I often find myself showing people how to tie boltsnaps to backup lights and hoses, so I thought I’d try and write a description of how I do this. There are a number of ways of doing it, but this is the one I use – it works just fine.
This is the thing were trying to produce. It needs to be nice and tight so that it doesn’t slide on the hose, and help the boltsnap “stand up” to make it easier to clip onto the harness d-rings. The same knot is used on backup lights, but it doesn’t have to be quite as tight.
So, you will need the following things:
1. 60cm of cave line
2. A boltsnap (!)
3. The hose or light
4. A pair of cutters or a sharp blade
5. A lighter
Start by putting three turns through the boltsnap and the hose. Then pull the loops tight.
Next we want to start the knot. We’re going to put a turn around the loops which will apply tension to them, and lock the boltsnap in place. The first step is to cross the two loose ends. Pass the end in the right hand over the end in the left so that it looks like this.
Next, we’re going to tie a knot on the other side to lock the knot. Flip the boltsnap over from the right hand side in the image above to the right hand side. Pull the two loose ends of line over to the right hand side.
The next step is to tie a reef knot to secure the knot. Start by pulling the loose ends to tension the turns. It takes a bit of practice to get this set right, but essentially you want the turns to be pinching together behind the eye of the boltsnap, but not touching.
Tie the first half of the reef knot and it should look like this.You can make fine adjustments to the tension at this stage.
The next step is to tie the other half of the reef knot. Remember that for a reef knot, it ties “right over left, then left over right” otherwise it’s a granny knot and won’t be stable.When the knot is pulled tight, the reef knot should look square and symmetrical.
To finish, melt the knot so that it can’t come undone. Be careful not to melt through the line. Melt the ends of the line, and mushroom the ends with the end of the lighter to flatten them out.
The final thing should look like this.
1. 60cm of cave line
2. A boltsnap (!)
3. The hose or light
4. A pair of cutters or a sharp blade
5. A lighter
Start by putting three turns through the boltsnap and the hose. Then pull the loops tight.Next we want to start the knot. We’re going to put a turn around the loops which will apply tension to them, and lock the boltsnap in place. The first step is to cross the two loose ends. Pass the end in the right hand over the end in the left so that it looks like this.
Next, we’re going to tie a knot on the other side to lock the knot. Flip the boltsnap over from the right hand side in the image above to the right hand side. Pull the two loose ends of line over to the right hand side.
The next step is to tie a reef knot to secure the knot. Start by pulling the loose ends to tension the turns. It takes a bit of practice to get this set right, but essentially you want the turns to be pinching together behind the eye of the boltsnap, but not touching.
Tie the first half of the reef knot and it should look like this.You can make fine adjustments to the tension at this stage.
The next step is to tie the other half of the reef knot. Remember that for a reef knot, it ties “right over left, then left over right” otherwise it’s a granny knot and won’t be stable.When the knot is pulled tight, the reef knot should look square and symmetrical.
To finish, melt the knot so that it can’t come undone. Be careful not to melt through the line. Melt the ends of the line, and mushroom the ends with the end of the lighter to flatten them out. The final thing should look like this.Job done.
