knots, one knot per page
Twenty-four lessons on what a knot is and what makes a good one, the parts of a rope, reading knot drawings, the overhand knot and the stopper job, the reef knot for binding and the warning it must never join two ropes, the granny mistake, the sheet bend for unequal ropes, the bowline rescue loop, the clove hitch, two half hitches, the rolling hitch, the trucker's hitch, the overhand loop, the figure-eight, whipping the bitter end, coiling and storing, knot strength, jamming versus slipping, wet rope, dressing and setting, the honest limits, a first session with two meters of cord, a practice pair, and teaching one knot to a friend.
One knot, one honest page. That's a lesson.
knots, one knot per page
Twenty-four lessons on what a knot is and what makes a good one, the parts of a rope, reading knot drawings, the overhand knot and the stopper job, the reef knot for binding and the warning it must never join two ropes, the granny mistake, the sheet bend for unequal ropes, the bowline rescue loop, the clove hitch, two half hitches, the rolling hitch, the trucker's hitch, the overhand loop, the figure-eight, whipping the bitter end, coiling and storing, knot strength, jamming versus slipping, wet rope, dressing and setting, the honest limits, a first session with two meters of cord, a practice pair, and teaching one knot to a friend.
Set in Space Grotesk, Inter and JetBrains Mono (SIL Open Font License).
Every fact in this book is as the primary source states it, fetched and read during this build: the Wikipedia articles Knot, List of knot terminology, Overhand knot, Reef knot, Granny knot, Sheet bend, Bowline, Clove hitch, Half hitch, Rolling hitch, Trucker's hitch, Figure-eight knot, Whipping knot, Bight (knot) and Rope, all cached at build time and cited in each lesson's source line. General information about how knots and rope work, not advice. An honest no-demo book: no knot was tied and no photograph was staged by this machine; every knot claim is stated as its source states it. Rituals stated as this book's own plan (the lesson order, the practice asks, the first session with two meters of cord, the reef and granny practice pair, the drawing convention on these pages) are labeled as this book's plan. No product recommendations. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Wikipedia. No facts from Reddit, forums, vendor blogs or search engines.
Your purchase is for personal use only. You do not have redistribution rights: please do not share, resell, or republish this book or its pages.
© 2026 Steve Hodgkiss. All rights reserved. Personal use only; no redistribution rights.
Edition 1.0 · stevehodgkiss.net
Contents
Per the Wikipedia article Knot, a knot is an intentional complication in cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both; practical knots are classified by function: a hitch fastens a rope to another object, a bend fastens two ends of a rope to each other, a loop knot is any knot creating a loop, and a splice denotes any multi-strand knot; in its narrowest sense a knot is a stopper or knob at the end of a rope to keep that end from slipping through a grommet or eye; knots have excited interest since ancient times, both for their practical uses and for their topological intricacy, studied in knot theory.
What a knot is
A knot is an intentional complication in cordage: put there on purpose. It may be practical or decorative, or both.
A hitch fastens a rope to another object. A bend fastens two ends to each other. A loop knot creates a loop. In the narrowest sense a knot is a stopper: a knob keeping an end from slipping through a hole.
Knots have excited interest since ancient times, down to the mathematics of knot theory.
Look at one knot you already use this week, your shoelace, and name its family out loud.
Per the Wikipedia article Bowline, the bowline is an ancient and simple knot used to form a fixed loop at the end of a rope; it has the virtues of being easy to tie and untie, most notably easy to untie after being subjected to a load; it is sometimes referred to as king of the knots, and along with the sheet bend and the clove hitch is considered one of the most essential knots; it is well known as a rescue knot, and it is possible to tie with one hand; the Federal Aviation Administration recommends it for tying down light aircraft; its deficiencies are a tendency to work loose when not under load and to slip when pulled sideways; the name dates to the Age of Sail, a bow line holding the sail's edge toward the bow, and the knot is thought to have been first mentioned in John Smith's 1627 Sea Grammar as the Boling knot; a rope with a bowline retains approximately 2/3 of its strength; the article's round turn bowline section speaks of the rabbit hole, and the Birmingham bowline of the rabbit making trips out of the hole and around the tree.
The bowline
The bowline makes a fixed loop at the end of a rope. Its fame: it is easy to untie after being subjected to a load. Some call it king of the knots.
It is the known rescue knot, possible to tie with one hand. The story is the sources' own: the rabbit hole, the rabbit out of the hole and around the tree.
Honest faults: it can work loose when not under load. A rope with a bowline keeps about two thirds of its strength.
Tie one bowline around your own waist this week, load it, then untie it with two fingers.
