Monkey’s Fist Knot

If this knot evokes a vague nautical association in the depths of your mind, you’ve made no mistake. Though you’ve most likely seen these hanging in coastal fried seafood restaurants or in dusty gift shops beside a bin of chalky, petrified starfish, the monkey’s fist has a practical maritime history.

The Monkey’s Fist Knot was devised to serve as added weight at the end of a line for heaving. A clever design, the extra mass of the knot allows for a rope to be easily tossed between ships or to port, and once grasped, quickly reeled in.

As a young knotsman, this grail-status knot first caught my attention in season 2 episode 21 of Spongebob SquarePants titled, “Your Shoe’s Untied”.

In one memorable scene, the flying dutchman, a haunting undead seaman, flexes his rope skills, showing Spongebob a series of increasingly complex and impossibly-personified knots (including the Monkey’s Fist!)

Though it would take me about 20 years to make my game-plan, I knew I would eventually match the Dutchman’s savvy.

Creating this knot requires legend-tier skills.

Though it can be achieved without additional tools, a jig allows for quicker production and a cleaner end-result. I made mine out of a 2x4 scrap and some 5/16” bolts.

This hand-created Monkey’s Fist Knot will be one of the first products available in the BOUNTY ARCHIVE STORE (launching Summer 2022).

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Note that the monkey’s fist knot represented in this article is not compliant with the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency's (MCA) "Code of Safe Working Practices for Merchant Seamen". Specifically, it violates section 25.3.2, which states:

"heaving lines should be constructed with a 'monkey’s fist' at one end. To prevent personal injury, the 'fist' should be made only with rope and should not contain added weighting materials"

To this end, the sexy and elegant Monkey’s Fists created by BOUNTY ARCHIVE are purely decorative and not adequate for seamanship.