Poor ropemaking technique for bowstring

From BearWiki

Claim: Bear does a lousy job of making rope for his bowstring in Ecuador.

Bear demonstrates poor knowledge of basic survival techniques when he makes his bowstring in Ecuador. He holds up his strand, and then, according to him, "braids" it. All he does is twist the two strands around each other. This is improper cordage making. Such a "simple" wrap is not self-tensioned (i.e., if you untwist part of it, it won't re-twist. You have to secure both ends at all times, or it will untwist itself. Lastly, it's weak and doesn't tolerate damage well; it's the tension of a tight twist that provides the friction that holds fibers together. If there is significant tension, even when a fiber breaks, not only does it not encourage breaks in adjacent fibers, but the remaining pieces of the broken fiber continue to provide tensile strength.

The proper method of making rope is called a "reverse wrap", and it is no more difficult than the so-called "braiding" that Bear improvised. Instead of "braiding" the ends around each other, you twist them individually, having each hand twist in the opposite direction). The rope will begin to kink in the middle and coil up further and further. This is your rope. Optimally, you start with two fibers or two twisted bundles of fibers held adjacent to each other and twisted together. When one fiber or bundlee runs out on one end, you feed in another into the wrapping. Once it gets caught in the "kink", it becomes bound in place, and would rather break than slip free. A single overhand knot or threading the loose ends back into the rope makes the rope unable to unravel.

[edit] Analysis

Support: It's pretty obvious that Bear didn't know any better, and just made up what he thought looked right.

Oppose: Nevertheless it did work to help him catch fish to eat. Therefore the bowstring served its purpose.

Support: It did no such thing; the rope was replaced by a proper one.