A SIMPLE RELATIVE KNOT TEST
You can do yourself.

Background:

You don't use calibrated test equipment. You don't use math to come up with a statistical average of the breaking strength. This test does not yield a result telling you exactly what strength a knot breaks at. You are not relying on the theoretically results of someone else under conditions you have very little or no knowledge of. Neither are you relying on some else's opinion that expects you to accept their information for accurate fact. Instead it evaluates the relative success of one knot compared to another knot tied on the same piece of tippet which have been tied by you with the hooks sizes and tippet materials you use. Thus it produces a result that evaluates which of two knots is a stronger knot for yourself, based on your ability to tie the knot.

For whatever reason, one person can tie a particular knot better than another person. For example the 16-20 (better known as Pitzen) knot is thought and tested by a number of people to be an excellent knot which is better than most other hook knots. But every time I tie it I get a slippage and then the knot fails. Also, for the first three years of fly fishing I used to have a sporadic but too common a problem with clinch knots slipping loose. (I have fixed that problem, what ever it was). Art Scheck did extensive testing of knots. He came up with Pitzen knot as being one of the strong knots for light tippets, as have a number of other people but I can not tie a reliable pitzen to save my soul. So don't rely on what others say. Try them yourself using this test method and decide for yourself.

Most knots are awkward to tie until you have had time to work out the finger, hand and arm movements so that you have muscle memory built up. Thus before your go fishing and after you have decided to use a knot you need to sit by the radio or in front of the TV and practice tying the knot so that you become comfortable tying it before that once in a life time fishing trip.

Since you are not measuring strain or strength of each knot with numerical gauges it is possible that one knot consistently beats another knot by an insignificant amount and you will not know that from this test method. You are instead having a tug of war between two knots. However, it has been my experience in other test matters Things that are closely matched typically will give you mixed performance results during trial runs. That is there is not a clear decisive winner. Through actual knot testing I think that you will soon convince yourself that if the strength is relatively close for two particular knots your data will reflect it in that both will be the winner about equal amount of times in which case it just means that either knot is about equally strong. The easier to tie knot would be the one to use then. You may decide that an easier to tie not trumps the hard to tie knot even if "the hard to tie knot" is a clear winner in the knot test. There is nothing wrong with that.

Here are a few things I learned from doing these tests and why you might find good use in doing them yourself:

* My ability to tie a knot consistently strong varies from the opinions and stated test results of other posters here and in printed articles.
*A couple of the knots I have used in the past I found were not as consistently strong as I found other knots I have tested. Knots that I was not familiar or comfortable with tying.
*The ease and speed of my ability to manipulate a knot into a successful knot also
varies from other people's posted opinion and experience. Though, that can certainly diminish with repetition and time. But not always.
*You use tippets and hooks in sizes you use on the stream not unknown tippets hook sizes of an unknown third party.
* The relative knot test is easy to perform but if you insisted on trying many knots it can get time consuming but is educational. It is a peaceful distraction. It uses up some of that old tippet material I have hidden in the closet and hanging on my vest.
* It brings a higher level of confidence to my fishing. Marginal but it is there.

A nymphing concern:
When I am dredging the bottom of the river with multiple nymph rigs I find it advantageous to use a weaker but reliable knot (clinch knot) on at least the bottom fly. This helps prevent loosing the tippet as well as a second or third fly as well as it's tippet material. Leaving tippet in the river or hanging from a fish is not the best ecological thing to have happen. But from a more personal perspective using a less strong knot on the bottom fly which is bumping along the bottom of the river saves me time. Instead of two or three flies plus multiple tippet pieces being lost just that bottom fly comes off. Thus, I don't have to cut and tie in addition pieces of tippet along with two or three flies.

Cold weather:
Also, when it is really cold out I want a knot that I can tie the quickest. The clinch knot, which has tested to be about "the weakest knot ever" for me, fills both of those rolls nicely. It is a reliable easy to tie knot that I don't experience that many break offs with but will break when I need it to after getting hung at the bottom of the river. Further down on this page you will find links to some knots that you may find good to know for cold weather days. I have not had the chance to test them.

