The noose is at it's simplest a slip knot of any sort fashioned on a length of rope.
The coiled nooses have from six to thirteen coils which slide down the rope delivering a heavy blow to the side of the neck. This pattern is still used in America and countries such as Iran and Iraq. It was never favored in Britain as it tended to strangle the prisoner rather than break their neck.
Britain and most Commonwealth and ex- Commonwealth countries use(d) a simple noose consisting of a loop worked into one end of the rope with the other end passed through it.
This was later improved by passing the free end of the rope through
a brass eyelet instead of a loop of rope which made it more free running.
This type of noose has been shown to cause a quicker death. It was usually
made from a 13 foot length of ¾" diameter Italian silk hemp rope
often bound with Chamois leather to avoid marking the skin and was carefully
stretched before use by dropping a sandbag of approximately the same weight
as the prisoner through the trap and leaving it suspended overnight. This
reduced the diameter of the rope to about 5/8 inch. Hemp has always been
the preferred material as it is both soft and strong with a smooth surface.
Modern materials such as Nylon have been tried but found to be too elastic.
The positioning of the eyelet under the angle of the jaw is very important as it is vital that the head is thrown backwards by the rope so that the force is transmitted into the neck vertebrae rather than being thrown forward and the force taken on the throat which tends to cause strangulation.
The American coiled noose is prepared in accordance with a procedure
laid down in a US army manual. from 30 feet of ¾" - 1" diameter
manila hemp rope, boiled to take out stretch and any tendency to coil.
It is formed into six coils and then waxed, soaped or greased to assure
that the knot slides easily.
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