Looking for a knot

Factual Questions
1

I’m writing a story and would like to know an easy, safe knot that can hold weight on three lines but unties if you put weight on the fourth.

I’ve experimented with a reef knot with a single bight - something halfway between a reef knot and a shoelace knot - and it works, but as I understand it it can capsize and turn into some other kind of knot. I’ve also tried a bowline with a bight but the bight is gripped too strongly to be pulled through as I want it to.

Here’s a diagram of what I’m looking for:


               | pull to untie
               |
---------------+--\
hold weight    |  |
               \--/
             hold weight
2

Some knots are likely to capsize if they’re tied with lines of dissimilar weights. Can the story line take advantage of this weakness?

3

It cannot - the intended purpose is to create a loose loop at the end of a rope, so all parts must be the same weight. This part is not difficult, but I want to reliably be able to undo the knot without actually being able to reach the knot.

4

Would something like a CEM knot work for your purposes?

5

I may be missing something, but have you looked at the “slippery half hitch”? or the related “hitching tie”? or perhaps a modified slippery hitch?

The drawback may be that you usually put the hitch on a tree/branch/pipe/dowel, but I have used them with just an extra turn of rope around the tree to put a pulley onto the hitch. If you put the load too close to the region where the rope goes under to lock the knot, the whole thing falls apart. My best bet for you is going to be the hitching tie (pdf warning) as that only requires the rope itself and looks like it could hold three loads (definitely two, at least) with easy release.

6

I highly recommend the truckers knot listed at the bottom of the previous post. It looks very complicated in the image but it is one very simple knot repeated at every step, with a simple pull to unlock.

Actually there is a simpler version which Ive never had issues with as well even. Id make a demo but I am lazy :). My apologies.