Diagnose
Start from what failed.
Not from a knot name.
Carried over Yosemite Bowline so we can lay its failure modes over the evidence. Pick the symptom first — the recovered end still outranks the name.
01
Symptom
What actually happened on the water.
What you recovered
Under load
Structure / action
System
02
Where it failed
Location outranks the knot you intended to tie.
03
What the end looks like
Forensic. Optional — but it outranks the knot you meant to tie.
04
Connection & materials
Sharpens the cause. It never filters the Library.
Connection under stress
Terminal
Line to line
Loops & spool
Rig
Main line
Field conditions (optional)
Field notes (optional)
Knot you tied (optional)
Names a family so we can lay its failure modes over the evidence. The recovered end still outranks this name. It does not filter the Library.
Forensics first
The recovered end tells the truth. The knot you meant to tie is only a hypothesis.
Start from an example
One tap loads a real failure and works through the diagnosis.
What you recovered
Under load
Structure / action
System
How this reads evidence
- →The recovered end outranks the knot you intended — pigtail is slip, clean cut is usually not.
- →Break location separates line damage from knot geometry from hardware damage.
- →A tip wrap, riding turn, bite-off, or shock snap is often not a knot-family failure.
- →Material system separates how it was tied from a family that was never rated for that line.
- →The job weights the causes; it does not hide a knot.
- →If we cannot check something, we say so — we never call it a pass.