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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.

Carrick Bend, finishedCarrick Bend, finished

Finished structure

Drawn from a rope model of this knot: which strand passes over which comes from where the rope actually lies.

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