Re: ..and presto, the new rope is old again!

Originally Posted by
photocurio
Sharpiefan, its true that the Carrick Bend is awesome, and its not hard to tie. But I don't see how it can be a replacement for a reef knot. They have different uses. Would you tie a Carrick Bend in the reefing points? Or on the robbands fixing a sail to a yard?
Sorry to be late -- I missed your post.
In your OP, I had the impression you reef knotted two lines together, which is what I was responding to. To hold stuff down on the truck, I usually use a trucker's hitch or rolling hitch.
I'm a 3-strand dinosaur, following the gospels of St. Ashley and St. H. G. Smith. Robands are toggle-and-becket, reef points a variation of same, toggle-and-button. (Think of a long soft shackle, cut in half, each half stitched to the reef bands.
Dover (LINK) has reprints of some of the classics of marlingspike seamanship, like Verril, Biddlecombe, and Smith's The Arts of the Sailor (LINK).

The Hempex (LINK) that Thorne mentioned is nice stuff; I use 5 passes where the books say to use 3, because synthetics are slippery, and paranoia and line are cheap compared to the consequences of gear failure.
Hope the voyage is a long one.
May there be many a summer morning when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you come into harbors seen for the first time...
Ithaka, by Cavafy
(Keeley - Sherrard translation)