Monkeyfist - How to make a monkey fist knot for a fire poi

Monkey Fist Knot

How to make a monkey fist knot

Animation of how to make a monkey fist knot

The monkey fist knot is another way of making a fire head. The spherical shape give the best volume to surface ratio when using an adsorbent core. However the knot should have a rigid core inserted within to keep the knot from flexing and coming undone. A non flexing anchor should be used to attach the chains to the core as this prevents friction against the rope edges, however wick can be additionally protected with some PVA (white school glue). The two ends of the cord used to make the knot are cut flush with the knot and secured to the core.

Pros:

Appearance of a fire meteor
Can use wire or bolt assembly
Improved capillary effect for fuel traveling within the rope to all edges
Less flexibility improves wick life

Cons:

Not as easy to make as the animation shows. Requires a lot of strength to pull knot tight.
A few feet of rope is left unused after tightening the knot.
Quite a hard object to hit your body.

Example recipe:

12ftt x 3/8" Kevlar ® rope wick per fire head (once tightened you will have 4ft left outside of the knot)
1 x wooden core 1 1/4" diameter per head
1 x 3/16" eyebolt with nuts and lock nuts per head

Example recipe#2:

16ft x 1/2" Kevlar ® rope wick per fire head (once tightened you will have 5ft left outside of the knot)
1 x wooden core 1 3/4" diameter per head
1 x 3/16" eyebolt with nuts and lock nuts per head

Items to make out of a monkeyfist knot

Monkey Fist Ropes

Many people want to make unique monkeyfist knots using KEVLAR® (for setting on fire), ultra bright or UV colours (that glow under ultraviolet/blacklight). These ropes have been hard to find in the past.
A good selection of quality ropes can be found here Poylester ropes, KEVLAR® ropes, Cords