Skip to content
KA

← Where the theory applies
Bend — two lines

Carrick Bend

Wrap stack · Constriction

DiagramsHow to tie it

Does not pick a knot

This page does not pick a knot for you. DNA, molecules, quantum braids and vortices stay off Decide.

Finished structure

No drawing of this exact knot yet. The written steps are the reference.

Failure modes

When this family fails, it fails as these. The recovered end still outranks the name.

Interlocking-bend family

Two interlocking overhands or a Carrick lattice — tails on the documented sides.

  • !Tails on the wrong sides of the bend
  • !Broken lattice or a reef-knot form in disguise
  • !Undressed so one overhand takes the whole load
Fails when
  • !Both tails leave on the same side of the knot. Animated Knots warns this form can work loose under an on-and-off pull.
  • !Only one tail is seized to its standing part. Wikipedia warns a seized carrick bend slips unless both ends are secured.
  • !The weave has two overs or two unders in a row, so it is not a true carrick bend
Geometry

  • Broken over-under lattice

    Capsizes into a tangle under load

    The weave is the bend — count the overs · step 02

  • Unseized standing hawser

    Tails walk and the lattice opens

    Animated Knots: seize the tails on a standing job · step 04

  • Used on small soft line

    Overbuilt, hard to dress, wrong job

    Small soft line wants a Zeppelin or sheet bend · step 01

If you saw this

  • Bend capsizes into a tangle or walks

    Check

    • ?Alternating over-under
    • ?Tails seized if standing

    Then

    • →Retie the lattice
    • →Seize the tails
    • →Use Zeppelin on small line

  • Broken over-under lattice

    Check

    • ?Capsizes into a tangle under load
    • ?Inspect step 02

    Then

    • →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.

  • Unseized standing hawser

    Check

    • ?Tails walk and the lattice opens
    • ?Inspect step 04

    Then

    • →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.

  • Used on small soft line

    Check

    • ?Overbuilt, hard to dress, wrong job
    • ?Inspect step 01

    Then

    • →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
Same family

Same failure class, different geometry. Open the plates — Diagnose still starts from the symptom.

This failed — start Diagnose

What holds it

  • ·A bend captures two working ends. Holding is constriction and the seated wrap or barrel — not a closed-knot invariant.
  • ·Unequal diameters and slick pairs (braid to fluoro) are material problems. Crossing number does not rank FG against a Double Uni.

What topology does not predict

  • ·A Jones polynomial does not pick a braid-to-leader family.
  • ·Published retention bands stay as cited on the knot record. This page does not invent one.
  • ·Guide-click and tag-trim are field geometry, not topology.

Not for

  • ·Attaching a single line to a spar or cleat — that is a hitch
  • ·Reading this page as a recommendation from Decide
  • ·Small soft line (Zeppelin or sheet bend is faster)
  • ·Left unseized on a standing hawser

Same pattern, different job

No sourced twin among these knots. Related knots stay on the Library card.

Sources