Bowline

The bowline has two parts: a small loop in the standing part and the large loop you actually want. The working end comes up through the small loop from underneath, goes around behind the standing part and back down the same way. When the standing part is pulled, the small loop closes around the two strands of the end and nips them.

The key point: the nip sits in the small loop, not in the large one. So the large loop stays the same size however hard it is pulled. At the same time the knot is easy to untie after loading: you 'break' it by pushing the collar behind the standing part forwards – the small loop then opens.

That easy release has a downside. When the knot is unloaded and shaken or flogged, the small loop can open on its own. Stiff or slick rope makes this worse.

Look at three things. First: a 'collar' sits around the standing part – the working end wraps around behind it in a tight curve. Second: the end comes back down through the small loop and lies inside the large loop, parallel to its leg. If it lies outside, you have tied a different form (often called a left-hand or cowboy bowline), regarded as less reliable – retie it.

Third: the tail. It should project clearly by several rope diameters, rather more than too little. To set it, hold the tail and the neighbouring loop leg together and pull firmly on the standing part. Only then does the nip sit properly.

One common mistake shows itself straight away when setting: if the small loop was formed the wrong way round (the part leading to the working end lies underneath instead of on top), everything slides apart as soon as you pull. Annoying, but actually lucky – the mistake gives itself away.

Loosening without load: on a line that is sometimes taut, sometimes slack and slapping in the wind, the bowline can gradually work loose. Remedy: a long tail, regular checks and a backup where needed – such as a double overhand with the tail around the neighbouring loop leg, or a Yosemite finish.

Capsizing under ring loading: the bowline is meant to be loaded through the standing part. If the loop is instead pulled apart from two sides (for example when it goes around two objects pulling away from each other), the knot can flip and open. So plan the direction of pull deliberately.

Slick or stiff rope: here the small loop grips less well. The round-turn variant (the small loop is made with two turns) increases the nip.

In camp the bowline is a workhorse: as a fixed loop around a tree or post, to anchor one end of a ridgeline, as a hanging loop for a food bag. Because it can be tied around an object and is easy to untie afterwards, it is more pleasant than knots that jam after loading.

It is not suitable as a bend between two ropes (the sheet bend is made for that), for lines that flap constantly without a backup, or for loading the loop from two sides. None of the knots in this atlas is meant for life-safety use – not for climbing, abseiling, rescue or holding and lifting people. Life-safety use only after proper training with certified equipment. For the reasons above, mountaineering uses the bowline for tying in only with a backup, or not at all.

Practise first with the rope around your own leg or a chair post – never around the neck or upper body. Form the small loop, check that the part leading to the working end lies on top, and tell yourself the rabbit story: out of the hole, around the tree, back down the hole.

Once it sits, open it again by pushing the collar forwards. Repeat until you can tie it without looking. Then practise it around a tree, where the large loop must go around the trunk first. Finally: shake an unloaded bowline in slick rope for a while and watch it loosen – that's how you understand why checking matters.