knots for leaders

I'm having a devil of a time tying blood knots when on the stream.   Is there an easier knot I can tie to join tippet material to a leader?

Could use a blood knot tying tool. http://www.kaufmannsstreamborn.com/Catalog/Accessories/Knot-Tyers/

i like the blood knot.  it has better strength than the surgeon's.  the uni knot would be a good knot but i tie the blood better.

I like the knot illustrated on the card that comes with Orvis leaders. I don't remember the name, but it's pretty much just a fold around, then double overhand knot. Super easy, very strong when tied correctly. 

I tie my own leaders and only use blood knots on the first 75% of my leader. After that, its double surgeons knots on the last few sections.
The double surgeons knot seems to hold up better for me when joining thinner diameter mono.

A properly tied blood knot is stronger than all of the other "common" knots flyfishers use.  The only draw back of the blood knot is the requirement that the pieces of mono need to be pretty close to each other in size.  If the difference is too big, which is probably the second most common reason they fail (number 1 is weakening of line by not moistening the knot prior to pulling it tight).  If you want to join two "drastically" different sized lines (say 5x to 8x) the triple surgeon's know is best.  Problem with any surgeon's knot (double or triple) is that they are more bulky by nature and they do not join the pieces of line in a straight line, as does the blood knot.
 
Interesting side note.  Fishermen use the surgeon's knot and surgeon's use the fisherman's knot.

ORIGINAL: Slate_Drake_9

Interesting side note.  Fishermen use the surgeon's knot and surgeon's use the fisherman's knot.

 
I would want my surgeon to use a piece of thread that was long enough without the need to add a piece, but, my surgeon used staples both times.

Yes, you would think. But you'd be wrong.
SilverKype's test results echo ones that have been done in a laboratory environment.
Here are some results from an article I clipped and saved ( 1995)
I posted two results because less stretchy hard material vs stretchy material are factors that come into play.  
Also, various brands up to 15 lbs were used. Knots were tied using same diameters and brands.
The tests were performed with a steady pulls of various velocities. Results are averaged.
All material is monofilament.

Leader to tippet
 % compared to actual tippet strength:
 
                                      characteristics of material
                                       less stretchy          more stretchy
Blood Knot (4-barrel )  69.7%                   79.3%
Blood knot ( 6-barrel)   78.1%                   91.2%
Triple surgeons knot     96.9%                   98.3%
Surgeons loop to loop   87.9%                   96.6%
Overhand knot             72.7%                   89.7%                 



Science and Fly fishing. You just can't get away from it. ****.
Of course we don't fish in a laboratory so your own results may vary.
  


 
Does this laboratory experiment address knot bulk or the fact that the lines are no longer in a straight line with a surgeon's knot?
 
4-barrell blood knot...sounds like only 2/3 of a properly tied barrell knot to me, which will affect it's strength.
 
Did they wet the knots prior to tying them? 

What are the controls, other than line type?  Do tell.
 
In my experience with "Science" as well as statistics, anyone can make their point with them using the same data, it just depends on how you look at it. 
 
My laboratory experiments have been personally conducted while fishing "a lot" over the last 30 years in real (or reel if you prefer) life situations, where it matters the most.

I was using a perfection loop to perfection loop tonight and it seemed to be fairly strong.  It held my 4 pound tippet material to my leader fairly good and a nice sized catfish help me test it.  Is this a mistake or did I stumble across something good.

ORIGINAL: RIZ
  i read that the clinch is stronger than the improved clinch, this seems to bear out.  the reason the improved clinch is used more, in my opinion, is it does not slip as often. 

 
 I've always assumed that the "improved clinch knot" was an improvement to the original "clinch knot". I guess that sometimes it is.
For me, that extra turn used to keep the knot from slipping doesn't work as well with fluorocarbon and other stiffer lines. It may have something to do with stiffness along with that extra turn used in the improved version that makes it tough to seat the knot properly. Maybe line properties are different than those past lines. I dunno.
 With fluoro and "improved", i found that with most of the failures the knot did not break but usually slipped.  I had far less failures and or improperly seated knots with the standard "clinch".
Now, I use only the standard clinch knot because I can tie it quick and confidently and doesn't fail for me as often as the improved knot.