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KA

← Where the theory applies
Terminal — hardware eye

Centauri Knot

Constriction · Wrap stack

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.

HTH · Reference layout

Centauri Knot — finished-state checks, on the shared reference layout

Centauri Knot — finished-state checks, on the shared reference layout
Hook the Horizon reference plate
Failure modes

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

Jam-hitch terminal family

A compact hitch or jam at the eye — fewer wraps, a different lock than a clinch barrel.

  • !Lock never jammed to the eye — it is a loose hitch in disguise
  • !Used on a small eye that cannot take the bulk of the jam
  • !Confused with a clinch: the tag path is not a barrel tuck
Fails when
  • !The tag was trimmed with the collar still up the line, leaving a small loop above the eye, and the collar creeps under load
  • !A loop was reversed or collapsed, and the crossing stops the collar closing and sliding cleanly
  • !The tag missed a loop, which hangs open beside the collar instead of closing into it
  • !The tag was yanked hard to close the collar, kinking the mono
Geometry

  • Loops closed out of order

    No collar — the usual Centauri failure

    Three loops in order make the sliding collar; a flipped first loop will not form it · step 01

  • Hard pull before the collar formed

    Kinks nylon and the collar never seats

    Form the collar, then seat; a yank is not a Centauri · step 03

  • Used on braid

    A nylon collar on braid will not hold

    Centauri is a mono knot — braid needs a different terminal · step 04

If you saw this

  • Collar walks or opens under load

    Check

    • ?Collar butted to the eye
    • ?Three-loop stack visible

    Then

    • →Retie on nylon
    • →Do not transfer this collar to braid

  • Finished check failed — Misdrawn final geometry

    Check

    • ?Distinctive Centauri geometry seated
    • ?Clean tag exit
    • ?No open loops

    Then

    • →Retie. A misdrawn Centauri loses the geometry that gives it strength.

  • Loops closed out of order

    Check

    • ?No collar — the usual Centauri failure
    • ?Inspect step 01

    Then

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

  • Hard pull before the collar formed

    Check

    • ?Kinks nylon and the collar never seats
    • ?Inspect step 03

    Then

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

  • Used on braid

    Check

    • ?A nylon collar on braid will not hold
    • ?Inspect step 04

    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

  • ·The eye is hardware. The knot is an open tangle around that eye. Ends stay ends.
  • ·Seating (wet set, even wraps, tag orientation) is the mechanical record already on the knot. Theory adds no extra rating.

What topology does not predict

  • ·Trefoil / unknot classification does not apply to a Palomar or clinch.
  • ·Fluoro glaze, pigtail slip and nick-at-the-guides are forensic, not topological.
  • ·No strength percentage is computed here.

Not for

  • ·A free-swing lure loop — use a non-slip loop family
  • ·Using an invariant as a reason to keep a glazed terminal
  • ·Braid-first terminals
  • ·Fluoro-first use that has not been verified for this collar

Same pattern, different job

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

Sources