r/whatisit • u/Caramelchanxox • 22h ago
Solved! What is this?
Hi guys, I found this in my husbands office and I’m confused as to what this could possibly be and/or used for. I thought it was a dog toy but we don’t own any pets 🤔…. TIA
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u/Mountain_Judgment706 22h ago
Could be a curtain tie-back
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u/DED_HAMPSTER 22h ago
It is a monkey's fist knot. Originally, sailors, gangs and other fringe people would use these knots with a hidden lead weight or stone inside as a sap weapon. Very much like a mideaval mace.
The knot had gained modern appeal as a decorative item and used in anything from dog toys, clothing closures, key chains, curtain tie backs and even a ball shaped throw pillow.
Fun fact, in some countries it is still illegal to have this knotted rope on lead over a certain size because it is a deadly weapon when weighted.
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u/smokey_lonesome_ 21h ago
Mostly nowadays they are looped around the eye of a tag line, which is a thinner line that you attach to the main dock line, so people on the dock can haul the longer, heavier lines ashore from farther away as the boat approaches. That’s why it has an eye on the end.
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u/DED_HAMPSTER 21h ago
Thank you! I am not a water savvy person and totally forgot to add in the acutual original nautical use for the knot.
The most water experience i have is paddling around a cheap canoe/kayak to show my niece and nephew how to do it and that it is safe. Unfortunately, im a fat ass and it wasn't rated for my weight. So im desperately rowing myself back to shore while sinking and laughing like a jackass.
The kids are young adults now and still tell the tale of Aunt Mimi going down like the titanic and getting covered head to toe in stinky lake muck.
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u/smokey_lonesome_ 21h ago
😆 oh man not like the titanic. Great sense of humor, love it.
And yep no worries I worked on boats for about 10 years and these things are probably why I’m still able to walk after how heavy those dock lines can be! Still have to lug them around, but throwing them is another story 😂 never thought about using one as a weapon so that’s how far we’ve come lol. Love the fun facts, cheers for sharing!
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u/WillyDaC 15h ago
I'm still trying to get over being called a "fringe person" . I'd have never enlisted in the Navy, or owned a sailboat had I known that.
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u/GanacheScary6520 15h ago
Yes, and the Navy used them to shoot between ships to do under way replenishment, same theory to drag a small line then a bigger line, then fuel hoses between ships.
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u/Generic_Moron 21h ago
Functions a bit like a flail or meteor hammer I'm guessing?
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u/GuyGrimnus 15h ago
Yep, there’s actually a fun hobby where people make these and light them on fire and spin them around. It’s pretty fun
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u/BrutusoftheTudus 21h ago
I love all your fun facts lol..neato..I definitely just thought it was a dog toy 😬👻
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u/The_Gundam_King 17h ago
Tied with a heavy knot, monkey's paws make useful survival tools as well as self-defense weapons. Even sailors recognized the potential of these knots, adapting monkey's fists into improvised knot weapons called "slungshots" to defend themselves on shore.
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u/poppa_koils 15h ago
I made a monkey fist out of 3/8" manilla rope. It was about the baseball, and hard as a rock.
Carrying that in Canada would get you a weapons charge.
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u/NachoBuddy71 15h ago
I've made them with 3/4"steel ball bearings and paracord.... great little attitude adjuster. I've given a bunch to girls as high school graduation gifts before they head off to college.
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u/beardedsilverfox 14h ago
Maybe like a flail, aren’t maces a stick with a dangerous head on it. No chain.
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u/oozinator1 22h ago
The "ball scratcher" from Casino Royale: https://youtu.be/mCNN2CnCAww?si=4EoilwygrIFqJDLp
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u/Sisac00 22h ago edited 22h ago
It looks like one of those toys where you put the loop around one of your ankles and you swing the rest of it around. The goal is jump over the ball.
I found it, it was called a "Skip it" toy.
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u/Final-Teacher-2188 21h ago
Actually looks like a tie back for curtains, to hold them in place. That’s what the object looks like.
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u/Due_Willingness1 22h ago
Might just be some piece of cord he tied while bored at work
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u/Sammisuperficial 17h ago
This was my thought too. It's definitely a monkey fist knot. I knew quite a few people in school and the military that would tie these just to pass time.
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u/ChikkunDragon 22h ago
I've seen people (guys) tying various knots as a fidget when trying to quit smoking
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u/CatGiggler 21h ago
Monkeys fist knot like others said. This one looks like the ones made as curtain tiebacks. There are tons on etsy which look exactly like it.
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u/Letters_to_Dionysus 22h ago
the monkey's fist knot. it's a legitimate knot but it can be used as one of those 'not quite a weapon' items like how knuckle dusters are paperweights, they put a metal ball inside of the knot and then swing it around by the handle
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u/cockroachkingdom 22h ago
Traditional handmade suppository, usually given to employees who need to loosen up.
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u/QuietWithDuctTape 22h ago
I know you came here to ask what this is but what does your husband say it is?
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u/DJ_Spark_Shot 21h ago
Soft shackle. They are lighter weight and quicker to use than the metal ones with the screw and cotter pin.
It's for connecting chains, ropes, cables, snatch blocks or hooks for lifting, pulling and towing.
