"What's the thought...
1) a tight wrap of duct tape where the long rope would be cut to be shortened
2) Cut rope in the middle of the duct tape ring
3) The ends of each cut should stay 'tight' and easy to work with
4) Take one end and wrap with duct tape - starting six or 12 inches back and wrapping in a spiral outward towards the end of the rope
5) keep wrapping past the end to get a "pull tail" of duct tape a foot or two long
6) Affix a two or three foot long push rod (dowel rod) to the duct tape tail
6) Move back up the rope ?? 4 feet ?? to the double-back insertion point
7) Work to expand the core of the main rope
8) Insert the push rod and push it slightly past where the end of the rope would end / stop inside of the main section of rope and let the push rod exit the main rope
9) Feed the end of the rope into the core of the main rope and out of the rope a few feet down
10) Remove all duct tape from the rope
11) Pull the end of the rope back so that it's fully inside and nicely positioned
12) done
Sound possible w/o buying tools?"
I don't think it can be done without a fid. (At least easier with one) I would buy one because if successful I think it would be worth it. Not a yank-em rope but definitely would make a good recovery rope. That why I picked it up for $20