peacefuljeffrey 0 #1 January 31, 2004 The rig I just bought has a blue and green hacky handle, but I knew even before I bought a rig that I would want to make a Monkey's Fist for it, since I have known how to tie the knot since about '94. Well, surprise surprise!: I had not thought about it, but all the Monkey's Fists I've made before (and I can virtually do them eyes-closed) were THREE turn Monkey's Fists. The ones use on rigs I've seen are NINE turn ones. When I tried the first time, the thing ended up being a tangled mess and I gave up. I had to rig up a frame of bamboo barbecue skewers to keep the turns organized. Even with this, the thing was verrrry challenging to finish. I tried a few weeks ago, failed, gave up until last night, and then started one last night and finished it today. Whew! It's actually pretty cool. But since I used a golf ball as a core (per a rigger's recommendation), I think it's a little heavy, so now I'm going to do another one (it's part-made now) with a foam practice golf ball. I want to know if anyone else out here has experience making Monkey's Fist throwout handles and has a smart way to make a frame for holding them, or a source that sells such a frame. I would also enjoy responses about what kind of handle you have, and is it a throw-out or pull-out pilot chute? ---Jeffrey-Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amanda965 0 #2 January 31, 2004 Show us a pic, I have no clue what you are talking about!Blue skies and SAFE landings! ~Amanda~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
payback462 0 #3 January 31, 2004 i jump pullout and itd prolly take all of a about half an hour to make a new pud. (hmm that reminds me, replace velcro before i repack it thats cool that you want a monkey first, but you do know you can just buy them for like 15 bucks right?? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #4 January 31, 2004 I started with a foam rubber ball, chop sticks and thick cord. I used a foam rubber ball because styrofoam golf practice balls collapse when some idiot stands on them. The lighter the foam rubber the better. The thicker the cord the better. Most of my monkey fists have been four or fives turns. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Antithesis 0 #5 January 31, 2004 There are other ways of making that knot.. you can also double up the lines that you're using... Sometimes that's easier if you're going to be making a lot of turns. I have a new knot that I'm experimenting with for my hackey.. It's called a star -button knot. It may be a little more difficult to tie.. but it has more grip and better shape. I travel the land, Work in the ocean, Play in the sky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peacefuljeffrey 0 #6 February 1, 2004 QuoteShow us a pic, I have no clue what you are talking about! I'd be happy to. I haven't done an attachment before, so I hope this works. This is the Monkey's Fist I just finished. I'm going to have our rigger attach it to my pilot chute as soon as I can. Someone else asked why I wouldn't just buy one for $15-20. The reason is that I have the cord and the knowledge to make my own, but more importantly, the idea of having some part of my rig actually hand-made by me is gratifying. If I can put together a durable frame and cut down the time it takes to make these, I plan to start churning them out to sell to other skydivers. I currently have spools of paracord in royal blue, colonial blue, black, green, neon orange, silver, white, and red. I am low on neon yellow (which is the coolest of them all) but will get more. I also have plans to make bi-colored Monkey's Fists, which I have not seen anyone else producing. Peace, ---Jeffrey-Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FallRate 0 #7 February 1, 2004 I want one...navy blue and forest green. Do you take visa? FallRate Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peacefuljeffrey 0 #8 February 1, 2004 QuoteI want one...navy blue and forest green. Do you take visa? FallRate Perhaps you weren't paying attention... I have royal blue, colonial blue, black, green, silver, white, red, neon orange and soon will have neon yellow again. I'm sorry I don't have your colors available, but the spools cost $50 apiece. I also have not worked out the details of the dual-color Monkey's Fist. I'll let you know when I have. I plan to charge $25 for the ones I make. I think that's about what I've heard they sell for. Mine are meticulous and are worth the price. P.S. Thank you for offering to be my first customer. Peace, ---Jeffrey-Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nbblood 0 #9 February 1, 2004 QuotePerhaps you weren't paying attention... I have royal blue, colonial blue, black, green, silver, white, red, neon orange and soon will have neon yellow again. Ok, I'm paying attention. If you do work out the dual color thing, and get some black. I'm definitely interested in Royal Blue and Black dual color. Let me know when you get around to it. Blues. NathanBlues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kris 0 #10 February 1, 2004 If you get some purple to go along with that silver then I'm definitely down for ordering one. <--loves a good fist.Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Antithesis 0 #11 February 1, 2004 Dual colors should be just as easy as a single color .. don't you think? the only problem is that the have to be rotating colors. more like stripes,,but that;s cool too. Ive made them as a decoration with as much as four colors. I travel the land, Work in the ocean, Play in the sky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peacefuljeffrey 0 #12 February 1, 2004 That's not what I was thinking of. It doesn't serve for me to give a long description of how I'll do it, because you may go about making Monkey's Fists in a very different way. Suffice to say that I plan to make most of the knot except for the two sides that are done when you make the last series of turns. I will have spliced together two different colors of paracord (melted the tips together) and I will arrange the cord so that the splice is hidden just where the axis of the turns changes direction for the last series. Two opposing sides of the final knot (which has six sides, as you know) will be of the secondary color. I'm pretty eager to start work on one. (Well, heck, I'm eager to finish it; working on it is kind of a drag!) Reminds me to tell you about the two knotted hammocks I made. Neither could be used when completed because there were not enough rows of knots to spread the belly out beneath my butt! Everything changed when it was under weight-tension! ---Jeffrey-Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Antithesis 0 #13 February 1, 2004 Hey, I hadn't thought of that.. sounds cool though Good luck I travel the land, Work in the ocean, Play in the sky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amanda965 0 #15 February 1, 2004 That is sweet, good job with your first monkey fist! Let me know when you start selling, that would be a cool addition to have on my rig!Blue skies and SAFE landings! ~Amanda~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
