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I am a complete noob when it comes to ropes and knots. It's high time I start practicing.
Which rope, most preferably easily available and portable, should I use for practice?
Should it be of particular size or material? Or it could be something as simple as a nylon rope( Something that I have with me TBH ) I plan on practicing in my everyday train commute and at home.
Note : I am going to use this rope only for practicing knots.
3 to 7mm utility cord. It is designed to be tied. If you go to a climbing retailer you can typically buy by the foot.
The existing answer is perfectly fine, I just take a little different angle:
Use any rope-like object that fulfills either of these two conditions:
You already have it.
It will be useful for whatever you learn the knots for.
And yes, I can read - I am ignoring your note on purpose ;)
You need to use rope specific to the knots' purpose. It does no good to practice a fisherman's knot on hemp or climbing rope, when fishing line is expected. You'll never understand the nuances of the knot if you do otherwise. Bends tend to require ropes of different sizes and/or materials.
If you were to practice basic Boy or Girl Scout knots, then yes, any rope you have is a good start: hemp, clothesline, para cord, climbing. But once you start practicing with knots who have specialized purposes, you need to practice with the rope they're intended to be used with.
You didn't specifically mention "splicing", but here, the best rope to practice with is ¼" hemp. Such beginner practice will inevitably require the entire train commute home :-)
If you have string or rope around which is handy, start with that. You can go out to buy lines when you are a bit more experienced and know what you want and need in them.
The best string or rope I have ever found to try out knots is shoe and boot laces.
They are easy to tie, relatively easy to untie from almost every knot, hard wearing and nice to handle.
And they come with aglets, helping in feeding through the ends.
For practical knots I usually go for the thickest size mountain boot lace.
They are the size that fits my hands, they might be a bit thin for some people.
If you make your own training piece of string, remember to finish off the ends well. Taking a page of the shoe lace book might help, by putting a narrower stiff end on. (Imitating aglets.)
When you know the basic shape of the knots you will need to use in serious situations, like in climbing where your life is going to depend on it, you have to have trained in the rope you are going to use for the purpose. The actual rope is best in that case but shorter ends for just learning have their uses as well.
And when you are going to use laid rope, you should be familiar with how that rope handles. Which is rather different from the way braided rope and string handles.
Each knottyer I know has his/her own 'trained' piece(s) of string with which he/she is trying out new knots, teaching others and doing bits of showy knot work when people are watching.
Each person will tell you why this is the best string. The only thing they have in common is that the user has used it many times, is very familiar with how it behaves and is happy to use it.
