Reef knot
| Reef knot | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Names | Reef knot, Square knot, Hercules knot, Double knot |
| Category | Binding |
| Category #2 | Bend |
| Origin | Ancient |
| Related | Thief knot, Granny knot, Grief knot, Surgeon's knot, Shoelace knot |
| Releasing | Jamming |
| Typical use | Joining two ends of a single line to bind around an object. |
| Caveat | Not secure as a bend. Spills easily if one of the free ends is pulled outward. Does not hold well if the two lines are not the same thickness. |
| ABoK | #74, #75, #460, #1204, #1402, #2096, #2573, #2574, #2577, #2580 |
| Instructions | [1] |
The reef knot, or square knot, is an ancient and simple binding knot used to secure a rope or line around an object. It is sometimes also referred to as a Hercules knot. The knot is formed by tying a left-handed overhand knot and then a right-handed overhand knot, or vice versa. A common mnemonic for this procedure is "right over left; left over right", which is often appended with the rhyming suffix "... makes a knot both tidy and tight". Two consecutive overhands of the same handedness will make a granny knot. The working ends of the reef knot must emerge both at the top or both at the bottom, otherwise a thief knot results.
Although the reef knot is often seen used for tying two ropes together, it is not recommended for this purpose because of the potential instability of the knot, and over-use has resulted in many deaths (see #Misuse as a bend).
The reef knot is at least 4,000 years old. The name "reef knot" dates from at least 1794 and originates from its common use to reef sails, that is to tie part of the sail down to decrease its effective surface area in strong winds. To release the knot a sailor could collapse it with a pull of one hand; the sail's weight would make the collapsed knot come apart. It is specifically this behavior which makes the knot unsafe for connecting two ropes together.
The name "square knot" is found in Dana's 1841 maritime compendium A Seaman's Friend, which also gives "reef knot" as an alternative name.
The name square knot is often used for the unslipped version of reef knot. Reef knot itself then is understood as the single slipped version, while the name shoelace knot is to indicate double slipped version. Sometimes the name bowtie also may be used to indicate a double slipped version, but tying a bowtie is usually performed on flat material, and involves a slip knot of one end holding a bight of the other end i.e. not really a double slipped reef knot. The name "Square knot" is also used for completely different other knots such as the mathematical concept of square knot, or friendship knot; this last one earns the name by being flat and drawing a square on one face (and a cross on the other face).
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Wikipedia