Rat-tail splice

Okay kiddo, so have you ever seen two ropes tied together to make one big long rope? That's called a splice. The rat-tail splice is a special way to do it that makes the two ropes stick together super duper well!

First, you take the two ropes you want to join and make sure the ends are flat and even. Then, you take a needle and some really strong thread and thread the needle through the middle of the two ropes, so the needle goes in between them.

Next, you wrap the thread around each rope, going over one and under the other, and tie it super tight. This makes the two ropes stick together really well.

Then, you take a special tool called a fid (it sounds like "feed") and stick it in between the two ropes. You push it all the way through, so the fid is sticking out the other side.

When you pull the fid out, it leaves a little hole in the two ropes. You take the end of one of the ropes and push it into that hole, and then do the same thing with the other rope so they're both sticking out of the hole.

Finally, you tie the two ends of the ropes together with a special knot called a crown knot, and then wrap the whole thing with even more thread.

And voila! You've made a rat-tail splice, which is a really strong way to join two ropes together. Isn't that cool?