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Lasso (Read 2549 times)
english
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Lasso
Apr 9th, 2004 at 4:56pm
 
Does anyone here know how to lasso?  I have a lasso, and I can do a few basic tricks; flat loops, etc.  But I was wondering if anyone knew anything about this particular piece of equipment?
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Hobb
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Re: Lasso
Reply #1 - Apr 9th, 2004 at 5:26pm
 
I worked on a ranch for a while as a kid.  I had a lasso, as did three other boys on the ranch, but I only got it a couple of months before I left, and there wasn't much time for playing around (the ranch kept it after I'd gone).  All I remember is:
1:  If you want to rope something, the bigger the noose, the better.
2:  Hold both the noose and the line, near the knot (those aren't the proper terms, I've long forgotten those).
3:  We twirled ours like mad before throwing, but I'm pretty sure that's wrong.  I think it's like the sling -- one or two spins to get momentum, then release and follow through.

The "knot" creating the noose was actually a back-spliced and leather-covered loop in the rope itself, so it was all one piece with a sliding loop.  The rope was very stiff, especially at the noose end.  That might have been 'cause they were new, though.  I got to where I could rope my friends, if they were standing still, at the unremarkable distance of ~10-15 feet.  The rope would then drop to their feet and they would calmly step out while I hauled back on the rope and fell over.  One of my friends managed to get a kind of wrist-flick down so he could tighten the noose as it fell over my waist, pinning my arms, but he could only do it once.
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english
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Re: Lasso
Reply #2 - Apr 10th, 2004 at 4:54am
 
Wow.  Where was the ranch?
I believe the various technical terms you are looking for are honda (the knot) and spoke (the left over section that you hold).  My lasso has a proper knot, known as the honda knot, instead of the leather covered rope, and I believe both are acceptable.  In fact, the honda knot is known as the cowboy knot too, and the name honda knot was given because it was used as the honda.  Or maybe the other way around.
The only twirling I do is to create the loop for the flat loop, and then throw it.  The thing is, over twirling it can cause it to become kinked, and so there will no longer be a loop left, merely a collection of kinked sections.  Anyways, looping someone at 10-15 feet is good, because my rope is only 16 feet long.  So at fifteen feet, I would only have a foot circumference loop.  Not going to loop much with that.
Also, the wrist flick is probably not as difficult as it sounds.  You merely send a wave along the spoke, which carries the honda further along, tightening, of course, the noose.  I think also that having a noose too big will cause it to be able to land on someone's feet rather than loop them around the waist.   I have looped someone only once before; around the waist, first time, at a stupidly easy distance of five feet.
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Re: Lasso
Reply #3 - Apr 12th, 2004 at 12:11pm
 
The ranch was in Sublette, Kansas.  This was back in '81, I think.  It was a working ranch/farm but the only thing anybody ever used lariats for was rodeo tricks -- in fact, we got ours from a ranch down the road whose owners/hands were practising for an upcoming rodeo.

As for the knot, the only reason to use a back-splice and sew leather over it is to prolong the life of the rope.  Rope-on-rope friction will tear your rope up, eventually.  For our purposes, either is fine.  These were "professional" quality lariats, probably lots more lasso than we needed for goofing around after dinner.
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