I got a new pocket flashlight and I wanted a lanyard for it, but it didn't have a hole for one and the base of it didn't flare enough to hold any kind of knot I knew how to tie. After I "asked the Google" I found the constrictor knot. So far I haven't had an issue with it coming loose and I've swung it around quite a bit. Here's a link to how to tie it:

http://www.animatedknots.com/constri...g.jpg&Website=

Great knot. I use it often. Consider it a "permanent binding" when it's tied normally. You will probably have to cut it off to release it. If you "slip it" you have a releasable knot with all the virtues of the original constrictor.

If you don't know, "slipping a knot" means you replace the last end tuck with a partially pulled through bight. "slipping a knot" is NOT the same as "a slip knot". Two totally different things.

I really wish I knew knots better! I picked up an old old booklette on how to tie knots but dang if I never bother to read it! I mean to learn one knot a week would be so easy but the few I know or mistakenly create seem to get me by.

Man, one of these days I gotta turn off the TV and spend my time more wisely

I use the commercial breaks to monkey around with decorative knots. As you learn knotwork, you'll notice there's a limited number of basic knots and most of the rest are just variations of them. For example: constricter, boa constrictor, strangle, and nail knots are all varients of the clove hitch. For beginners, I can recommend the $5 "Handbook of Knots and Splices" by Gibson.

The reality is I only use about a dozen knots for utility. Sheet bend, bowline, water bowline, constrictor, clove hitch, timber hitch, truckers hitch, figure 8, ashley stopper, surgeons knot, half hitches, and tautline (aka rolling) hitch.

Bad link. Three constrictor knots on that website.

Same knot, just different ways of making it.

Depending on the application, ABOK #1674 may be a desirable alternative to the Constrictor or the Strangle Knot. ABOK #1674 fills a niche of being a competent binder and unlikely to jam. Some may say just add a slip to the Constrictor. However, many times adding a slip is undesirable, for example, where there is a likelihood of tampering, where you have less rope, where you want to use both ends after tying the knot, or where you want the knot to be as clean as possible.

ABOK #1674

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When a kid in Boy Scouts the knots that I learned - and were useful - were:

Square knot - for joining ropes - though I hear the sheet bend is stronger
Sheet bend - for joining ropes of different thicknesses
Tautline hitch - for tent guy lines with the ability to adjust
Two half hitches - for tying to a post or ring
Clove hitch - for tying to a post

I also learned to use an Improved Cinch knot for tying leaders and lures using monofilament

Since then I've learned the following to be very useful:

Trucker's hitch - for tightening rope tie-downs
Fisherman's knot - for connecting small diameter rope - especially for paracord lanyards (non-breakaway)
Prusik knot - for pulling the ends of tarp out across a ridgeline

Yep, probably one of my top five knots.