Why does everybody carry a rope in Westerns?

[tom deinek]

Watching J Wayne, Sons of K Elder. Everybody has a rope on their horse. I know nothing about horses nor tack.

Did everybody carry a rope on their horse? Surely their were people who didn't need a rope very often.

Is the omnipresent rope for picketing the horse @ night? Is it instead just for sleeping on the ground snakes won't bother you while you sleep? lol

[Dewight]

Though I am a westerner, I am not a cowboy, but I always have a rope in my pick up truck.

[jeepnik]

Rope is a pretty useful thing. Not just for catching horses and cows. I've seen photos of some the things folks carried on their horses and most you'd never seen in a cowboy movie. Everything from coffee pots to bandages (pretty girls in petticoats weren't always around). It's always amazed me how folks riding horses managed to sneak up on some one. I bet it didn't happen too often with all that gear clanging and banging around.

[Tycer]

I have rope, cable and 7 strand paracord in both my vehicles. Fire extinguisher, fixed and folders, sidearm and long guns too. Never really thought about comparing it to westerns.

[Griff]

Ya just never know when you'll run across someone that needs hangin'!

I once went for a 4th of July trail ride on the 4-6s ranch here in Texas. Public event, hosted by the ranch and sponsored in part by the city & county... Most everyone was dressed for the heat of July... it was over 100º that day. I wore all my 1880s cowboy duds, boots, spurs, canvas pants, leather chaps, long sleeved undershirt, dress shirt, vest (I foreswore the coat in deference to the weather), 5" brimmed felt hat, neckerchief, gunbelt, sixgun (badge carrying deputy authorized, wore badge so I didn't get questioned by local police), on my horse I carried a slicker, saddlebags, handcuffs, ticket book (you just never know when someone will demand to be written one of those), rope, shoe pullers, hoof pick, shoein' hammer and nails, canteen, along with some jerky. There was some prize awarded by the local western supply store for the best dressed rider... I won... didn't even know I was entered till they started hollerin' for "that old west cowboy." Dang good BBQ by the way! Oh wait... this is TEXAS!

Just about everyone else was blistered and burnt by the time we reached the luncheon spot... near a gorgeous lake few folks but cowhands ever see (they picked different spots every year), and complainin' about the heat. In line for lunch, this nice young lady in front of me in a bikini top (yep, blistered and burnt) turned around and asked, "... aren't you hot?"

Nope, I was soakin' wet. And, the breeze through all that wet clothing acted like a swamp cooler. Now, stink... yep, I smelled a lot like horse sweat... but... did a LOT of folks! So no one noticed!

[Don McDowell]

Watching J Wayne, Sons of K Elder. Everybody has a rope on their horse. I know nothing about horses nor tack.

Did everybody carry a rope on their horse? Surely their were people who didn't need a rope very often.

Is the omnipresent rope for picketing the horse @ night? Is it instead just for sleeping on the ground snakes won't bother you while you sleep? lol

Yes picketing the horse during the midday break or at the evening stop. Stretch it between a couple of trees/rocks etc hang the ground cloth or slicker over it and have something of a shelter. Tie stuff down... the list would go on.
And yes hands out on the range probably use the rope on a regular basis to catch something that needs catching for doctoring, branding etc.
I don't think I'ld count on a rope keeping a snake out of your bedroll.

[Blaine]

Never rode a horse, but, can't imagine my rig without a rope of some sort....Or, bungees on the motorcycle

[FWiedner]

Depend's on the proximity to larger stores of equipment.

But if you're on your own in the back country and gotta carry everything you might need, or do without... well, there ya go.

Personally, I believe a sturdy piece of rope to be a piece of essential equipment for any outdoor kit, work or play.

Only a good knife might come in more handy.

[Marlin32]

I carry rope(s) in my vehicles, hunting packs etc. Don't have a horse. Pretty handy here in 2013, guessing in the 1800's probably even more useful.

[Hobie]

I don't have a lariat on/in my truck but I have rope AND bungees!

[mikld]

I would think that besides firearms, a rope is one of the most useful pieces of "survival" equipment along with a good knife. But Matt Dillon usually had a shovel handy to bury the bad guys he shot...

[olyinaz]

Ya just never know when you'll run across someone that needs hangin'!

I once went for a 4th of July trail ride on the 4-6s ranch here in Texas. Public event, hosted by the ranch and sponsored in part by the city & county... Most everyone was dressed for the heat of July... it was over 100º that day. I wore all my 1880s cowboy duds, boots, spurs, canvas pants, leather chaps, long sleeved undershirt, dress shirt, vest (I foreswore the coat in deference to the weather), 5" brimmed felt hat, neckerchief, gunbelt, sixgun (badge carrying deputy authorized, wore badge so I didn't get questioned by local police), on my horse I carried a slicker, saddlebags, handcuffs, ticket book (you just never know when someone will demand to be written one of those), rope, shoe pullers, hoof pick, shoein' hammer and nails, canteen, along with some jerky. There was some prize awarded by the local western supply store for the best dressed rider... I won... didn't even know I was entered till they started hollerin' for "that old west cowboy." Dang good BBQ by the way! Oh wait... this is TEXAS!

