When I learned to tie a tie knot, I knew absolutely nothing about this science. My father masterfully mastered this skill, and not only I, but also numerous neighbors came to him with a request. Slowly, clearly performing certain movements, he quickly gave out the finished product, a tied tie. Later, by chance, an article in a newspaper about tie knots, their names and step-by-step tying technology fell into my hands. I learned that my father knitted a “double windsor” and there are many more different knots. Today, once again packing a bag of fish, I catch myself thinking that I do it automatically. Every movement is worked out and clearly calibrated. When buying fish from time to time in a store or in the market, one often has to observe awkward movements with a bag and an elastic band, which are made by the seller or the buyers themselves. Everyone knows that there is a technology for transporting fish in special plastic bags. This is a dense and sealed plastic bag with an aspect ratio of 1:3. It is filled with water less than 1/3, a little less than 2/3 of the bag remains for air. Next, the package is tied with a rubber band and is ready to travel.
rubber band
The most common gum we have is colored Chinese gum, although I had to work with pure rubber gum (it is more elastic), but it is less common on sale.
rubber band
You will need one such elastic band, it is enough. If you want to play it safe and double (triple) the reliability of the knot, you can take two, three or more elastic bands.
Before tying a knot, the elastic must be stretched several times as shown in the photo above. This procedure will give elasticity to the elastic band and it will not often tear in the hands, offensively clicking on the fingers.
Knot
I'll start with the one I don't like. I call him "dead". In my opinion, putting such a knot on a bag is extremely inconvenient. But it is precisely this method of tying that many practitioners resort to. "Dead" is because it does not fall off by itself when untying the package and this, in my opinion, is inconvenient. I drew an analogy from shoelaces: they can be tied with a bow, or you can use a “dead knot”. To untie such a knot, you need to suffer.
Mortgage under the "dead knot"
The knot I use is the knot knot.
It is tied as follows: the center is very approximately determined, the elastic is gathered at the edges and pressed against the base.
Then one end is threaded into the loop of the other end. The result is a noose knot.
Grasping the free end, we begin rotational, tightening movements around the package, in the direction from the bottom gum.
As a rule, four turns are enough.
And three final turns on the package header.
Three turns and release the elastic. Done, the impromptu package is tied. If you look closely at the details, then the entire knot is divided into three parts: the first knot is a noose, this part allows you to gain a foothold on the package; the second part of the cross turn to go to the third part; and the third part is three cap rings for fixing the folding part of the package.
Having studied the materiel, we pick up a bag, fill it with water and try to tie it ourselves.
All kinds of water additives designed to provide more comfortable transportation conditions are a topic for a separate discussion. These additives include activated charcoal, all kinds of conditioners from simple ones like methylene blue to complex ones, such as conditioners from Tetra, Sera and others, widely found in pet stores. In the arsenal of aquarists, there are also anti-stress drugs.
It is important to ventilate the bag: to do this, squeeze out all the air that is already in it and unfold the bag again. Avoid the temptation to blow into the bag. Together with the air, carbon dioxide will also get there, the solubility in water of which is much higher than the solubility of oxygen. Grab the bag with your free hand at the very top.
Holding the bag from above, wrap the bottom part around its axis. The first twist will close the air in the bag. It remains for you to secure the knot of the package by wrapping the package a couple more times. As a result, the package is closed. It remains to tie an elastic band, which must first be kneaded, as already mentioned above.
We put an elastic band on two fingers, make a loop, tighten it and twist it.
Three or four turns of the rubber band is enough. Next, twist the remaining strap of the package to the end, bend and press it to the main post.
I want to clarify that the air in the bag is not held by an elastic band, but by a hermetically sealed bag. The elastic band only fixes tied in the right position.
Turn the elastic and three turns around the bend. All. You can go.
The knot on the package can be seen in the photo above. In such a package, the fish can stay for 20-60 minutes, depending on the size of the fish, its quantity in the bag, the ambient air temperature, the type of fish, etc. If the road is not over, and the fish are not visually well, you should repack. Packages come in different sizes, manufacturers and firms. But this does not change the essence of the matter.
Unpacking the package is nowhere easier. Pulled on the tail, the knot freed itself and before my eyes there was a free noose, which was much easier to untie than a “dead knot”.
Some difficulties may arise during the packaging of the package. For example, you can not intercept the package so that air remains in it.
This is also not a problem. Take the hose from the compressor (the one that creates air bubbles in your aquarium) and inflate the bag with this air. It's okay if you spend a little more time packing, but your fish will have a better chance of arriving at their destination safe and sound. If the fish need to move the road lasting more than 20-60 minutes, then just tying the bag is not enough. The bag needs to be filled with oxygen. Filling with oxygen is the best option in any case. Sometimes there are problems with the delivery of fish even in Minsk. A package with two liters of water for 25-30 individuals is enough for only 30-35 minutes, and then the fish fall asleep, just lie down on the bottom and die.
