Lansey's Alternate Resume :: Ropes and Knots

Jonathan Lansey's Alternate Resume

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Ropes, Knots- and their
application to fun.

Click the links below to jump down the page to the spot you want.

Rappelling off of high places (yes I have my own gear)
Braiding bread (not as exciting as rappeling)
Suspending pendulums (a favorite activity of mine), whether they be Foucault, Harmonograph, or random pendulums.
Constructing catenary curves or y=cosh(x).
Making hammocks (a onetime activity)
Light switches
Clotheslines (not what you imagine)
Flossing ones teeth (no pictures)

Rappelling
I like climbing up things: trees mountains, houses, rocks, cranes . . . . but going down can be fun too.

A few years back a friend of mine learnt some ropes and really wanted to build something. Together we (he, I and a few others) made a rope-ladder, lashed-platform and swing system to climb about 50 ft. up this giant oak tree behind my house. Then of course we rappel down.
Notice the two trunks? We made the platform free to slide back and forth when the trees swayed by only lashing it to the trunk on the right. Otherwise it would come apart after the first storm (it is still up today).

Braiding Bread

Okay, its not as exciting as rappelling but its fun tying boy scout/sailor knots with dough.
I'm not too professional as you can see (its not like I was taught or anything). I'm getting better with practice.

That's just a classic 6 strand braid

From right to left, a Monkeyfist then some kind of mat knot
Both are tied with ropes in the photo at the top of the page.

Suspending Pendulums
Suspending pendulums (a favorite activity of mine), whether they be Foucault, Harmonograph, or any random pendulum.

Catenary Curves
A free hanging cable forms a catenary, or y=cosh(x). Its amazing how quickly nature performs the most complicated calculations. Click here for more details and pictures about my demonstration.

Making Hammocks
I got this crazy idea one summer that I could make a hammock from scratch. To make a long story short, I took a long hard look at some hammock at camp then put one together when I got home (its simpler then it looks). Oh, I designed the stand too.


The Raw Materials		Halfway through, (its one long strand)

I had to tighten it somewhat because the ropes stretched

The rope has sadly frayed over time, and my hammock has since passed away.

Light switches
Some idiot contractor renovated the room with a light switch ten feet from the door. Nothing that fishing line, duct tape and paper clips with a toothbrush can't handle.

Clotheslines

Note: I don't actually own that many shirts
(I borrowed some from friends for this strength test)

Well this page was just gigantic. Want to get back to the top? Click here.

Assorted Knots