Per the Wikipedia article Clove hitch, the clove hitch is an ancient knot made of two successive single hitches tied around an object; it is most effectively used to secure a middle section of rope to an object it crosses over, and it can be used as an ordinary hitch or a binding knot but is not particularly secure in either application; it is considered one of the most important knots, alongside the bowline and the sheet bend; the name was given by Falconer in his dictionary of 1769, but the knot is much older, tied in ratlines at least as early as the first quarter of the sixteenth century; it is particularly useful where the length of the running end needs to be adjustable, since feeding in rope from either direction will loosen the knot to be tightened at a new position; with certain types of cord it can slip when loaded, and it is unreliable on a square or rectangular post rather than a round one.
The clove hitch
The clove hitch is two successive single hitches around an object. Its best job: securing the middle of a rope to a rail or post it crosses.
It ranks with the bowline and the sheet bend among the most important knots, and it is old: named in 1769, tied in ratlines by the early sixteenth century. Feed rope in and it loosens to be tightened at a new position.
Its limits: it can slip when loaded, and it is unreliable on square posts.
Tie one clove hitch around a railing this week, feed rope in, and move it to a new position.
Per the Wikipedia article Figure-eight knot, the figure-eight or figure-of-eight knot is a type of stopper knot, very important in sailing, rock climbing and caving as a method of stopping ropes from running out of retaining devices; like the overhand knot it will jam under strain, often requiring the rope to be cut, but it is usually more easily undone than the overhand; Ashley writes that it is the sailor's common single-strand stopper knot, much easier to untie than the overhand, without the same tendency to jam and so injure the fiber, and larger, stronger, and equally secure; the article's infobox lists its strength as 80 percent, and its names include Flemish knot and Savoy knot; the figure-eight loop is frequently used in climbing and is the most common knot used to attach a rope to a harness.
The figure-eight
The figure-eight is the stopper of sailing, climbing and caving: it stops a rope running out of a retaining device.
Ashley's verdict: the sailor's common single-strand stopper, much easier to untie than the overhand, gentler on the fiber, larger, stronger, equally secure. Its listed strength is 80 percent.
Its loop form is how climbers tie a rope to a harness, the most common knot for the job.
Tie an overhand in one end of your cord and a figure-eight in the other this week, load both, then compare the undoing.
Per the Wikipedia article Knot, knots weaken the rope in which they are made, and knotted rope strained to its breaking point almost always fails at the knot or close to it; the bending, crushing and chafing forces that hold a knot in place unevenly stress rope fibers; relative knot strength, also called knot efficiency, is the breaking strength of a knotted rope in proportion to the rope without the knot, and the efficiency of common knots ranges between 40 and 80 percent of the rope's original strength; determining a precise value is difficult because many factors affect a test: the type of fiber, the style of rope, the size of rope, whether it is wet or dry, how the knot is dressed before loading, how rapidly it is loaded, and whether it is repeatedly loaded; prudent users allow for a large safety margin, the working load limit specified with a safety factor up to 15 to 1 for critical applications; the individual articles list the overhand at 50 percent, the sheet bend at 48 to 58 percent, the bowline at about two thirds, and the figure-eight at 80 percent; those listed values vary by rope and source, and the range, never one number, is the honest statement.
Knot strength
Every knot weakens the rope it is tied in; rope strained to breaking almost always fails at the knot.
Efficiency of common knots ranges between 40 and 80 percent. Listed: overhand 50, sheet bend 48 to 58, bowline about two thirds, figure-eight 80. No single number is truth: fiber, size, wet or dry, dressing, load rate all move it.
The prudent rule: a large safety margin, factors up to 15 to 1 where it matters.
Say the honest range out loud this week: forty to eighty percent, and never one number.
This book's plan for a first practice session with two meters of cord; no session was performed or photographed by this machine, so the order is this book's plan, resting on mechanics the sources state: per the Wikipedia article Overhand knot, the thumb method creates a loop and pushes the working end through the loop; per the Wikipedia article List of knot terminology, an overhand tied with a bight gives the overhand loop; per the Wikipedia article Reef knot, the mnemonic is right over left, left over right; per the Wikipedia article Bowline, the knot is easy to tie and untie and easy to untie after load; per the Wikipedia article Rope, right-laid rope should be coiled clockwise to prevent kinking.
Two meters of cord
This book's plan for a first session, resting on the sources. Five moves: one overhand by the thumb method, one overhand loop in the bight, one reef knot by the mnemonic, one bowline, then coil clockwise and hang it up.
Say the family as you tie each: stopper, loop, binding, loop, storage.
Ten minutes, one cord, no gear. That is the whole session.
Run the five move session once this week and time it; run it again next week.