Tools For The Best Life Possible^TM

I used to love chewing gum. Something about it is soothing. I’m one of those who keeps their hands busy tying knots, flipping coins, throwing a yo-yo or rolling chinese yin-yang balls. Chewing gum hits that spot when hands aren’t free.

Yeah, the sugar in the gum is bad, but, it beats a cigarette all day long.

Back to the Good Ole’ Days

As unappealing as some of the ingredients are these were the good old days:

It all came to an end for me with the invasion of the the pink, blue and yellow stuff lovingly called sugar substitutes:

• Pink is Sweet & Low which is saccharin where anthranilic acid successively reacts with nitrous acid, sulfur dioxide, chlorine, and then ammonia to yield saccharin (Yummy!).
• Blue is Equal which is aspartame derived from the amino acids L-aspartic acid and L-phenylalanine and breaks down into formaldehyde, formic acid and DKP (Ghostly delicious!).
• Yellow is Splenda which is dextrose, maltodextrin and sucrose where food chemists substitute chlorine atoms for three hydrogen-oxygen groups on the sucrose molecule (Why chew water when you can slurp down chlorine?).

Turns out the Blue stuff lost market share to the yellow stuff because the yellow stuff still tastes sweet when heated. Guess it’s back to the drawing board for the blue team.

Sugar substitutes, like stevia, are good for diabetes, hypertension and obesity. Stevia doesn’t cause an insulin spike like sugar and is a near perfect solution to the obscene amount of sugar consumed by the average person. But, the calorie cutting aspect of sugar substites in gum is trivial. Most people burn the 15 calories of sugar in a stick of gum in the very act of chewing it.

Can there be any doubt that sugar is the more healthy choice among these Frankenstein sugar creatures?

Xylitol to the Rescue?

Xylitol. That’s the sweet stuff that gets rid of harmful bacteria in the mouth, right?

Gee, maybe it does kill harmful bacteria in the mouth. But, not so fast. According to Dr. Jim Humphries many dogs have died of liver disease as a result of xylitol poisoning. He advises keeping children’s chewable vitamins and candies (Ok for the kids, you see) away from dogs.

As for humans, Dr. Russell Blaylock says studies have shown that xylitol can cause damage to brain cells in his September 2008 Blaylock Wellness Report.

Without delving further I think it’s IX-NAY on the Xylitol-NAY.

SteviaDent?

Awesome: A gum sweetened with the natural herb Stevia. What could be better?

SteviaDent has Xylitol in addition to stevia extract.

Other Ingredients in SteviaDent: maltitol, gum base (i.e. original latex from sapodilla trees), xylitol, natural flavoring (peppermint oil, menthol), gum arabic, lecithin, glycerin, carnauba wax, beeswax.

Bubblelicious Burst?

Better than most, but, what’s up with the BHT? BHT and BHA prevent rancidity at the expense of being carcinogenic for the gum chewer.

INGREDIENTS: Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Gum Base, Invert Sugar, Water, Artificial and Natural Flavoring, Soy Lecithin, Glycerin, Corn Oil, Red 40 Lake, BHT (to maintain freshness) and Red 40.

Come On, Bazooka!

Now, we’re talking. For me, Bazooka is the very symbol of the good ole’ days. Surely they just kept stamping out this classic bubble gum and we can pop one for a trip back in the time machine?

Ingredients for Bazooka:
Sugar, gum base, corn syrup, natural and artificial flavors, citric acid, softeners, red 40 lake, red 40, BHT (preservative).

Yikes! Foiled again. Hey, I was just a kid. For all I know it always had BHT.

Peelu

You may have seen this one at the health food stores. I opted out because of the Titanium Dioxide.

Ingredients:
Sorbitol, Gum Base, Maltitol Syrup, Natural Oil of Spearmint, Lecithin, Peelu Extract, Titanium Dioxide, Resinous Glaze, Carnauba Wax. Does not contain Sugar.

Last Gum Standing

So much for the old days. It’s down to the last gum still standing: Ginseng gum.

Ginseng Gum

There’s a warning for pregnant women, but, with immune system benefits and a nice minty taste this one might be worth the risk.

Ingredients: Sugar, Chewing Gum Base, Glucose, Corn Syrup, Glycerine, Gelatine, Sucrose Fatty Acid Ester, Ginseng Extract, Ginseng Powder, D-Sorbitol, Licorice, Peppermint Flavor, Propylene Glycol, Persimmon Juice Concentrated.

Note the corn syrup, propylene glycol and sucrose fatty acid ester and keep it away from your pregnant wife.

Like I said . . . I used to love chewing gum

As said in Three Knots and the Truth it’s incredible what can be done with three knots: The Bowline, Buntline and double sheet bend. If you’re content to learn only these three then get two pieces of rope and start practicing. For those who want to learn more it’s helpful to take a step back and look at the big picture.

There are knots for everything. However, almost every one of the thousands of knots invented do one of five things. They:

1. Stop – Stop rope from passing through a hole or to stop strands from unlaying.
2. Bind – Bind objects to other objects.
3. Loop – Put a loop in the middle or the end of a rope.
4. Bend – Joins the ends of two ropes together.
5. Hitch – Attach a rope to an object.

To optimize your time I propose learning the best single knot for each of these five functions before learning many knots that do the same thing. In other words . . .

Go Wide Before Deep

You’re better off doing more with fewer knots than learning many ways to do the same thing. For reasons of memory, time and spatial confusion I’ve ordered the following practice list to cover the widest range of function with the fewest number of knots.

When you’ve got a minute practice these knots, in order. If you can tie one easily then go to the next knot. If you’re stuck on one it’s best to master it before moving on. Knots that you can tie easily are much more valuable that knots you can’t remember.

These 24 knots represent a lifetime competence list. Your ability to improvise rope solutions will be quite incredible with just the first seven knots. Don’t feel you must get to the end of this list to be competent.

A Note on Choices

The following knots are from my real life experience from the vantage point of a generalist. They are not activity specific. My choices favor knots that are most useful, strong, secure (Won’t slip), stable (Won’t capsize), easy to tie and untie though few have every one of those characteristics. No knot is perfect.

Practice Materials

All you need is two pieces of rope. Get 12 feet of small rope at the hardware store and cut it in half. Pick up a carabiner while you’re there.

Web

You can watch each knot being tied on the web.

Book

My favorite knot book is DK’s Handbook of Knots by Des Pawson. It’s compact, comprehensive, the pictures are clear and the plastic covering and glossy pages don’t run when they get wet.

Wallet Cards

I used to carry these waterproof knot cards when boating. Now, I practice from memory, learn new knots from the DK book or the iphone apps, below.

Phone Apps

John Sherry’s animated version of the wallet cards is slick, but, doesn’t have enough knots. I purchased the full version of the winkpass knot guide because it’s the most comprehensive. If you prefer video over slides then the full version of knot time is good though with less knots than the winkpass. I purchased both (For a total of $5) just to have the same knots tied from two points of view. Both apps advertise they intend to keep adding knots.

References

International Guild of Knot Tyers

IGKT Discussion on Best of Breed Knots

Knots on the Web

Knots for Life – Part 1: Three Knots and the Truth

Stay tuned for "Knots for Life – Part 3 and 4":

• Knots for Life – Part 3: Improvisation and Rules of Thumb
• Knots for Life – Part 4: Real Life Examples