Oxygen is not a problem. The main thing is to know where to look. In my practice, there was a case when the fish had to move the road for about 12-14 hours. Oxygen in cylinders of 1 l and 2 l is sold at Zhdanovichi. But I was looking for a place where I could fill the bag with oxygen, since it seemed inappropriate to buy a whole cylinder of oil explosive gas, in the amount of two liters for $ 40 for a single filling of the bag. After that, the Lexx Ball method was born. Oxygen is used very widely, including gas cutting. At any service station, you can be asked to fill an ordinary balloon with oxygen, and when packing a bag with fish, fill it not with ordinary air, but with oxygen from the balloon when it is convenient. This is just a thought, the scope of oxygen is much wider. And storing oil-explosive gas (oxygen) at home is not always advisable.
Before a long journey, it is advisable not to feed the fish for at least a day. If an adult copy is possible and more. Nothing bad will happen if an adult fish sits on a diet for a couple of days.
I hope that my story will be useful to someone.
Do you think that plastic bags left over from shopping will soon fill the entire space in the drawer under the sink? They take up a lot of space and create so much garbage that they are being banned in many parts of the world. However, it's not uncommon for people to choose to reuse packages and keep them instead of throwing them away. If you want to save your bags and get rid of the mess they create at the same time, the smartest thing to do is learn how to stack them neatly so they take up less space. This article will introduce you to the best methods by which you can give your packages a compact form. And when you need the packages, you can easily deploy them.
Steps
Fold the package into a triangle
Flatten the bag until flat. If you are folding a T-shirt bag, make sure the handles are parallel to each other. Try to straighten the handles as much as possible, as they will also play an important role when you fold the bag into a triangle.
- It is easiest to flatten the bag on a hard, flat surface, such as a kitchen worktop.
- With sufficient dexterity, you can try to straighten the package on weight, and not on a flat surface. Keep in mind that it's not easy, so don't be discouraged if you fail. In any case, later you can try to do it again when you have a little more experience.
- Try to expel excess air from the bag as much as possible. To do this, run your hands along it in the direction from the bottom up.
Start by lining up the sides of the bag (if you're folding a T-shirt bag, line up the handles). Fold the bag again, now aligning the previous fold with the sides of the bag. Continue folding the bag further, folding it in half lengthwise each time (if you are folding a T-shirt bag, stop when the resulting strip is approximately equal in width to the handles of the bag). You should end up with a narrow rectangular strip.
- Remember to flatten the bag and expel excess air from it after each additional fold. The flatter it becomes, the easier it will be for you to fold it into a triangle.
- The number of longitudinal folds will depend on the size of the bag and the shape of its handles. Usually only two or three folds are required.
Bend diagonally the bottom corner of the rectangular strip. Select the bottom corner through which the last longitudinal fold passes. Bend it diagonally, pulling the strip to the opposite side and forming a triangle.
- Smooth and straighten the resulting triangle.
- At this stage, the package will look like a rectangle that has one adjacent side with an isosceles triangle (on the smaller side).
Wrap the formed triangle up onto the strip to get a new triangle. Take the loose bottom corner of the triangle and fold it up into a rectangular strip, converting the adjacent line between the old triangle and the rectangle into a new fold.
- The outer contours of the polyethylene strip will again take on the shape of a narrow rectangle.
- The technique used here is similar to the triangle-folding of the American flag.
Continue folding the strip on adjacent sides with the triangle. Repeat the last two steps, gradually winding the strip around the triangle. Work almost to the very end of the strip (or bag handles). Remember to leave a small end of the strip for the final fold.
- With each new fold, you will get new isosceles triangles stacked on top of each other.
- Do not forget to straighten and smooth the package after each next fold. If the triangle is too puffy, it will not hold the folded shape well.
Tuck the remaining end of the strip inside the folded triangle. Make the last fold by wrapping the tip of the strip around the triangle. Slip it into the pocket formed by the previous triangles. As always, flatten the bag after each fold so that it looks neat and holds its shape well.
Repeat the procedure with the rest of the packages and put them away for storage. Fold all other bags into triangles. Now they take up noticeably less space and will be easier to store. They can be put away anywhere, for example, beautifully placed in a basket on the kitchen countertop or simply thrown into a drawer under the sink. The decision is yours alone.
To use a package, simply expand it. No matter how cute triangular bags are, they should not be used in this form. If you need a bag, take a triangle and release the end of the rolled strip from it. Grasp this edge and simply shake the bag to fully unfold it. Depending on how tightly you rolled the package, you may need to try a little to unfold it.
