How to make a five lead, four bight (5L4B) Turks Head knot. 

Thanks, appreciate the positive comment.

Sarah: Thanks for the positive comments about the video. I hope you were able to see the key to making the knot (besides the over/unders) was keying in on the starting lead. At least that was my intention while making the video. I also indicated you could continue from the 5L4B Turk's head and expand it to a 7L6B Turks' head knot. Were you able to do that? Was there anything that didn't seem clear in the video. Any suggestions for anything else? Thanks again for the positive comments. Glenn

@@glenndickey4223 I did really appreciate your emphasis on the starting lead. I had never tried the rubber band method but it was really helpful in keeping my cord fixed while I worked on it! I did go ahead and tripled the knots but I didn’t go on to use the 7L method! Although I do think it would be pretty simple to do since your video was so specific with this knot! I really do think this was a perfect guide and wouldn’t want to change a thing! Thanks again so much for your help! I think the paddle turned out great because of your video!

Any pictures. Sounds like it looked really nice.

I'm glad it worked for you. I was working with a person who was having a lot of problem tying the knot. In helping him I figured out the method shown. Glad it works for someone else.

Thanks for the positive comments,

The mandrel was made from a cardboard tube. The tube came from a "standard" (in the United States) paper towel holder. Dimensions of the cardboard tube are 1 3/4 inches in diameter by 3 3/4 inches in length. It was covered by a black felt fabric approximately 1/8 inch in thickness. So that would make the diameter 1 7/8 inches and the length 3 and 7/8 inches in length. The cord is paracord purchased from Atwood Rope located near the Columbus, Ohio, USA area. Cord was sold as a "standard" 770 paracord with a five stranded core and is approximately 5mm in diameter . --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I wanted to use the black felt with the orange colored paracord to increase the contrast between the paracord while making the video. In watching other videos I noticed the knot tyers didn't always pay attention to background or the cordage and sometimes it was difficult to tell how the cordage was moved while tying the knot. Also, the background was a dark gray felt. If you plan to make videos of knot tying please understand the dark gray and black felt will "eat" all the light you have and it is necessary to increase the amount of light in order to keep the visibility sharp. I don't have light meters so I don't have details on amount of light needed. It's better to have more than less. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5Lx4B Turk's head was checked using Geoffrey Budworth's book, Complete Book of Decorative Knots, ISBN: 1-55821-791-6, pages 98,99. I also used The Ashley Book of Knots, ISBN: 0-385-04025-3, page 233. The last book was Graumont and Hensel's Encyclopedia of Knots and Fancy Ropework, fourth edition published in 1970. ISBN:0-87033-021-7. This is one of the books with the original photographs not like the later reprints. The knot is shown on page 215, Plate 109 - 3, a through h. I used this book to help determine the base Turk's Head before building up to the complete 5Lx4B knot. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Camera used was a Canon 57x advanced zoom, Vixia HF R800 HD. Post video production was done using Vegas Pro 18 software. Still pictures were done with Nikon cameras and post production was done using Serif's software Drawplus.

Thanks for your comment. I made this video to help Joe, a person who was trying to learn how to tie Turk's Head knots. While he understood the initial concept, he'd make a mistake and continue with the wrong sequence. I put the "don't do this" sequence in to help him. Sorry if it was confusing for you. While making these videos you never know if it's a common mistake or something that is unique to the person you are training. Hope you were able to complete your knot.

@@glenndickey4223 I finally can do the 5L4B Turks knot....I had been doing something consistently wrong and watched your video again and saw were I was doing it wrong, then it did the doubled up part and it went easy peezy. LOL Thanks!

@@bobbyb7127 To me, it sounds like you are making typical progress. Keep up the good work. I had one TH that took me two years to figure out.

I have watched several videos to understand this knot and this is the best one.

I really understand your frustration. On one of my walking staffs I have a Turk's Head knot that took me two years to figure out. And, if you asked me to tie it again, I'd have to go back to the book (if I can find it) and it will probably take me another two years to tie it again. I've used two knots on my dog leashes. First is a 3 lead, 4 Bight Turk's Head. The other is a Wall and Crown knot. I don't feel the 5L4B knot would work very well on the dog leash. The 3L4B knot works OK, but I have to tie it separately on the leash. The Wall and Crown can be pulled out as an extention of the leash. I'm ambidexterous so I can understand the left handed side. If you contact me via my website - send an e-mail to the "contact me" and I might be able to give you some help. Oh, and the second language of all knot tyers is profanity. Hope this helps.

If you’re just starting out tying turks heads, it can be frustrating. The leads will move out of place unless you know how to hold the knot while tying. The first TH I tied took 12 tries before I did it correctly. Requires a bit of patience early on. The more videos you watch, the better you become at understanding the flow of knots. There are a series of videos @ Knottactical RU-vid which helped me really focus on how a knot TH works. Donald.

Lol I just rage quit 5 times