[turtledragonfly]

My understanding is that a lot of "knot culture" developed during the Nantucket whaling days. There were knots before, of course, but the variety and intricacy exploded. (a bit of a simplification of course, there are lots of cool Celtic knots and whatnot, too)

It was a somewhat special time, where you had a lot of relatively well-paid capable people stuck on a boat with nothing to do for sometimes weeks on end. Encourages some creativity, I suppose (: Scrimshaw is another product of that time — some really intricate stuff out there (eg: [1]).

For me, I feel like the bowline and trucker's hitch give you huge bang for the buck. Memorize those, and you can handle many things, with a bit of rope.

[1] https://modelshipworld.com/topic/27614-prisoner-of-war-bone-...

[saberience]

I’m sure knots were developed for whaling… but most were developed (as might be expected) during the age of sail and the British empire.

[JoeAltmaier]

Tautline very useful, especially with tents.

But the Tarbuck is just that little bit better, and identically easy to tie (and untie).