The Knot Library

Loops (16)

• Bowline The king of knots
  The all-purpose fixed loop. Tie it in the end of a rope to drop over a post, clip to a ring, or haul just about anything. It's the first loop knot most people should learn.
• Figure Eight Follow Through Figure eight retrace
  The standard climbing tie-in. You tie a figure eight in the rope, thread the end through your harness, then retrace the original knot to close a loop around the harness.
• Figure Eight on a Bight Figure eight loop
  The fast way to put a strong loop anywhere you can fold the rope. Double the rope into a bight, then tie a figure eight with the doubled strand — done in seconds.
• Alpine Butterfly Loop Lineman's loop
  The best fixed loop for the middle of a rope. Wrap the rope around your hand, shuffle the turns, and pull a loop through — no rope ends needed at all.
• Bowline on a Bight
  A double loop tied in the middle of a rope without using the ends. You get two strong side-by-side loops from nothing but a folded bight and a clever final tuck.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Yosemite Bowline Bowline with Yosemite finish
  A bowline with an extra tuck: the tail wraps around the loop leg and follows the standing line back through the top of the knot, locking the tail in place.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Slip Knot
  The instant adjustable loop: an overhand knot tied around its own standing part with a bight, so one pull on the end collapses the whole thing.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Honda Knot Lariat knot
  The knot that makes a lasso a lasso. It forms a small, nearly round eye that the rope's standing part runs through, creating a smooth-sliding open loop.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Angler's Loop Perfection loop
  A compact fixed loop that forms perfectly in line with the standing part — no offset kink. Tied by fly anglers in leader butts, and one of the few knots that truly holds in bungee cord.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Spanish Bowline
  Two separate, adjustable-share loops spreading from the middle of a rope like a pair of spectacles. The traditional rescue and chair knot of the fire service.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Portuguese Bowline French bowline
  A bowline tied with two loops through the same collar, so rope can slide between the loops and share the load adjustably — like a bowline with a sliding partner.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Englishman's Loop Fisherman's loop
  Two overhand knots — one tied around the standing part, one in it — slid together to jam into a fixed loop. The fisherman's knot rearranged into loop form.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Poacher's Knot Double overhand noose, scaffold knot
  A double overhand knot tied around the standing part, forming a sliding loop that cinches down and locks onto whatever it surrounds.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Jury Mast Knot Masthead knot
  Three interwoven loops radiating from a central ring that drops over a spar. In the age of sail it anchored the emergency stays of a jury-rigged replacement mast.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Water Bowline
  A fixed end loop with an extra half hitch in its collar. It is a distinct bowline variation, not the same knot as a Double Bowline.
• Running Bowline
  A bowline tied around its own standing part so the outer loop can draw closed around an object. The small bowline eye remains fixed.

Hitches (28)

