A very handy knot, this bend is particularly good
for joining two ropes of different sizes together.
The thicker
rope is formed into a bight, and the thinner rope makes
a half-hitch around the doubled-back section; the loose
end of the thin rope is pulled through the eye of the
bight, and the long ends are pulled to tighten the knot.
This bend is tied exactly the same way as a bowline
is; in that case, you form the half-hitch in the
long end of the rope, and the very end of the rope
serves as the bight.
An ASCII art version:
______ _______________
/ \ /
/ __ \ / _____________
/ / \ \ / /
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\ \~~~~~~~~~~ /
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\ \~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\ \~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\ \~~~~~~~~~~~~
| | \ \/ /~~~~~~~
| | \ / / ~~~~~~
| | \/ / ~~~~~~
| | / /\ ~~~~~~
| | / / \ ~~~~~~
| | / /\ \~~~~~~~
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/ /~~\ \~~~~~
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/ /~~~~\ \~~~
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/ /~~~~~~\ \~
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/ /~~~~~~~~\ \
\ \__/ / \ \____
\ / \ |
\______/ \______|
Another useful variant is the double sheet bend, formed
by looping the thin rope around the bight twice before
sending its end back through the eye:
______ ______ _____________
/ \ / \ /
/ __ \ / __ \ / ___________
/ / \ \ / / \ \ / /
|~~~~~~~~~~~~\ \~~~~~~~~~~~\ \~~~~~~~~~~/
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~\ \~~~~~~~~~~~\ \~~~~~~~~~~~~
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\ \~~~~~~~~~~~\ \~~~~~~~~~~~~
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\ \~~~~~~~~~~~\ \~~~~~~~~~~~~
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ / / ~~~~~~~
\ \ \ \ \ \ \/ / ~~~~~~
\ \ \ \ \ \ / /\ ~~~~~~
\ \ \ \ \ \/ / \ ~~~~~~
\ \ \ \ \ / /\ \ ~~~~~~
\ \ \ \ \/ / \ \~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\ \~~/ /~~~~\ \~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\ \/ /~~~~~~\ \~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\ / /~~~~~~~~\ \~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\/ /~~~~~~~~~~\ \
\ \__/ /\__/ / \ \___
\ / / \ |
\______/\______/ \_____|
Update 2001-06-11: The earlier pictures
were incorrect. The long end of the thin rope should
always come through the middle of the bight in the thick
rope; tension on the long end is what holds the short
end of the thin rope down, securing the bend.