# The Ashley Book of Knots by Clifford Ashley

8 Hacker News commenters recommended The Ashley Book of Knots by Clifford Ashley and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as a comprehensive, authoritative catalog of knots, illustrated by a marine painter. Critics say it is less useful for learning to tie knots.

## Why people recommend it

- Comprehensive catalog of knots (3 comments): "Beautifully illustrated; the author, Clifford Ashley, was a marine painter and spent decades documenting almost 4,000 knots." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46909017)) "Ashley is the canonical list of knots, so it's good for people who haven't heard of ABOK" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48405553)) "if one wants something comprehensive" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48904918))
- Authoritative reference on knots (2 comments): "his work from over 80 years ago is still the authoritative source on the subject" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46911190)) "widely considered the reference on knot tying, if a little dated" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46854139))

## What people warn about

- Less useful for learning to tie (1 comments): "It is a wonderful catalog, but I don't find it to be as useful for learning to tie the actual knots" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46916923))
- Somewhat dated (1 comments): "widely considered the reference on knot tying, if a little dated" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46854139))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Encyclopaedia Britannica](https://hackerapproved.com/p/encyclopedia-britannica.md): 29 recommend
- [507 Mechanical Movements by Henry T. Brown](https://hackerapproved.com/p/507-mechanical-movements.md): 12 recommend
- [World Book Encyclopedia by World Book](https://hackerapproved.com/p/world-book-encyclopedia.md): 5 recommend
- [The Atlas of Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad](https://hackerapproved.com/p/atlas-of-middle-earth.md): 5 recommend
- [Trucker's atlas](https://hackerapproved.com/p/trucker-s-atlas.md): 5 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385425546?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780385425544) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Ashley Book of Knots by Clifford Ashley", https://hackerapproved.com/p/ashley-book-of-knots/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).