Figure-eight loop (on a bight)

The figure-eight loop follows exactly the rope path of the figure-eight knot, just with two parallel strands. The bight at the tip becomes the loop. Because the figure-eight leads the rope through several gentler curves instead of one tight one, the bending is spread better. As a result the figure-eight loop jams less than the overhand loop and can usually still be untied after loading.

At the same time it is very resistant to coming undone: the doubled strands nip each other, and the figure-eight shape cannot simply flip as long as it is loaded through the loop along the rope. For pull across the rope direction, such as a loop in the middle of a taut line, the alpine butterfly is usually better suited.

Three features tell you whether the figure-eight loop is right. First: the figure-eight shape is clearly visible – two curves with a crossing between them. Second: everywhere pairs of strands run parallel side by side; nowhere do the two strands cross inside the knot. Third: the short end projects long enough, several rope diameters.

If the extra turn is missing, you only get an overhand loop – it is smaller, more compact and has no recognisable 8. If the strands cross, the knot is poorly dressed. It often still holds, but jams more and loads the rope unevenly. You will spot both while dressing.

Only set the knot once it is dressed: on the loop and on both strands – in all, on all four strand ends coming out of the knot.

In camp the figure-eight loop is especially useful when a loop needs to go over a hook or peg or into a clip, as a hanging loop for bags and gear, or as the loop for a mechanical-advantage knot such as the trucker's hitch. It can be tied at the rope end and, with a bight from the middle, mid-rope as well.

It uses quite a lot of rope, and after very high loads it may sit tight. Tied this way it cannot go around a closed object such as a tree or ring – for that there is the figure-eight follow-through or the bowline.

The figure-eight loop is one of the knots taught in many fields, including mountaineering. That does not mean you may use it for people after reading an instruction online. This page does not teach use in climbing or rescue. 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 loads in camp too: load the loop as intended – along the rope, through the loop. If you hang something heavy from it, check the rope and the anchor point first and don't stand underneath the load.

First tie a few ordinary figure-eights until you can do them reliably. Then double the rope, with a bight a little larger than the loop you want. Use the bight to form a loop over both strands, take it once right around behind both strands and push it through the first loop from the front.

Now dress it calmly: run your finger along each strand and check that two run parallel everywhere. Then set it and compare with the picture. Ask someone who knows the knot well to look at yours and tell you what they notice – two pairs of eyes see more than one.