Tie the package in a knot
Fold the bag lengthwise. To tie a bag in a knot, you must first roll it into a narrow strip. In this case, it does not matter how exactly to orient the handles of the T-shirt bag in front of you. To collapse a package, simply follow the steps below.
- Lay the bag flat on a hard, flat surface. Run your hands over the bag to get as much air out of it as possible. The flatter the package becomes, the smaller the finished knot will turn out from it.
- Fold the bag in half lengthwise to form an elongated rectangle. As before, unfold and flatten the bag.
- Fold the bag in half again. This time it will become an even narrower rectangle. Continue folding the bag in half lengthwise until the plastic layers begin to offer some resistance to your hands. Do not forget to smooth out each next fold.
Bend the resulting strip across in half. Fold the strip in half across to make it shorter. Now you should have a narrow rectangle in your hands, which is two times shorter than the original length of the package.
- Check the plasticity of the resulting strip by wrapping it around your finger. If the strip is too elastic for this, then it is too elastic to tie it in a knot. In this case, straighten the transverse fold and unfold one or two longitudinal folds. Then again bend the strip across in half and test for plasticity.
Form a small loop from the shortened strip. Place the loop about 2.5 cm from the last fold on the strip. The loop should be large enough for two of your fingers to fit through. Make sure the folded end is on top and the longer one (and possibly uneven due to the handles) is below it.
Hello to all DIY lovers!
The fact is that in our everyday life, we literally deal with various plastic bags every day. I mean regular thin, transparent plastic bags.
We constantly have to clean and store some things in them at home. In addition, when shopping in stores and markets, many products (especially sold by weight), such as vegetables, fruits, sweets, biscuits, etc., are also packed in plastic bags.
But the most important thing is that when tying these packages, we basically use a simple knot as one.
The photo below shows an example of tying a simple knot. Moreover, for clarity, a simple knot tied at the end of a rope is shown on the left, and a knot tied on a plastic bag is shown on the right. Moreover, in this photo, the nodes are shown in an unstretched form.
So, the fact is that a simple knot has one very big advantage - it fits very simply. This is perhaps the easiest knot among all (hence, by the way, its name) and it is easy to tie it, even the smallest child can.
However, this is literally the only advantage of a simple knot, because everything else is its disadvantages.
And one of its biggest drawbacks is that a simple knot is very tight, so that it becomes very difficult to untie it later.
The photo below shows the same simple knots in a tightened form.
And indeed, it probably won’t be an exaggeration to say that there is probably not a single person on the entire globe who at least once did not have to suffer pretty much, untying a very tightened simple knot on some kind of rope.
But in reality, literally each of us in our entire lives has to suffer, untying a simple knot more than a dozen times.
And moreover, we, ordinary people, who very rarely deal with ropes, mostly have to deal with simple knots tied precisely on plastic bags.
And indeed, which of us has not had to, bringing food from the store packed in plastic bags, suffer for several minutes, cursing and breaking our nails, trying to untie a simple knot on the neck of the package, tied and tightly tightened by the "caring" seller.
That is why, I want to advise everyone to use not a simple knot for tying packages, but a knot called the "eight".
The photo below shows an example of a tied (but not tightened) figure-eight knot, at the end of the rope and at the neck of a plastic bag.
I must say that this knot has been known to mankind since ancient times. It is also one of the so-called "marine knots", since it has been used in maritime affairs since ancient times.
The figure-eight knot is tied, also quite simply. At first, it is knitted in the same way as a simple one, with the only difference that the tip of the rope or bag is not immediately threaded into the loop, but is wrapped around the loop itself again and after that it is already threaded into it. At the same time, in an unstretched form, this knot really resembles the number 8 (see photo above), which is why the name of the knot actually came from.
Learning how to tie this knot is quite simple, you just need to practice a few times with it viscous at the end of the rope.
So, the fact is that the figure-eight knot has one remarkable feature. Even with a strong tightening, it is very easy to untie.
The photo below shows this knot in a tightened form.
And here it is even tighter.
However, even with very strong tightening, this knot is always easy to untie in just a couple of seconds.
That is why, I recommend everyone to use for tying plastic bags not a simple knot, but a figure-eight knot.
Suffice it to say that I personally have been using the figure-eight for tying packages for about twenty years, and during all this time I have not only never regretted, but I never cease to constantly admire this knot.
So tie the packages with a figure eight, and I assure you that you will not regret it!
I just have one dream, but it seems unrealizable. I wish we could teach all the shop assistants who tie plastic bags how to use the figure-eight knot too!
Well, that's all! All the best and all the best!