The FG knot revisited

[oc1]

Just as an experiment, take a piece of dowel and a piece of cord.  Tie a clove hitch and then keep putting on hitches with all of them going in the same direction.  Tighten each hitch by pulling it back and forth.  Let the hitch cross-overs form a spiral around the dowel.  If all the hitches are going in the same direction and you tighten each hitch by pulling it back and forth the spiral will happen naturally.

Now try sliding and twisting the whole mass of hitches lined up around the dowel.  Note how tight they are how difficult it is to move them around.

OK, next do it all over again.  However, this time alternate the direction of each hitch.  Again, tighten each hitch by pulling it back and forth.  Note the cross-over points line up along the dowel and do not tend to spiral around the dowel.  Now grasp the whole mass and try to slide and twist it on the dowel.  

Which one seems tighter and more compact?  Which one tends to grab on the dowel better?

-steve