The Bowline

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Pinch the crossed ropes between the thumb and forefinger of your right hand, thumb down. The large loop formed will be the working loop of the knot.

The next step (Figure 3b to Figure 3c) forms the hitch. It is easy to perform but tricky to describe. Note that you start with both palms down. Now, with your left hand, use the left leg of the loop you have just made to wrap a hitch around the working end in your right hand. What I do is to rotate both wrists back out (palms up), while making a smooth circular motion with my left hand away and down, enclosing the working end as shown in Figure 3c. This is a very stylish move, not unlike the last step in tying your shoelaces. Be bold. Trust your intuition. It is easier than it sounds. It helps to keep some tension on the rope. All of this is done in one smooth motion taking less than two seconds from the time you pick up the rope.

From here proceed as with both other versions: Pass the working end behind the standing part and back down through the hitch. Before you work the knot, you can try sliding the loop and hitch back and forth to observe how elegantly the hitch traps the loop and the loop traps the hitch.

In some synthetic rope materials the bowline may be less secure; this is because the material is so slippery and/or stiff that the knot can untie itself over time. You can reinforce it in many different ways, such as tying the working end off with two half hitches, or pinning it back under its own loop as in Figure 4. The bowline can also be used to make a noose or to securely bend two ropes together as illustrated in Figure 5. To untie a bowline, use your thumbs to break down the loop and loosen the hitch.

The bowline is the ultimate instructional knot. If you take the trouble to practice and learn it completely, you will have mastered most of the principles of knot tying. After that everything else will be easy.

First Knot to Know: Take the trouble to learn the bowline and you'll have mastered most of the principles of tying knots. It is the ultimate instructional knot.

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