• Clove Hitch
  Two crossing turns around a post, rail or carabiner. It's the fastest way to attach a rope to a bar-shaped object and adjust the length afterward.
• Two Half Hitches Double half hitch
  Pass the rope around the object, then tie two half hitches around its own standing part. The result is a small sliding noose that snugs down onto whatever it's tied to.
• Round Turn & Two Half Hitches
  A full wrap around the object first, then two half hitches to lock it. The round turn takes the strain while your hitches are tied in comfort.
• Taut-Line Hitch Adjustable hitch, midshipman's hitch
  An adjustable loop that grips under tension but slides when you push it. The classic use: tent guy-lines that you can tighten as the fabric stretches overnight.
• Trucker's Hitch Power cinch
  A rope-only pulley system: put a loop in the standing line, run the end around an anchor and back through the loop, then haul. You get roughly a three-to-one mechanical advantage.
• Timber Hitch
  Wrap the rope around a log, pass the end around the standing part, then twist it back around itself three or more times. Pull, and it bites into the wood.
• Constrictor Knot
  A clove hitch with one extra tuck that traps the crossing turn. The result grips like a hose clamp made of string — many consider it the best binding knot there is.
• Rolling Hitch Taut hitch to another rope
  A clove hitch with an extra turn stacked on the loaded side. That extra turn lets it grip a pole — or another rope — against a pull that runs along the object instead of away from it.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Prusik Knot Prusik hitch
  A loop of thin cord wrapped around a thicker rope three times through itself. Loaded, it locks onto the rope; unloaded, it slides freely by hand.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Klemheist Knot Machard knot
  A friction hitch made by spiraling a cord loop up the rope and threading the tail through the top bight. A close cousin of the prusik that's faster to tie and release.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Munter Hitch Italian hitch
  A sliding, reversible hitch tied on a carabiner that feeds rope smoothly one way and brakes it under control the other. It's a belay device made of nothing but rope.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Cleat Hitch
  The proper way to tie a line to a dock cleat: a full turn around the base, figure-eight wraps over the horns, finished with a single locking hitch laid flat.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Cow Hitch Lark's head, girth hitch
  Fold the rope into a bight, pass it around or through the object, and feed the ends through the bight. Two half hitches facing opposite ways, tied in one motion.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Highwayman's Hitch Draw hitch
  A quick-release hitch built from three stacked bights: it holds a moderate pull on the standing end, but one tug on the tail and the whole knot spills off the rail instantly.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Anchor Bend Fisherman's bend
  A round turn through a ring with the first half hitch locked under the turn itself, then a second half hitch to finish. Despite the name, it's a hitch — and the classic way to tie rope to an anchor.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Strangle Knot Double overhand binding
  A double overhand knot tied around an object instead of a rope end. The wraps cross over the top and clamp down in a neat, narrow band.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Marlinspike Hitch
  A quick temporary hitch that traps a rod — a spike, screwdriver or stick — in a loop of the rope, giving you a comfortable T-handle to pull with.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Killick Hitch Kelson hitch
  A timber hitch with an extra half hitch added farther along the object. The timber hitch grips; the half hitch steers, keeping a long or awkward load pulling straight.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Buntline Hitch
  A clove hitch tied around the standing part, inside the loop — so tension drags the hitch down snug against whatever the rope passes through.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Sheepshank
  The traditional way to shorten a rope without cutting it: fold the slack into an S, then trap each end of the S with a half hitch. The Man o' War variant interlocks the hitches for more security.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Icicle Hitch
  A friction hitch of stacked wraps famous for one superpower: gripping a smooth, even tapered pole against a lengthwise pull — demonstrated by hanging from a greased marlinspike.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Bachmann Knot Bachmann hitch
  A friction hitch wrapped around both the rope and the spine of a carabiner. The carabiner acts as a rigid handle, so the hitch slides smoothly and resets instantly.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Packer's Knot
  A figure eight tied around the standing part, forming a noose that slides tight and then locks itself under load. Finished with a half hitch, it stays put for good.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Boa Knot
  A modern binding knot — invented by a weaver in 1996 — that merges the constrictor's grip with a doubled, wider band of wraps. Tie two loops, twist into a figure eight, slip over the object.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Adjustable Grip Hitch
  An adjustable hitch for tent guys and light ridgelines. Slide it with the line unloaded, then tighten the knot again before tensioning.
• Boom Hitch
  A compact arrangement of wraps for attaching a rope to a spar, pipe, or post. It can accommodate a sideways pull and may resist a pull along the spar.
• Halyard Hitch
  A compact rope-to-shackle attachment associated with sail halyards. The tail exits close to the shackle rather than pointing away.
• Pile Hitch
  A temporary post attachment made with a bight, so you do not need to feed the whole rope end around the post.

Bends (13)

• Sheet Bend Weaver's knot
  The standard knot for joining two ropes — including ropes of different thickness. The thicker rope forms a bight, the thinner rope locks through and around it.
• Double Sheet Bend
  A Sheet Bend with a second wrap of the thinner rope around the bight before the final tuck. Compare it with the single version when joining unequal rope diameters.
• Square Knot Reef knot
  Right over left, left over right. The everyday knot for tying two ends of the same rope around something — a package, a bandage, a furled sail.
• Fisherman's Knot English knot
  Two overhand knots, each tied around the other rope's standing part, slid together until they jam against each other. Simple symmetry that grips hard.
• Double Fisherman's Bend Grapevine knot
  Two double overhand (strangle) knots tied around each other's standing parts. The gold standard for permanently joining two ropes or closing a cordelette loop.
• Water Knot Ring bend, tape knot
  A commonly used knot for joining flat webbing: tie a loose overhand in one end, then retrace it with the other end so the tape lies flat. Inspect the tails and follow the webbing manufacturer’s guidance.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Zeppelin Bend Rosendahl bend
  Two interlocking loops with each end tucked through the middle. This symmetrical rope join is known for being comparatively easy to untie after loading.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Carrick Bend Sailor's bend
  The classic bend for heavy rope and cable: two open loops woven over-under-over into a beautiful basket pattern, which capsizes into a compact working form under load.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Hunter's Bend Rigger's bend
  Two interlocked overhand knots tied on parallel ropes, with the ends passing through the middle in opposite directions. A secure bend that famously made front-page news in 1978.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Ashley's Bend ABOK #1452
  Two interlocking loops with both ends passed together through the shared center. Clifford Ashley's own favorite among the bends he devised.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Granny Knot The square knot's evil twin
  What you get when you tie a square knot's second pass the same way as the first instead of mirrored. It looks almost right — and that is exactly the problem.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Thief Knot
  Identical to a square knot except the working ends exit on opposite corners instead of the same side. Sailors' lore says sea chests were tied with it to catch snooping shipmates.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Alpine Butterfly Bend
  A rope-to-rope join built from the same interlocking structure as the Alpine Butterfly Loop. Use roughly similar rope diameters.

