I like to practice knots.
My reference for knice knots is Ashley's Book of Knots, which I learned of thanks to Ted Edwards on this group years ago.
I much prefer rigging with rope to screwing around with nylon straps and ratchets, and I have it kinda down to a system. Attributes of a good knot include strength, reliability and ease of tying, but also include ease of untying. Some otherwise good knots jam under load and/or if they get wet can become very difficult to untie after the fact. That's a PITA when I intend to save the rope for future use.
Many "Boy Scout" knots and even many knots routinely employed by sailors are not nearly as good as some less-known alternatives. Example: the only variant of the bowline I'd ever use would be the bowline-on-bight and I don't think I've ever used that on an actual application. The bowline is OK if under contstant tension but it can shake loose quite easily. The "square" knot aka reef knot can be tied under tension so it's useful for wrapping packages (put your finger there, please, Dear) or reefing sails quickly, but it's otherwise a treacherous bend. (A bend is any knot used to join lengths of line.) The reef knot will upset and fail under significant load. Don't suspend your breakable self over Doomgurgle Gulch or from high in a tree with line that depends on a reef knot.
The bend I favor for my primary repertoire is the Hunter's bend. It is not easy to get right and very easy to get wrong at first, but it is easy to inspect and I've practiced it so I can about tie it in my sleep, hanging upside down in a driving rain and probably half smashed though I've no recent or anticipated need to tie reliable knots under those condx.
There is a method way of tying it that can be done in total darkness, which may be why the SAS (british Special Air Services, an elite commando force) adopted it as a standard.
Other good bends are the sheetbend and the Carrick bend, but the sheetbend can shake loose easily (being a very close cousin of the bowline) and the Carrick bend, while neat-looking, can get rather lumpy in any but the smallest line and is not as strong as the Hunter's bend.
Yesterday I discovered a new knot that I am adding to my repertoire. It will very probably replace the span loop for quickly making mid-line loops that are so handy in rigging and lashing, though Ted was a strong advocate of the span loop I've used for years.
It is the "alpine butterfly", used by climbers for creating sites for caribiners in a drop line. This is not to be confused with the "Venus butterfly" which was a technique for giving a woman intense sexual pleasure, hinted at but never quite revealed on "L.A .Law" years ago.
Another good thing about this knot is that it can be what I call a "method knot": there's a way to tie it that can be drilled into muscle memory, making it about a nobrainer to tie when there's actual work to be done. That may be why the SAS liked the Hunter's bend.
Threre is exactly one correct topology for any given knot. There are many ways to get it wrong, only one way to get it right. A "method knot" enables employment of muscle memory making it to augment visual memory of making it and seeing that it is right. Ease of "snapshot" inspection for correctnesss is an attribute of a useful knot. Two quick looks, less than 1 second, tell whether it's right or not.
Mary calls me "Don Knots" as I sit out on the deck in the shade or sunshine depending on temp, lookin' at the lake with my icey tea or Coke, my book, and my knot-practice bits of nylon and polypropylene line. Polyprop isn't as strong as nylon but it's considerably softer and more flexible, more abrasion resistant and more UV resistant. And it floats. That's why they use it for waterski tow line. It's also very nice for flagpoles and for lashing loads.
We miss Lois, our recently deceased neighbor.