Six-turn San Diego Jam knot

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Six-turn San Diego Jam knot

Author: josh

Published on Wednesday, 03 August 2011 19:18

Written by Josh

When I started playing around with Innovator's Nail knotter tool recently (which I'm now using for mono-to-mono leader-to-line connections) I did a little research on terminal knots along the way and when I typed the words '5 strongest terminal fishing knots' into google I knew it would lead me to something interesting. I wasn't expecting to find something that would influence me to stray from my beloved uni knot, but I did. Part of what attracted me to the Six-turn San Diego jam is it's relative similarity to the uni knot - similar in that in part at least it works on a similar principle. Where I think it improves upon the uni knot is that the tab is locked down at 2 ends instead of one. As discussed by the knots inventor, it improves upon clinch style knots because line wraps are made around 2 lines instead of one. To me it feels a bit like a hybrid between a typical clinch style knot and a uni knot.

I wouldn't say it's quite as easy to tie as a uni knot, nor a basic blood knot (of any description) for that matter, but it's certainly no where near as tricky as something as say, a polamar knot and simple enough to tie on a kayak. It wouldn't be prudent for me to say I fully agree with the claims of this article regarding the holding-power of this knot as I haven't yet used it enough to offer a fair opinion. But based on what I have seen so far, yes, tied properly it does seem to be stronger than a basic uni knot, and certainly stronger than any blood knot I have tried.

What I'm really very interested in finding out is whether or not the Six-turn San Diego jam is in fact stronger than a uni knot tied with a double looped line over the hook eye. An exploratory eye will note that within the comments section of the page dedicated to the 5 strongest terminal fishing knots page I googled up at Field & Stream, is a rather gruff response from someone who claims to have invented what he calls a Fish-N-Fool Knot, stating that it's holding power is more powerful than everything else. The Fish-N-Fool knot, as he goes on to describe, is merely a uni knot with the line wrapped around the eye twice before being tied. This is something I have actually been doing for a while now, without ever having it been shown or even suggested. What I can't work out is why I didn't immediately rush to give it some ridiculous name, and then go on to claim it as all my own. Nor have I thought it to be the ultimate holding-power knot (I really wouldn't know). In any case, below is a diagram of the Six-turn San Diego Jam knot, which despite my limited knowledge on whether or not it does indeed boast the highest holding power, I've quickly learned to tie and appreciate.