The need for good jointing knots:
Art Scheck (see article link below) brings up a very good point of view in his book. If one starts using a very strong knot at the hook the person needs to make sure that he uses an equally strong or stronger knot for the tippet to tippet knots. Other wise you will be leaving tippet material with the lost hooks in the river. You might be leaving tippet hanging out of fish and maybe tangled around a fish when the fish breaks off. They say that fluorocarbon tippet does not break down in the environment Even Regular monofilament takes hundreds of years to break down. Thus, leaving it around the river is not the best of practices. Art's testing shows that a double or triple turn surgeons knot is less strong than most hook knots. (Side note - A clinch and improved clinch knot tests to be weaker than a surgeon's knot in his testing.) He recommends trying something like a ligature knot. For me I have tested the Orvis Tippet knot to be stronger than the Ligature Knot. You can also do relative knot tests for comparing one "tippet to tippet knot" against another "tippet to tippet knot". You will need three pieces of tip and two Hooks for this test.

Materials Required:

Two Split Key Rings - Get at a hardware store or a locksmith
Twenty Hooks - size relative to what you would fish with, for the selected tippet material.
Tippet material - 10 lengths 12 to 16 inches long of whatever tippet you want to use or what you typically use for that hook size.
A dark colored marking pen such as a Sharpie.

Test Method:

1. Cut a piece of your test tippet material. 12 to 16 inches. The length is not important just use about the same length throughout your tests though the length probably is not important.
2. Tie your knot (lets assume the clinch knot) onto one of the hooks.
3. Repeat this until you have clinch knots tied onto 10 hooks.
4. Gather up all the tippets with hooks attached. Using a sharpie run it up and down the tippet near the hook. You can do this with them all clumped together. This will keep it clear which knot is which after the test since the opposite knot will not have an sharpie color near the knot. An especially important detail for people over 50 or that have CRS (Can't Remember Stuff)
5. Record on a piece of paper the knot that you tied onto the sharpie colored end of the tippet. Plus record the knot you are going to tie on the uncolored end. Make sure your write down which knot was on the colored end. Do this because you will quickly forget which knot you have on what end. Plus it gives you a place to record your results, another fact you will quickly forget. Once you realize how easy and quick this test is you will have done a number of trials. With a number of tests and interruptions you will have forgotten some of the results.
6. Now select a different knot, lets say the Orvis Knot, that you want to compare the previous knot to.
7. Using the other 10 hooks tie the Orvis knot to the opposite end of the 10-tippet/hook pieces.
8. To test slip one of the split rings over your index finger. Hang one of the hooks onto the ring. Then Slip the other hook over the 2nd split ring. Then insert your index finger of your opposite hand into the 2nd split ring and gently pull the tippet material taut. Once you have a little tension on the tippet material continue slowly pulling your hands away from each other until the tippet material breaks. Lefty Kreh recommends doing the motion with a jerk after putting some tension on the tippet instead of doing a steady pull. His reasoning being: since it is a fish's sudden run that often breaks the knot it is the best method to use. I have never got around to repeating tests with a jerk to validate the idea one way or the other. Most of the sample tests below were done with a steady pull.
9. Then repeat the above pull test for the other 9 pieces
10. Now count and record your results. Click to skip down to results.

One source suggested to stretch and relax the test samples to near the breaking point several times before stressing the tippet to the breaking point. The individual found that some knots would slip doing this. I guess the idea is that when hooking several fish or hanging up on things that a knot gets stretched and relaxed a number of times. Thus, you might want to try doing a few setups to see if this might indicate a problem for you. I have done this a couple of times myself and not found an appreciable difference in results but I may not be as good at determining when I have stretched a tippet to 70% of its maximum strength.

The purpose of using a split key ring is so that the hooks can rotate somewhat freely to align with each other such that neither of the hooks has the tippet material being pulled at an odd angle. Lefty Kreh recommends using pliers. As another aid to be sure the hooks / tippet is not being pulled at an odd angle when you pull them apart you could rest you hands on a table top as you pull on the hooks. I found that it helped to keep one's thumbs or another finger close to the hooks so that neither of the hooks take off for parts unknown when the tippet breaks. For stronger tippets you will need to use pliers as recommended by lefty Kreh and Art Scheck.

Tippet to Tippet relative knot testing:
To test two different "tippet to tippet" knots you will need three short pieces of tippet material. Take two pieces of tippet and tie a "tippet to tippet" knot with them. Then take the third piece of tippet and on end of the tied pieces and tie your other "tippet to tippet" knot. You will probably want to tie hooks to both ends of this tippet assembly so that you can grab them with pliers or split key rings. Some sample test results here.

