Sadly I can't remember how the pincher knot was tied Ultan. My father read your book and enjoyed it very much ,it's a pity you never met up with him - he must have been one of the last of the old timers.
He told me that the idea behind the spikes was that they would be within a day's tramp of each other. It didn't always work out that way of course so the shackle pot would have been indispensable . Dad always called stew 'the shackles', the main ingredients was bones if I remember rightly.