Stoppers (5)

• Overhand Knot Thumb knot
  The simplest knot there is: a loop with the end passed through. It's the atom of knotting — dozens of major knots are built from it.
• Figure Eight Knot Flemish knot
  Give the overhand knot one extra half-twist before the tuck and you get a knot shaped like the numeral 8 — bulkier, stronger, and far kinder to the rope.
• Double Overhand Knot Strangle knot base
  An overhand knot with the end passed through the loop twice, then worked snug into a neat barrel shape. Small effort, serious bulk and grip.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Ashley Stopper Knot Oysterman's stopper
  The bulkiest practical stopper: a clever slipknot-based tie that finishes as a wide three-lobed face, invented by the author of the great knot encyclopedia.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Stevedore Knot
  A figure eight with two extra wraps before the final tuck, producing a noticeably fatter stopper. Dockworkers used it to keep cargo lines from running through blocks.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide

Fishing Knots (19)

• Improved Clinch Knot
  The classic hook-to-line knot: five twists of the tag end around the standing line, back through the eye loop, then through the big loop just formed. The 'improved' part is that final tuck.
• Palomar Knot
  Double the line, pass the loop through the hook eye, tie a loose overhand with it, then pass the loop over the entire hook and snug down. Doubled line all the way through.
• Uni Knot Duncan loop, grinner
  A sliding barrel of wraps tied through a loop of the line itself. Snug it to the eye for a tight connection, or leave it loose for a free-swinging loop that improves lure action.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Blood Knot Barrel knot
  The classic line-to-line splice: each tag end wraps five times around the other line and tucks back through the center gap in opposite directions, forming a slim symmetrical barrel.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Surgeon's Knot Double surgeon's
  Lay the two lines side by side and tie a double overhand knot with both at once. That's the entire knot — brutally simple and effective.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Snell Knot
  Instead of tying to the hook's eye, the line is wrapped in a coil around the hook's shank itself, so the pull runs in a dead-straight line with the hook.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Bimini Twist Twenty-times-around knot
  Twenty-plus twists rolled down over themselves under body tension, creating a long doubled-line loop. The offshore standard for putting a full-strength shock section in the line.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Dropper Loop Blood loop dropper
  A loop that stands out perpendicular from the middle of a fishing line, formed by twisting a loop's own turns around themselves and pulling the center through.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Albright Knot
  A connection between fishing lines of different diameters or materials, including a backing-to-fly-line connection.
• Arbor Knot
  A simple way to attach fishing line to the center of a reel spool before winding on line. In cord, the same structure is called the Canadian Jam Knot.
• Davy Knot
  A small fly-to-tippet connection with few movements and little line consumption. It is useful to practice when frequent fly changes eat into your tippet.
• Double Davy Knot
  A Davy-style fly connection with an extra tuck. It addresses situations where the original Davy has too little purchase on the hook eye.
• Non-Slip Mono Loop
  A fixed loop tied directly to a fly or lure so the eye can move within the loop. Also known as Lefty Kreh’s Loop Knot.
• Nail Knot
  A compact fishing-line join commonly used at a fly-line and leader connection. A small tube or knot tool helps thread the wraps.
• Orvis Knot
  A compact knot for fastening fishing line to a hook or fly. Its small series of loop passes offers an alternative to a wrapped Clinch.
• Rapala Knot
  A fixed-loop lure connection that leaves room for movement at the eye. Its finishing tuck distinguishes it from the Non-Slip Mono Loop.
• San Diego Jam Knot
  A fishing knot for fastening line to a hook, swivel, or lure. Also called the Reverse Clinch Knot.
• Surgeon’s Loop
  A fixed loop in the end of fishing line made with a doubled overhand structure. Commonly used in loop-to-loop connections.
• Trilene Knot
  A monofilament-to-hook connection with two passes through the eye. It also attaches line to a swivel or lure.