The following reprint article from a section of Art Scheck's book Fly-Fish Better (Stackpole Books, July 2005, 256 pages) has the best discussion of performing relative knot tests that I have ever seen:
http://www.midcurrent.com/articles/knots/scheck_lastlink_1.aspx
(sometimes this link works and sometimes it does not. You may need to go to the root page and click on the knot menu pick and follow the link paths to this article.)
He discusses a number of knots that he found through relative knot testing to be the strongest knots. More importantly it gives a good foundation for performing relative knot tests. In this article Art suggests the the the 16-20 and Orvis knots are two of the strongest with the non-slip mono loop knot (Rapala knot is almost the same) being stronger in some cases.

Some knots, like the 16-20 Knot, should be tied with a third hand. To achieve that hang the hook over a zipper pull or something else fastened to your vest or shirt before you do the final tightening of the knot. This is described in Arts excerpt above.

Examples of some of the knots used in the tabulated tests listed below can be found at various websites. Click here to see web links for examples of various fishing knots.

The following are relative knot test results that I have done. A few were done by other individuals. I hope that you find the info useful. I would recommend that you don't take this info as gospel for your application since we each have different efficiencies at tying knots. Instead I recommend you use it as a starting point to do you own testing. If you do some testing I will be glad to add your info to this page so we all can share. Email me the results.

Tippet: Rio Power Flex 5x
Hook: Dai Riki #305 S16
Jerk
Knot1: Clinch - 5 turn - did not break = 9
Knot2: Davy Knot did not break = 3
Two of the Davy Knots slipped before failing
first 10 knots were stretched and relaxed 5 times (one individual reported Davy knots would blow apart doing this. But I found no slippage or knots blowing apart during this flexing. The two slipping knots in this test were not part of the 10)

Tippet: Cortland 333 4x,
Hook: S12 Mustad 80200BR
Knot1: Orvis Knot did not break=3
Knot2: Davy Knot did not break=1
Tippet broke on 1, not the knots.

.

Tippet: Frog Hair mono 3X
Hook: S12 TMC200R, Orvis 1524
Knot1: NonSlip Mono Loop did not break= 7
Knot2: Surgeons Loop did not break = 12
7 of the nonslip Mono loop broke very easily as if knot was not correctly tightened

16-20 Knot (or Pitzen): http://www.flyfisherman.com/skills/lkknots/index16.html
Davy Knot http://www.utahoutdoors.com/pages/Davyknot.htm
Davy Knot - a video - http://www.itinerantangler.com/podcasts/video/
Ligature Knot(Bloody Quick Knot) : http://content-angler.com/steelhead2.html

Ligature Knot:
1) Use mono to mono for best results
2) See the link first then - Tie it like a granny knot, not a square knot (tag and standing ends should exit from opposite sides) Use 6 twists per side for 5x.
3) To tighten - Hold tag and standing ends from left side of knot in the fingertips of left hand. Hold tag and standing ends from right side of knot in the fingertips of right hand. Pull all four ends, the knot will collapse only so far (it should be about a 1/4" long). Don't fiddle with it, just grab the standing ends, one in each hand and give a quick, gentle pull to tighten down the knot. It isn't a pretty knot, but its very strong.

Orvis Knot: http://www.orvis.com/orvis_assets/files/index.html
Orvis Tippet to Tippet Knot: http://www.orvis.com/orvis_assets/files/index.html
Surgeons Knot, 2 turn: http://www.netknots.com/html/fishing_knots.html
Uni-knot (duncan loop):http://www.rackelhanen.se/images/knut2.gif
& more knots at rackelhanen: http://www.rackelhanen.se/eng/10017.htm

Loop Knots: These knots are for closed loops for "loop to loop" connections or making a loop at the fly eye so that the fly can move freely with the currents. Any of them can use on the fly and most are appropriate for "loop to loop" connections
None Slip Mono Loop (similar to Rapala Loop):
Surgeons Loop:
Perfection Loop:
Lure Loop Knot:

Some other knot websites:
http://www.animatedknots.com - This has some good animated demos
http://www.netknots.com/html/fishing_knots.html
http://www.stripersurf.com/andeknots.html
http://www.troutlet.com/UserMods/fishing-knots.asp - more animated knots

Fly line to Leader connection: Here is a deceptively simple but effective knot for tying a fly line to a leader that has a loop tied in the end of it. It especially great for trying to tie a leader onto a flyline on a very cold day. Many people have had excellent success with this so simle of a knot. It has several names such as the Castwell Knot or the Lap Kot. Look on this page for the Lap Knot. You will also find this in the fishing basics section (under knots) of the flyanglersonline website. Probably the most common knot for this is the nail knot. see most of the links above for a nail knot sample.

