Lanternfold

Knots for work, drawn plate by plate

Nine-tenths of rope work is six knots, tied properly and tied on purpose.

A bench reference. Start from the job in front of you, read the plate for the knot that answers it, then read why it holds — because a knot you cannot explain is a knot you cannot inspect.

Plates
06, drawn as schematics
Index
15 knots, four families
Finder
3 questions, instant answers
Scale
Diagrams not to scale

Read this first. Nothing here replaces instruction, supervision and practice under load. Where a failure would injure someone, learn the knot from a qualified instructor and check it against the guidance for your own equipment.

01

Pick a knot by task

Answer three questions. The list narrows to the knots in this reference that suit the combination, with the reason for each and the thing to watch.

Q1 What has the rope got to do?
Q2 After it has been heavily loaded?
Q3 What is the line like?

Your answers are weighed on this page and nowhere else. Nothing is kept or passed on, and a reload clears the bench.

3 knots in this reference suit that.

  1. BowlinePlate 01

    The quickest dependable fixed loop, and it still comes undone after a hard pull.

    Watch: not self-securing — back the tail up if the loop can go slack.

  2. Figure-eight follow-through Plate 02

    Holds in almost any line and can be checked by eye from across a room.

    Watch: sets hard; expect to work it open after a heavy load.

  3. Overhand on a bight Index

    The simplest loop there is, and the one loop that suits flat webbing.

    Watch: weakest of the loops and it jams — a one-use knot.

02

Plates

Six knots that cover most rope work between them. Each diagram is a flattened schematic: strands are drawn apart so the crossings read, and the working end carries the arrow.

Plate01

Bowline

Loop · unties after load · not self-securing

Bowline, schematic The standing part runs in from the left and forms a small loop. The end comes up through that loop, passes round behind the standing part and goes back down through the loop, finishing inside the large loop. STANDING PART END
Up through the small loop, behind the standing part, back down.
  1. Decide how big the loop must be, then make a small overhand loop in the standing part above it.
  2. Bring the working end up through that small loop from underneath.
  3. Pass it behind the standing part.
  4. Return it down through the small loop, lying alongside the part that came up.
  5. Dress the two strands parallel and set it by pulling the loop against the standing part.

Watch for

It is not self-securing. Slack cycling, a loop pulled sideways, or stiff modern line can shake it loose. Where it matters, finish the tail with a double overhand round the loop leg, and leave a tail of roughly ten rope diameters.

Plate02

Figure-eight follow-through

Loop · secure · jams after heavy load

Figure eight with its tail taken through a ring, schematic A single figure eight tied in the rope. The end passes through a ring and turns back, and a dashed line beside the eight marks the path the tail follows to retrace it. RETRACE
Tie the eight, then follow the same path back with the tail.
  1. Measure a generous tail, about an arm's length, and tie a loose figure eight in the rope.
  2. Take the tail round or through the anchor point.
  3. Retrace the eight from the opposite end, following the original strand exactly.
  4. Keep the pairs parallel with no crossings, and bring the tail out of the knot, not through it.
  5. Set it by pulling each of the four strands in turn.

Watch for

It sets hard: after a big load, expect to break it open by rolling the outside of the curves between finger and thumb. Its virtue is inspection — the finished knot is two parallel strands in a shape you can recognise at a glance, so check the retrace before you load it.

Plate03

Clove hitch

Hitch · adjustable · slips on smooth spars

Clove hitch on a post, schematic Rope wrapped twice round a post. The second turn crosses diagonally over the front and traps both the standing part, leaving on the left, and the end, leaving on the right. STANDING PART END
The second turn crosses the first; the end is trapped beneath it.
  1. Take a turn round the post, bringing the working end across over the standing part.
  2. Take a second turn in the same direction, beside the first.
  3. Tuck the end under that second turn, so it lies squeezed between rope and post.
  4. Pull both ends to close the turns hard against each other.

Watch for

Fast and adjustable, which is also its weakness: it creeps on smooth, tapered or rotating posts and loosens when the load swings about. Add a half hitch on the standing part to lock it, or use a round turn and two half hitches where the pull changes direction.

Plate04

Round turn and two half hitches

Hitch · holds while you tie · unties

Round turn and two half hitches, schematic The rope passes twice round the bar of a ring, then the end ties two identical half hitches round the standing part. ROUND TURN TWO HITCHES, SAME DIRECTION
Two full passes hold the load; the hitches only finish the job.
  1. Pass the end through the ring and take a full round turn — two complete passes, not one.
  2. Let the round turn hold the strain while you work; friction there does most of the holding.
  3. Tie a half hitch round the standing part.
  4. Tie a second half hitch in the same direction as the first.
  5. Slide both down snug against the round turn, and leave a good tail.

Watch for

Both hitches must run the same way. Tied in opposition they form a cow hitch on the standing part, which slips instead of gripping. This is the knot for a boat on a ring, a tarp on a rail, or anything you must hold while you still have a hand free.

Plate05

Sheet bend

Bend · joins unequal ropes · wants tension

Sheet bend, schematic A bight in the thick rope, open to the left. The thin rope enters through the bight, wraps round both of its legs and tucks under itself, its end finishing inside the bight. THICK ROPE THIN ROPE
The thin end finishes under its own standing part.
  1. Make a bight in the thicker rope and hold its mouth open.
  2. Bring the thinner rope up through the bight.
  3. Take it round behind both legs of the bight.
  4. Tuck it under its own standing part — under itself, not under the bight.
  5. Draw it up so both short ends finish on the same side of the knot.