Decorative Knots (13)

• Monkey's Fist
  Three interlocking sets of three turns woven around a core, forming a near-perfect sphere of rope. Historically tied to weight the end of a ship's heaving line.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Turk's Head Woggle knot
  A continuous interwoven braid tied in a ring around a cylinder — a rail, a wheel, a walking stick. One strand, woven over and under itself until the pattern closes.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Diamond Knot Lanyard knot, knife lanyard knot
  A compact, faceted button knot tied in the middle of a doubled cord, leaving a loop above and two tails below. The classic finish for knife and tool lanyards.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Chain Sinnet Monkey braid, daisy chain
  A running chain of slip knots, each bight pulled through the last. It shortens a long rope to a quarter of its length and unzips instantly when you need it back.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Cobra Knot Solomon bar, Portuguese sinnet
  Alternating square-knot passes tied around a core pair of strands, building a flat, ridged bar. The default weave for paracord survival bracelets everywhere.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Matthew Walker Knot
  The great multi-strand stopper of the tall-ship era: each strand of the rope is tied in an overhand around its neighbors, producing a symmetric, barrel-shaped knob in the rope itself.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Manrope Knot
  A wall knot topped with a crown knot, then doubled by following every lead a second time. The result is the large, handsome knob that finished the manropes flanking a ship's gangway.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• True Lover's Knot
  Two overhand knots, one tied through the other, so the pair interlock symmetrically — two knots joined yet distinct. Centuries of sailors sent it home as a token.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Ocean Plait Mat Ocean braid mat
  A single rope woven back through itself in a long over-under path, then doubled or tripled to fill out a handsome oval mat. The classic nautical doormat.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Three-Strand Braid Common plait
  The braid everyone knows from hair, bread and rope alike: outer strand over the middle, alternating sides, forever. The gateway to all sennit work.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Crown Knot
  A three-strand rope-end knot that turns the loose strands back toward the standing rope. It starts a back splice and appears in decorative ropework.
• Crown Sinnet
  A sequence of crown knots that builds a decorative cord for key rings and craft lanyards. Four working strands make a useful practice version.
• Wall Knot
  A small stopper formed from the individual strands of a rope. It is also a building block of the Wall and Crown finish.

Ropework (11)

• Square Lashing
  The lashing for joining two poles at right angles: a clove hitch to start, three tight wraps alternating over and under, frapping turns to cinch, a clove hitch to finish.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Diagonal Lashing
  The lashing for poles that cross at an angle or need pulling together: a timber hitch cinches the poles, then wraps run across both diagonals before frapping and finishing.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Sheer Lashing Shear lashing, round lashing
  Wraps binding two parallel poles: tied at the ends of overlapped poles it splices them into one longer pole, tied near the tips it makes hinged legs that scissor open into an A-frame.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Eye Splice
  A permanent loop formed by unlaying a rope's strands and weaving each one back over-and-under into the standing part, at least three full tucks per strand.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Back Splice
  A rope-end finish: tie a Crown Knot so each strand doubles back, then tuck each strand into the standing rope. It helps control fraying but still needs inspection.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Short Splice
  The permanent way to join two three-strand ropes: marry the unlaid ends together, then tuck each strand over-and-under into the opposite rope, both directions.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Common Whipping Plain whipping
  Tight wraps of twine around a rope's end, with both ends of the twine buried under the wraps themselves. The simplest cure for a fraying rope.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Sailmaker's Whipping
  A whipping reinforced with frapping turns that ride the rope's own strand grooves, locking the wraps in place. Traditionally sewn, but a needle-free version exists for laid rope.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• French Whipping
  A whipping made of consecutive half hitches instead of plain wraps, producing a raised spiral ridge along the surface as it climbs.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• Seizing Round seizing
  Binding two parallel ropes — or two parts of the same rope — together with tight wraps of twine, cinched by frapping turns between the ropes.
  Quick reference in the interactive field guide
• West Country Whipping
  A rope-end binding made from alternating half knots in twine. It is a straightforward introduction to controlling frayed ends.