Just about everyone else was blistered and burnt by the time we reached the luncheon spot... near a gorgeous lake few folks but cowhands ever see (they picked different spots every year), and complainin' about the heat. In line for lunch, this nice young lady in front of me in a bikini top (yep, blistered and burnt) turned around and asked, "... aren't you hot?"

Nope, I was soakin' wet. And, the breeze through all that wet clothing acted like a swamp cooler. Now, stink... yep, I smelled a lot like horse sweat... but... did a LOT of folks! So no one noticed!

GREAT story!!

[Malamute]

For cow hands (true cowboys) they're part of their personal gear, and required for work, if and when they work cattle. For most non cattle working folks, (probably the majority of western folks of the period) they still had use for a rope. Look at old artwork, nearly everyone had a rope, not a lariat, but a rope coiled around itself or other comparatively limp rope coiled and hanging off the saddle or pack animal, for picketing a horse out, or making a picket line to attach many horses to. Some would have the rope attached to them, so if they came off the horse unplanned, it would end up trailing on the ground, making catching their horse easier.

[BigSky56]

Ropes allow you to work cows on open land, when you dont have corrals & chutes at hand, you can doctor cattle. cut brand dehorn & ear notch any calves that was missed in the spring branding pull critters out of bogs drag firewood. danny

[Pisgah]

In my experience with horses, one should carry a rope so one can easily hang oneself after a day of with dealing with a horse.

Mules may be stubborn, but at least they have some sense...

[Rusty]

From an anthropological point the ability to make and use cordage is considered a leap in civilization. There's no end to what you can do with it.

[Pete44ru]

.

'Cause you can tell the weather by the rope.

If the rope's still, the weather's calm.
If the rope's swaying, it's windy out.
If the rope's wet, it's raining.
If the rope's shaking, there's an earthquake.
If the rope's gone, it's a tornado.





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[rjohns94]

I carry two ropes in my truck. A lariat I use for Mule and horse management, and a long spring line retired from use on the sailboat which I use for all sorts of things.

[FatJackDurham]

Ropes are the most useful item in the universe... after a towel....

[jeepnik]

Ropes are the most useful item in the universe... after a towel....

Then it would really be third. The most useful thing is TP.

[Model 52B]

A lariat is normally only about 35' long and fairly stiff compared to what most people consider to be rope. That greatly reduces it's utility for pretty much anything other than head or heel roping. You'd want some other kind of rope for all the other stuff.

I suspect cowboys back in the day also had some light cordage or latigo leather of some sort to handle the more routine camp and rigging chores.

A pigging string is also essential if you are working calves from a horse. They are normally about 6 1/2 feet long but vary in lay and diameter based on your personal preference. My question then in old westerns has always been why I only see a rope on the saddle, and not also a pigging string.

[Don McDowell]

They didn't have nylon lariats back then it was all hemp, or rawhide.
Not many folks today can handle a rope, there are some that have become fair hands with a lariat, but ropes not so much..

[Model 52B]

They didn't have nylon lariats back then it was all hemp, or rawhide.
Not many folks today can handle a rope, there are some that have become fair hands with a lariat, but ropes not so much..

Thank you captain obvious.

Strangely enough the old hemp lariats we had in the barn when I was a kid sure seemed a lot stiffer than a regular rope, and an advantage of rawhide is the control you have in how tightly it's braided, again producing a lariat that is stiffer than regular rope.

I'll stand by my previous post.

[Don McDowell]

Guess it's just a difference in your experience as a kid, and mine during a lifetime?

[BigSky56]

Pisgah Iam old school I ride horses and pack mules I wont ride anything thats smarter than me and all funny aside theres a reason for that, you cant push a mule past a hornets nest, trouble or go where they dont want to go with a horse if I want to ride him off a cliff they will go. danny

[2ndovc]

I carry two ropes in my truck. A lariat I use for Mule and horse management, and a long spring line retired from use on the sailboat which I use for all sorts of things.

I always have a couple old dock lines in my Jeep. Ya just never know when you'll need a couple good lines!

jb

[vancelw]

They didn't have nylon lariats back then it was all hemp, or rawhide.
Not many folks today can handle a rope, there are some that have become fair hands with a lariat, but ropes not so much..

Thank you captain obvious.

Strangely enough the old hemp lariats we had in the barn when I was a kid sure seemed a lot stiffer than a regular rope, and an advantage of rawhide is the control you have in how tightly it's braided, again producing a lariat that is stiffer than regular rope.

I'll stand by my previous post.

It's funny how smart some folks are when they're anonymous on the internet. Don's remark was not directed at you, yet you reacted as if it were, Sensitive much? I think I'll take Don's information about ropes and las riatas over yours.

Now, how about I buy the coffee and we sit down and discuss it. Listen up, or you might wish you'd brought your lunch (Texas folks know what that means)

[Hobie]

The last post to this topic was deleted because of the language used. You guys know better, cut it out.