How to determine starting rope length for different splices? (Especially loops)

[KBr00ks]

Hi all,

I want to play with making some different loop splices -- EVO loops, soft shackles, etc.

Is there a rule of thumb for determining how much rope to start with, based on the desired final length (or diameter) of the finished piece?

For example: if I want to make a small EVO loop with a "flattened" length of 3" -- so a circumference of 6", loop diameter of about 2" -- how much rope should I start with?

[jeff-oh]

I guess it also depends on the knot you use. I like the button knot as the ends get buried. Also depends on if it is an EVO loop or soft shackle. Is would think a 3" EVO loop would all but consume its self doing the double larks head.

I believe I left 10" tails to tie the button knot and 2" bury on my Evo loops. I estimate a loss of 10% to 20% for the bury length.

It also depends on the diameter of the line. But for diamond knots you can always trim any excess length prior to burying the ends.

[KBr00ks]

Yes, 3" is short for an Evo Loop -- I have this in mind for something other than hammock use. But also want to make some for the typical tree strap connection.

Well, I discovered while combing through Jeff Myers's videos that to tie the button knot on the end of an Evo Loop, he recommends leaving 5.5" tails for 7/64" Amsteel, and 9" for 3/16". No idea how he came up with those, except perhaps by experimentation and lots of practice.

I started by using 7/64" Amsteel while following Jeff's instructions in this particular video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxF5ijiLToY -- in which he's using 3/16" rope. I got to the next-to-last step and saw that the tails would be too long to bury in the loop, so I measured the excess, guesstimated the length of tails I should have used, and came up with 6". Not a bad guess, but the resulting Evo Loop is just a tad bit shorter, maybe, than I'd like for tree strap use. But maybe it's fine. Will make more and find out.

And I realize now that my question is kind of too broad -- there would be different rules of thumb for different knots and splices.

[KBr00ks]

I also found a calculator for starting and final length for a soft shackle with a non-spliced diamond knot, from Animated Knots: https://www.animatedknots.com/soft-shackle
(scroll down)

[KBr00ks]

Got what I wanted the second try (the short one):

Long and short.jpg

The shortie is to replace a paracord zipper pull. It looks kinda bulky on the zipper, but it was an interesting experiment.

[GilligansWorld]

Link to the original - not that animated isn't good but these guys literally wrote the book. Sailing is after all where we borrowed this technology;

https://l-36.com/soft_shackle_howto.php

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