bight is a U-shaped curve of rope. The noose end should be on top and going upward, the remaining length should be on the bottom and going downward in order to make the knot and the new loop.
- 4
  Pull another bight through the newly created loop and repeat this process until the entire length of the doubled rope is used. You can either leave it as is, or pull the last length of the doubled rope completely through to secure it. If you leave it as is, you can unravel the braid with just one tug on the loose ends of the doubled rope.
Figure Eight Coil
- 5
  Double the rope.
- 6
  Hold the doubled loose ends in your hand and coil the rope around your arm until you have enough rope to make roughly two more coils. The bighted end that is left dangling is the middle of the rope.
- 7
  Take the bighted end and wrap it around the middle of the rope coils to create a figure eight. The two separate loops created by binding the middle of the coil are referred to as "eyes."
- 8
  Pull the bighted end of the doubled rope through one of the eyes in the figure eight.
- 9
  
  Rope in a figure eight coil.
  
  Open the bighted end and pull the coil of one eye through to secure the rope. This method is useful for hanging the rope to store it.
Unraveling: Artificial-Fiber Rope
- 10
  
  Rope can be made of anything from hair and hemp, to steel and nylon.
  
  Hold the rope in one hand near the unraveled end.
- 11
  Snip the unraveled end if the unraveling occurs more than 1 inch from the end.
- 12
  
  Synthetic fibers like nylon fuse together when melted.
  
  Light a match or a lighter and hold it to the end of the rope to allow it to burn and melt. This will fuse the end and keep it from unraveling further.
Unraveling: Natural-Fiber Rope
- 13
  
  An unraveled rope can be a nuisance.
  
  Snip the unraveled end of the rope.
- 14
  Make a loop in the end of the twine and place it against the end of the rope, allowing the loop to lie along the rope about 1 inch or 1 1/2 inches in from the end.
- 15
  Wrap the twine around both the rope and the twine loop, covering both.
- 16
  Stop wrapping just before covering the end of the twine loop. Pull the end of the twine through the loop to secure it.
- 17
  Cut off any excess twine from both ends. This is called a common whipping knot.

Other Hobbies