Fig. 1.
a, Six feet for insertion in ground. b, Thirty feet between ground and the knees. c, Ten feet above the knees. d, Chalk mark for knees. e, Chalk mark for insertion in ground. f, Chalk mark on ground ten feet from staff. g, Straight line. h, Length of one shroud or of the stay.
A good distance is about one-third the height of the staff from the ground to the knees, so we will say 10 feet, and mark the ground. Then stretch a piece of string from the upper mark to the mark on the ground, allowing also the circumference of the staff, that will give you the length of one shroud ([Fig. 1]).
Now you must measure for the ratlines.
Having obtained your rope, the next operation is to cut it into proper lengths. First of all make both ends fast, and stretch it as much as you can. Then measure with the line you used to obtain the length, and cut off two shrouds separately, and the stay. Then cut the remaining rope in half, so as to make two pairs of shrouds. The stay is generally of thicker and stronger rope than the shrouds, but with the staff 6 feet in the ground there is no necessity for this.
Fig 2
A, Pair of shrouds. a, The collar to go over the staff. b, The seizing. B, The single shrouds. a, The cut splice. C, The stay. a, The eye-splice.