The Forgotten Zeppelin Knot
(Page 2 of 2)
January/February 1980
By Lee and Bob Paine
"After the war, I left the Navy and began sailing on merchant ships. In the past 30 years I've visited just about every deepwater port in the world. Knots are my hobby. I've read every book on knots that I could find and I've never seen the Rosendahl bend in any of them. It's as If it has been forgotten along with the airship . . . and that's a shame, because it's the most useful knot I know for tying two lines together. It's especially good for towing, mooring, or anchor lines, where a heavy strain can jam an ordinary knot and make it almost impossible to untie."
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To make the Rosendahl bend, place bights of the two lines together, one on top of the other, so that the bitter ends lead away in opposite directions on outboard sides of the bights (Photos 1 and 2). Then pass each bitter end around its own bight and the other bight, lead them out opposite sides of the knot (Photo 3), and tighten it up (Photo 4). To untie it, simply pull away on the bights that pass over each standing part.
Once you get the hang of it, it's an easy knot to tie (Joe Collins' airshipmen had to learn to do it in the dark) and best of all, you can always untie it. That's as important to the boatman or -woman today as it was 40 years ago when there was a zeppelin on the other end.
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