Knots & Skills

Contents

Plaiting a woggle	Turks Head Woggle
Backsplice	Eyesplice

A selection of projects to keep your Scout busy in those spare moments at camp.

Making or re-plaiting a plaited woggle

Many of us have unplaited one of these woggles at some time or other in our Scouting lives and then played for hours trying to get it back together again Well, here the secret is revealed. You can of course make a new woggle by using a strip of leather and cutting slits in it as shown, and make your own woggle. In each diagram the shaded area indicates the front of the woggle.

How to Plait a Woggle

	1. Fold the centre strip behind the right strip.
	2. Pass the bottom from the front through the gap marked 'A'
	3. You now have a weird looking plait as in diagram 4.
	4. Make another plait as shown in diagram 5 and again pass the bottom from the front through the gap marked 'B'
	5· Straighten up the completed plait and your woggle is complete or fixed.

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Making a Turks Head Woggle

The Turks Head Woggle

The Turks Head knot is one of the most decorative knots around. When made correctly it serves as the perfect woggle for scouts and leaders alike. The most decorative Turks Head Woggles are made from thin 3 or 4mm nylon climbing rope.

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The Back Splice & The Eye Splice

The Back Splice

The Crown Knot

In order to make a back splice, a crown knot must first be tied. This is shown to the right. It must be tied neatly so that the pattern on the far right is seen on the top of the rope.

The Back Splice

In order to make the splice itself you must take each strand in turn and pass it over the strand of rope it lies alongside (against the lay) and under the next one. Repeat this process three or four times, making sure that the strands are tucked in the same order each time. Cut off the ends and rool the splice betwwen your hands, or on a flat surface.

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The Eye Splice

The Eye Splice is used to make a permanent loop in the rope end.The Eye splice is formed by doing the following:

	A. Unlay the rope a few cms, and bend the end across the lay to form an eye of the required size - whip the strand ends.
	B. Lay strands 'a' and 'b' over the rope and 'c' under it. Open the lay and tuck 'a' under it.
	C. Open the lay above 'a' and tuck 'b' under it.
	D. Turn rope over and tuck 'c' under the only unoccupied strand where 'b' comes out, working from right to left.
	E. Pull all strands to keep them firm and even.
	F. Repeat these movements two or three times - working over under, and across the lay.
	G. Cut off the ends.

Copyright © St. Pauls Scout Unit 1998.
Last revised: October 10, 1998