How I tie my Bimini Twists

[Atlantaking]

MrBill, I did take those pictures myself...I had the camera set up on a tripod, zoomed in properly and taken with a timer. I took at least 4 pictures of each shot so it was a lot of posing and retying.

SkeeterRonnie, the cork is cork tape on one of my surf rods. It holds up ok, but I use it with the understanding that it requires replacement from time to time. Once it gets tattered, I pull it off and replace it. I still prefer the feel of cork tape on a surf stick...I'm old school

TeamOso, I like the uni to finish off the BT because it can't unravel. When you're cinching down the uni at the end, sort of "massage" it so that the loops form over the tag end.

lite-liner, to scroll while trying to tie a BT, use your tongue

[jureal]

TeamOso, I like the uni to finish off the BT because it can't unravel. When you're cinching down the uni at the end, sort of "massage" it so that the loops form over the tag end.

Great photos and descriptions. I do mine similar to your way. One major exception is the final tie off. Do the same uni but take your loop and start winding it onto the double and tag at the same time. Your winding should be in the direction that will cause the uni to unwind. In other words, unwind the uni while winding around the three lines. When done, pull the tag end through and you are done.

[pametfisher]

MrBill, I did take those pictures myself...I had the camera set up on a tripod, zoomed in properly and taken with a timer. I took at least 4 pictures of each shot so it was a lot of posing and retying.

SkeeterRonnie, the cork is cork tape on one of my surf rods. It holds up ok, but I use it with the understanding that it requires replacement from time to time. Once it gets tattered, I pull it off and replace it. I still prefer the feel of cork tape on a surf stick...I'm old school

TeamOso, I like the uni to finish off the BT because it can't unravel. When you're cinching down the uni at the end, sort of "massage" it so that the loops form over the tag end.

lite-liner, to scroll while trying to tie a BT, use your tongue

Sorry that I'm so late to this post but I just joined. Let me begin by saying that I've just started tying the Bimini Twist this year and I've searched out a couple dozen "how to-s" on tying the BT. Yours is by far the clearest explanation, better than any of the videos I'd seen. And I like your method of using the rod and reel to get the extra hand or two one needs to tie the BT well. I won't have to jam my rod into the living room furniture and walk away to tension the line. Thank you for such great photos.

I'm tying the BT in 50# braid and began tying it to get a maximum strength 50# braid to 50# leader connection. (I was shocked to learn, from my own break testing, how easily most knots break in braid but that will be another post.)

1. As you mention in your instructions, a few twists remain under the barrel wrap. I counted about 16-17 barrel wraps and you started with 20 twists so that would mean about 3-4 remain under the wraps, does that sound right? (I've done the experiment on braid and start with 40 and end up with 15 underneath.)

2. The tighter the twists when you begin wrapping, the fewer the barrel wraps but the more twists under the wraps. How tightly do you pull up the twists when you make your BT in braid? (The BT seems to get a little weaker if I pull them too tightly before wrapping when I break test them. Also seems to get a little weaker if I make the first few barrel wraps too tight.)

3. Since this knot works by friction, have you or anyone come up with an optimum number of starting twists for braid? (One writer/tester at sportfishingmag.com thinks 12 is better than 20 is better than 30. Which makes no sense and in my tests slips immediately.)

I'm starting to think that there is an "ideal" lay/angle of the twists before wrapping starts, especially for the very slippery braid. All thoughts would be appreciated.

[Atlantaking]

Sorry that I'm so late to this post but I just joined. Let me begin by saying that I've just started tying the Bimini Twist this year and I've searched out a couple dozen "how to-s" on tying the BT. Yours is by far the clearest explanation, better than any of the videos I'd seen. And I like your method of using the rod and reel to get the extra hand or two one needs to tie the BT well. I won't have to jam my rod into the living room furniture and walk away to tension the line. Thank you for such great photos.

I'm tying the BT in 50# braid and began tying it to get a maximum strength 50# braid to 50# leader connection. (I was shocked to learn, from my own break testing, how easily most knots break in braid but that will be another post.)

