Complete Book of Knots

It is awful, very poor directions. I think I'm going to give up buying books from here, the reviews always make you believe that the books are great and I have bought several now and been disappointed with about half of them.

I found this to be a very good reference for knot tying and the pictures along with an explanation of tying the knot are excellent. The book is also great as it provides a history of the knot. The book even has some poems about knots. Just all around great book to have as a reference.

Amazingly enough, I wasn't entirely satisifed with Mr. Budworth's book on decorative knots, The Complete Book of Decorative Knots. This one is different. Maybe it's because the knots in question are more for function than decoration, but I'm able to follow the directions easily. The selection of knots is pretty thorough and the inclusion of a description for where a given knot can be used is very helpful. I've found it very useful learning new knots and reviewing knots I've used in the past. I've been using it as a reference while teaching Scouts how to tie basic knots. It's been very handy.

I've owned half a dozen knot books, and this is the best of them. The problem with so many knot books is they show you step three as step one, and make you feel like an idiot because you can't even start. This one doesn't do that. It has by far the easiest instructions for a monkey's fist of any book I've seen. I don't get the critical reviews. The author is a certified knot superstar and certainly knows his junk. He's seen the other books, and wrote this one. I think most of the criticisms fall into the "over-analyzing" category, or people who just aren't comfortable with two-thumbs-upping anything. Listen--this is a fantastic book. You want to learn knots? It'll teach you.

I bought this book in Escalante, Utah, when doing my first canyoneering excursion. I have seen many other books since, but this remains my favorite. 1) It has very clear pictures that make it easy to follow the instructions 2) As other reviewers have written, each knot has a little history blurb about it. Nice touch! 3) The book is organized logically - by use (boating, fishing, caving, etc.) 4) The book contains more knots than you could ever possibly want to know. Highly recommend to someone looking for a "One Stop" knot book.

I bought this book for my son, who is a sailor and lives aboard his sailboat. He said it was great. I didn't see it, but for that application, it was just what he was looking for.