Watch for

Ends on opposite sides is the left-handed sheet bend, and it is unreliable. The knot also wants tension and can shake loose in a slack line. For slick rope, or a large difference in diameter, take a second turn round the bight (double sheet bend) or choose a zeppelin bend.

Plate06

Alpine butterfly

Mid-line loop · loads three ways · unties

Alpine butterfly, schematic The line runs from top to bottom. Two crossings in it make a small eye, and the two legs of a loop pass through that eye and out to the right. STANDING PART STANDING PART
A loop that loads in either direction, or straight outwards.
  1. Lay three turns across your open hand, spaced slightly apart.
  2. Take the turn nearest your fingertips and lay it over the other two.
  3. Take the turn now nearest your fingertips, pass it over the other two and back under all three.
  4. Pull that turn out as a loop, and slide the knot off your hand.
  5. Dress the strands parallel and set it by pulling the two standing parts apart.

Watch for

The useful mid-line loop: it stays workable after being loaded in any of three directions and does not collapse along the rope. Dress it properly — crossed strands make a lesser knot that looks nearly identical, so learn what the finished shape should be.

03

Field notes

Three short pieces of theory that change how you tie. Open the one you need.

A Why knots hold, and why they let go

Every knot works by nip — one part of the rope pressing another against a curve. The friction inside that pinch is what resists the pull, which is why a knot that is still loose is not yet a knot.

The same curves cost you strength. Bending rope round a tight radius makes the fibres on the outside of the bend carry far more than their share, so a rope under test almost always breaks at the knot, usually where the loaded standing part first enters it. Published figures — roughly half for an overhand, rather less for a figure eight — vary with rope construction, diameter and test method. Treat them as a reason for margin, not as a specification.

Knots come apart in three broad ways. They slip, when the tail pulls through. They capsize, when load rearranges the knot into a different and usually weaker form: a reef knot used to join two ropes capsizes into a girth hitch and runs. And they are ring-loaded, when the pull arrives across the axis the knot was shaped for — spreading a loop sideways instead of pulling along it.

Repeated loading and slackening is the quiet one. Each cycle can walk the tail a little shorter, which is how an unbacked bowline unties itself overnight.

B Dressing, setting and tails

Dress it. Before tightening, lay the strands so they run parallel and untwisted through the knot, in the order the knot intends. A crossed strand is a different knot with different behaviour, and it is the commonest reason a correctly named knot performs badly.

Set it. Pull it up firmly, strand by strand, in the direction the load will actually come from. A knot set by hand behaves predictably the first time it is loaded; a loose one does its tightening under load, and that is when tails run.

Leave a tail. A common working rule is about ten rope diameters, and never less than a hand's width. Webbing, and stiff or slippery line, want more.

Back it up. A double overhand — two turns round the standing part — stops a tail creeping. It costs seconds; use it whenever the rope matters and the knot is not self-securing.

Inspect by name. Look at the finished knot and say what it is. If you cannot name the shape in front of you, untie it and tie it again. Slick high-modulus lines and polypropylene hold knots poorly: add a turn, choose a knot with more nip, or use a different connection altogether.

C Four families: loops, bends, hitches, bindings

Four families cover almost everything, and naming the family usually names the knot.

A loop puts a fixed eye in the rope — bowline, rethreaded figure eight, alpine butterfly. The load runs along the loop, and the eye should neither shrink nor slide when it does.

A bend joins two ropes: sheet bend, zeppelin bend, double fisherman's. The useful question is whether the two ropes match in diameter and stiffness, because most bends misbehave when they do not. The reef or square knot is not a bend, however often it is used as one.

A hitch attaches rope to an object and borrows that object's shape to work — clove hitch, round turn and two half hitches, girth hitch. Take the object away and a hitch falls apart; that is the definition, not a fault.

A binding holds a bundle against itself: constrictor, strangle, reef knot. Here the load is the bundle pushing back. Stoppers are the fifth, smaller family — bulk in the end of a line so it cannot run out of a block or a device.

04

Index of knots

Everything the finder can return, including the nine knots without a plate of their own. “Unties” means it can reasonably be undone after a heavy load; families are set out in note C.

Knots by job, behaviour after load, and the thing to watch
KnotJob After loadNote
BowlineFixed loop in an end UntiesFast and strong; back up the tail where slack can cycle.
Figure-eight follow-through Loop round an anchorJamsEasy to inspect; the standard tie-in loop.
Alpine butterfly Loop in the middle of a lineUntiesTakes load from three directions.
Overhand on a bightQuick loop anywhere JamsWeakest loop here, but the one that suits webbing.
Sheet bendJoin unequal ropes UntiesWants tension; double it for slick or unequal line.
Zeppelin bendJoin two similar ropes UntiesSecure, and still opens after heavy loading.
Double fisherman'sJoin cord, make closed loops JamsTreat as permanent; the join for prusik loops.
Water knotJoin flat webbing JamsTails creep. Leave 75 mm and check every time.
Clove hitchQuick tie to a post UntiesAdjustable, but creeps on smooth or turning spars.
Round turn, two half hitches Tie to a ring or rail under loadUntiesHolds the load while you finish.
Girth hitchSling round a bar or rail UntiesInstant, but loses strength at the sharp bend.
Trucker's hitchTension a lashing UntiesPurchase of roughly two or three to one, less friction.
Taut-line hitchAdjustable guy line UntiesSlides to tension, grips under load — needs grippy rope.
Constrictor knotClamp a bundle or hose JamsGrips ferociously; often easier to cut off than untie.
Reef (square) knotTie a bundle to itself UntiesBinding only. Used as a bend it capsizes and runs.