Generally in braided line, I like to do 40-50 turns before starting the barrel wrap. Since braid is a good bit slipperier than mono, and it doesn't have any bite like mono, it needs the extra turns to maintain the integrity.

1. As you mention in your instructions, a few twists remain under the barrel wrap. I counted about 16-17 barrel wraps and you started with 20 twists so that would mean about 3-4 remain under the wraps, does that sound right? (I've done the experiment on braid and start with 40 and end up with 15 underneath.)

Actually, I lied, I made 22 turns in that pic I've thought about it and I think that 3-4 twists under the barrel wraps is enough as each would bear only 1/3 to 1/4 of the total strain. However, I test it by pulling both legs to make sure.

2. The tighter the twists when you begin wrapping, the fewer the barrel wraps but the more twists under the wraps. How tightly do you pull up the twists when you make your BT in braid? (The BT seems to get a little weaker if I pull them too tightly before wrapping when I break test them. Also seems to get a little weaker if I make the first few barrel wraps too tight.)

So before I start making the barrel wraps, I push the crook of twists nearest the loop up towards the other end so that the twists are compressed. It doesn't have to be super tight, but shouldn't be so loose that there are too few twists either. However, when you start with 40-50 twists in the braid, you'd end up with plenty under the barrel wraps.

3. Since this knot works by friction, have you or anyone come up with an optimum number of starting twists for braid? (One writer/tester at sportfishingmag.com thinks 12 is better than 20 is better than 30. Which makes no sense and in my tests slips immediately.)

I seriously question the 12-turn BT in that magazine because I don't feel that there are enough twists/barrel wraps in the knot to absorb the strain. Mono, which has a bit of bite to it when tied, works well with 20-24 wraps, while I go as high as 50 in braided line.

I'm starting to think that there is an "ideal" lay/angle of the twists before wrapping starts, especially for the very slippery braid. All thoughts would be appreciated.

I think there very well may be an optimal angle of the twist. I think having the twists too compact can be detrimental just as having the twists too loose. Too compact would probably mean that the angle of the two legs of the line is greater than 90 degrees because it means that each line is wrapped around each other with a 90 degree bend. Too loose means the angle the two legs is less than 60 degrees with the resulting bend in each line over 120 degrees. I don't know, but I'll think about it some more and do some force vector calculations. It's a very interesting point that I haven't thought of before.

[Uncle Russ]

You get to where the knot wraps itself--literally, you can feel the correct angle and you just let it flow. I know that sounds silly, but I have found it to be true, especially with smoother PE lines--I have more trouble with say, Power Pro. Personally I use my bare big toe for a small loop and my bent kneecap (while sitting) for a larger loop. The major trick is to keep tension at all times on all parts of the knot.

[pametfisher]

I think there very well may be an optimal angle of the twist. I think having the twists too compact can be detrimental just as having the twists too loose. Too compact would probably mean that the angle of the two legs of the line is greater than 90 degrees because it means that each line is wrapped around each other with a 90 degree bend. Too loose means the angle the two legs is less than 60 degrees with the resulting bend in each line over 120 degrees. I don't know, but I'll think about it some more and do some force vector calculations. It's a very interesting point that I haven't thought of before.

Thanks for your comments and thoughts. You've got a lot of good observations there. I'd be interested in anything further you come up with, since breaking strength is related to the angle of the first turn in a knot. I've since done some more testing and research on the subject and have a couple of posts I'd like to share.

First, a post with a good description of the mechanics of the Bimini Twist.

http://www.danblanton.com/viewmessage.php?id=51228

Second, a long summary of GSP Braid as a material and knots in it, the first post.

Me and GsP - SurfTalk

Third, the other day, I made a 100-initial-turn Bimini in Daiwa 55# 8-strand braid (I just got a sample and like it, very smooth and stronger than PowerPro for the diameter). I lifted 60 pounds of dead weight. After that, I cut the loop in half and tied a swivel to the "tag" side to see how much weight it would hold. To my surprise, it held 35 pounds. I didn't have time to go further. I estimate that there are 35-40 "final-twists" under the wraps after starting with 100.