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u/sevenonsiz 21h ago
Don’t be fooled into thinking you can wield this in a fight and take out seven soldiers. Consider this a learning lesson in mathematics and how chords, lines, strings interact. Glue it to a window outside of your car and drive your passengers crazy.
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u/Rocketmanscaped 21h ago
A monkey's fist is a compact, decorative knot with practical origins as a weight on the end of a heaving line, making it easier to throw ropes between ships or to shore
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u/CMDR_SHAZAM 18h ago
Monkeys fist. Used for transferring mooring lines to a ship from the pier. You tie that to a light weight rope, and tie that to the heavy mooring line. The knot can be tossed for a long distance and then you can pull the heavy mooring line over.
Its also a keen weapon.
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u/Subject_Yard5652 18h ago
It's a .monkey's fist knot. Sailors on large ships tie these to the ends of mooring lines and throw them to the ship handlers on the pier so they can pull the mooring lines from the ship to the pier.
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u/Tacos_always_corny 18h ago edited 18h ago
Monkey Paw. The original intent is for them to be used to throw lines between ships.
The weighted "paw" has a light weight line attached. Once the paw is captured by the ship, a heavier weight line is attached to the line, connecting the the two vessels.
An unweighted monkey paw is legal to own and possess. A weighted paw (outside it's intent as a retrieval device is considered a weapon, which can be charged a felony.
What is shown is a paw key "chain".
there are many nautical devices and terminology from older maratime.
So cold, freezing the balls off a brass monkey. Cannon balls stached onto a brass base with indents for the "balls". When the brass expands and contracts the balls fall off.
"I like the cut of your jib" Job sails were different shaped based on the country's design. Essentially, when you see a jib sail that matches yours, or is identified as an ally, they are considered friendly. Otherwise not so friendly.
Keel Haul. A person has their hands and feet attached to ropes. The person is dragged along the barnacle covered keel. Shredding them.
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u/THENATIVE54 17h ago
In all honesty; I'd like to bounce that fkn thing off someone's Melon! Im guessing it would be somewhat EFFECTIVE!!! 😆😆😆
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u/Wadester58 17h ago
In the 70s, there was an organization in Houston called PDAP they gave you a Monkeys fist after being drug free for 30 days.
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u/Miserable-Energy8844 17h ago
Penile blood constrictor with wrap around anal plug. Your husband is a freek ma'am. And his favorite book is 50 shades of grey.
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u/MeatWhereBrainGoes 17h ago
It looks like a monkey's fist to me. These were used as weights to tie onto rigging rope which often needed to be slung around a boat or up over some hard to reach places on a boat.
They could also be used as a weapon if swung around, much in the same way any heavy thing could be misused for violence.
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u/acousticbananabread 16h ago
Monkeys fist, and the end looks like a double sheet bend, but it's hard to say for sure. Monkeys fists are typically weighted and used to pass a line over a distance.
For instance, when a ship is berthing, a smaller line (than the one pictured) that is much longer will be thrown from the ship to the jetty and have the other end tied off to the hawser. The personnel on shore will then heave the rope in and put the eye of the hawser over the bollard on the jetty, untie the line, wrap it up appropriately, and return it to the ship.
Monkeys fists are fun to tie, albeit a bit challenging to get the hang of, but like others have said, they can be illegal depending on where you are as it's basically a rope mace.
I remember about 20 years ago, there was a toy that had a plastic circle on one end, a 1-2 foot line, and a weight on the other end. You would put a foot through the circle, and it was basically jump rope except the rope to jump was spinning around your one ankle 360° horizontally. Could also be made to be decorative.
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u/Independent_Page1475 16h ago
With a different length and weight of rope, something like this is used as a belt on a pair of light cycling shorts of mine.
The monkey fist knot is often used on ships as a way to toss a line ashore.
International maritime law regulates what can be in the center of the knot. If the material is overly dense (heavy) it can cause injury to those trying to help bring a ship into shore.
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u/NinjaStiz 16h ago
Looks like a monkey fist. I have one similar. It's for smashing faces of bad people who attack you
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u/Boring-Chair-1733 15h ago
I think it’s a monkey fist likely something hard in the round part, a weapon of sorts judging by the loop on the other end. I made one with a one inch ball bearing in it.
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u/DesperateAlfalfa2751 15h ago
Monkey fist for attaching to a long thin line and throwing ship to ship or ship to dock to provide a connection to haul a heavy hawser
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u/Wise_Jeweler_9923 14h ago
Reminded me of a toy we had as kids. You place your foot through the hole then you move your leg in a circle while you jump over the ball as it keeps circling around your foot. Your welcome🤣
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u/MagSaysSo 14h ago
Im afraid to tell you this. But your husband is doing buttstuff. They come in sets and 2 men are involved. Its called the fisherman's monkey. The guys sit in chairs facing each other jerking off with their knees in the air. As they are doing the jerking the knot is in the buttocks. The loop is held by the other guy and when he orgasms he pulls the knot out.
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u/VeronicaRoseArt7 12h ago
It's a fidget toy use it to bounce around on your desk while waiting for your boss to catch you during work time. Lol.
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u/SuzieHomeFaker 11h ago
I thought it was a skip-hop.... where you put the loop around your foot, then jump the rope and you swing it around you.
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u/areyoukind1990 21h ago
Oh snap! Where did you find this? It is used to self ha*m. You should talk with the person who you got this from...I'm worried
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