Backing to the reels arbor: Here is a very commonly used knot for tying backing onto the reel: the Arbor Knot

When your hands are half frozen and successfully tying any knot is better than worrying about the strongest knot then here are some knots that you should have in your arsenal. These knots are also easier to tie in low light conditions. Either way they can be a day saver for you. You may find that you prefer to use these knots all the time.

Tippet to fly Knots:
The "Hemostat Quick Clinch" knot - A word description of the knot and a video are on this page.
The hemostat clinch knot - pictorial
For Tying on a hook with mittens or glvoes on try the Weavers Knot - pictorial
Just keep the loop longer so that you can keep the hook point out of the mitten material.

Leader or Tippet to Tippet Knots:
The hemostat blood knot :A word description and a video of the knot is on this page. (the video is the easiest to understand)
The Seaguar Knot is the same knot. This video demonstration is done without using a hemostat (select "Fluorocarbon Connection") : video
Seaguar Knot - pictorial

Tying a fly line to a Leader butt section (thick end of leader) that has a loop tied in it:
The Lap Knot ( also known as the Castwell's knot, Weaver's Bend, Flag Knot) is a very simple but effective knot. The Lap Knot is very similar to the sheet bend but kind of reversed from it. You can also find a demonstration of tying the Castwell Knot at www.flyanglersonline.com but you will have to select menu picks "Flyfishing Basics." Then select "Knots." Then select "Castwell's Knot"

Note - I have use a number of different websites above. Many of them these websites have many other knots you might find of interest.

Bowline: This knot I use more than any other knot. I use it for tying things down or up. It makes a loop that never closes. It is a common knot also for tying a loop around the torse for rescue. Two of the things I like about it is that it is simple and easy to tie but also is easily untied when the knot is no longer desired. I have never had this knot come undone when it is not under load but I have demonstrated that it is possible the shake the knot loose when there is not tension on the loop.

The basic slip knot I have used this knot to hold boat covers onto top of a boat. They hold even when doing 75 mph down the road. I also use it in conjunction with the Bowline hang things off the floor; see inset note and pictures. Using both knots you can quickly cinch down a load. When I had a fishing boat I used the slip knot a lot to cinch down boat covers. It has held towing the boat at 80 miles an hour down the highway. It is quick to tie. The other great thing about it is that it comes undone with just a tug on the tag end. I also use the basic slip knot to hold the handles or shaft of a such things as rakes and brooms up off the floor. To work this knot requires that it be under constant tension. For a more positive holding knot that does not require constant tension but will come undone with a pull on the tag end use the Mooring Knot. The Mooring Knot is also considered a temporary type of knot and should not be used for securing valuable items such as a boat.

Example: Tie a rope to a shelf or shelf leg using a bowline knot. Then hang a tool on the rope using a basic slip knot. Keeps the item off the floor and comes undone with a tug of the tag end. The item is free in less than a second.

Tautline Hitch: I used this knot when I was in boy scouts for tying tent ropes in place. But it was my father who taught me this knot. I now also use it a lot for cinching down loads when I can't use the simple slip knot or when I know I will need to remove or add tension on the rope while the rope is under tension.

Figure eight: This is a stopper knot used a lot by boaters at the end of a rope. I like to use it for a stopper knot to prevent fraying of the end of a rope I have cut until I can whip the end of the rope or melt together the rope end fibers. The main reason I use this stopper knot is that it easily unties.

Double over hand knot: Use this knot if you want a more perminent and secure stopper knot. Just pull on the knot "ball" as you pull on the standing end to get the knot to roll into it proper shape.

Square knot (also called a Reef Knot): A simple basic knot common used for tying two pieces of similar size ropes or strings together. It cinches up when tightened to where it can be hard to untie the knot.

Those are the only knots I use.

Here is one I think I need to learn to use. the Truckers Hitch.