Animated knot tying

There is a website on knot tying where the process is animated for your instruction. One of the more interesting ones, under the category of boat and utility, is the trucker's hitch. I didn't know about that one before. The nice part about it is that you tighten it by pulling down on the free end. The free end provides one tension, the double loop provides another two tensions for a total force amplification of three.

The surgeon's knot

Various knots are designed for different purposes. A handy knot to know is the surgeon's knot. It is just like tying a square knot, except that the first twist is done twice instead of once. This helps maintain tension on the secured object while the next twist is tied. Click on this link for a picture.