Part 3 – Anchor Points & Jointing Ropes

The first knot is the bowline.  If you were ever a boy scout, a rock climber, or a sailor, you’re bound to have learnt this one.  The bowline is a knot used to tie one end of a rope to an anchor point, tie a non-slip loop, make a non-binding slip-knot, or even to join two ropes together.  The advantages of the bowline are that it is a very strong knot; it does not tighten on itself as much as other knots (therefore easy to undo), and it does not slip along the rope.

There are many ways to tie and describe the tying of this knot.  Here’s my version.......

Step 1.  Make a loop in the rope, and pass the end of the rope around the anchor point.  Note the position and direction of the loop.  The bottom of the loop goes to the rope.  The top of the loop goes to the end of the rope.

Step 2.  Pass the end of the rope up through the loop from underneath.

Step 3.  Pass the end of the rope under the rope.

 Step 4.  Pass the end of the rope back down through the loop.

 Step 5.  Pull the knot tight.

 A double loop bowline is stronger and easier to undo.  To tie one of these, simply make two loops in step 1, as shown in photo 6.

Now, to tie an open-loop in the end of a rope, you simply do exactly the same only there is no anchor point, as shown in photo 7.  This is the sort of loop that you should tie for the anchorperson on a tug-of-war team.  Any other knot may slip down the rope, tighten around the anchorperson and strangle him or her.

To join two ropes together, tie one bowline through the loop of the other as shown in photo 8.  Usually you would tie smaller open-loops in the end of the ropes than those shown in the photo.

To tie a slipknot or noose, tie a bowline with a small loop and then pass the other end of the rope through the loop as shown in photo 9.   

That’s all for now. Next I’ll finish off the bowline by doing a bowline on a bight and also discuss the Fisherman’s Knot.  A number of you have asked if I’m going to show you how to do rope splicing.  The answer is maybe.  I’m not sure if I can do diagrams or photos that will adequately describe splicing.  So, we’ll see.

Next is  Part IV    -  Bowline-on-a-Bight and Fisherman's Knot

Greg Conlon

Last Modified Tuesday, 18 March 2008
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