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KA

Diagram

Yosemite Bowline

Bowline with Yosemite finish · Yosemite tie-off

A fixed loop in the end of a line with the tail wrapped around a leg of the eye and tucked up beside the standing part, so the tail sits inside the knot where it is easy to check.

Loop · Intermediate · Polyester / Nylon rope / Polypropylene / Natural fibre · 4 steps

ApplicationsHow to tie it

Finished structure

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

  1. Step 01

    Tie a bowline and leave a longer tail than usual. Make a small loop in the standing part, bring the working end up through it, around behind the standing part and back down through the small loop.

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

    You should now see

    A bowline with a collar of the tail hugging the standing part, the tail lying inside the eye, and plenty of tail left over for another wrap and tuck.

    If it goes wrong

    Coming up through the small loop from the top, or skipping the trip behind the standing part. There is then no collar around the standing part, and what you have is not a bowline.

    Fix: Pull the tail back out of the small loop and redo it: up through the loop from underneath, behind the standing part, then back down beside the part that came up.

    Why: The Yosemite finish only adds a wrap and a tuck to a finished bowline, so the collar around the standing part has to be there before the finish starts.

  2. Step 02

    Wrap the tail around the front of the eye leg on its own side, then tuck it back up through the knot along the path of the standing part so it comes out beside the standing part.

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

    You should now see

    The tail leaves the top of the knot lying against the standing part and pointing the same way. Seen from the front, the tail's path traces a figure eight.

    If it goes wrong

    Stopping after the wrap, or tucking the tail down instead of up. The tail then hangs below the knot or sticks out sideways instead of lying along the standing part.

    Fix: Take the tail back out to the wrap and tuck it again, upward through the knot beside the standing part, until it exits at the top next to the standing part.

    Why: With the finish in place, the tail is trapped inside the knot alongside the standing part rather than lying loose in the eye, and that is easy to check by eye before loading.

  3. Step 03

    Hold the eye and pull the standing part against it to set the bowline first. Only after that, pull the tail to snug down the wrap and tuck.

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

    You should now see

    The collar sits tight around the standing part with the small loop closed on it, and the wrap then beds down without changing the shape of the bowline.

    If it goes wrong

    Pulling the tail first. The bowline underneath is lost and the rope forms a different, insecure knot that can slip or collapse into a noose, with the collar no longer around the standing part.

    Fix: Untie it completely, tie the bowline again from step 1, and set it with the standing part before you touch the tail.

    Why: Wikipedia warns that drawing the tail up before the nipping loop is set can displace the loop and compromise the knot, which is why the order of the two pulls matters.

  4. Step 04

    Before loading it, look the knot over and pull each part once more: the standing part against the eye, then the tail.

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

    You should now see

    The tail leaves the knot beside the standing part with good length to spare, the collar is tight, and nothing moves when you pull the eye against the standing part.

    If it goes wrong

    A short tail, or a collar that has worked loose while you tied the finish. Wikipedia warns that a Yosemite bowline that is not dressed correctly can collapse into a noose.

    Fix: Retie it with more tail. Where a failed loop would be serious, Wikipedia suggests a standard or double bowline with a stopper knot on the tail instead.

    Why: Swift Silent Deadly advises against using the Yosemite bowline for life support and suggests a figure-eight loop for that job.

Failure modes

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

Bowline family

Fixed eye whose lock is a collar seated on the standing part.

  • !Open collar — the eye capsizes under cyclic load
  • !Cowboy / wrong-direction loop
  • !Tail too short to backup, or a Yosemite finish on an unfinished bowline
Fails when
  • !The tail was pulled before the bowline was set, so the bowline is lost and the knot can slip or collapse into a noose
  • !The collar works loose while the finish is tied. Wikipedia warns a Yosemite bowline that is not dressed correctly can collapse into a noose.
  • !The base knot has no collar around the standing part, so the finish is added to a knot that is not a bowline
Geometry

  • Yosemite tuck dressed before the collar

    Eye inverts or the collar walks after the finish

    Dress the collar first — the tuck is a backup, not the lock · step 03

  • Tail not captured in the nipping loop

    This is just a bowline with a wandering tail

    The Yosemite path returns the tail down through the nipping loop · step 02

  • Collar never seated

    Finish cannot save an open-collar bowline

    An unfinished bowline cannot take a Yosemite finish · step 01

If you saw this

  • Eye distorts or the collar walks after the finish

    Check

    • ?Collar seated first
    • ?Tail parallel inside the nipping loop
    • ?Eye still a bowline

    Then

    • →Untie and dress collar then tuck
    • →Use a figure-8 loop if the finish keeps inverting

  • Yosemite tuck dressed before the collar

    Check

    • ?Eye inverts or the collar walks after the finish
    • ?Inspect step 03

    Then

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

  • Tail not captured in the nipping loop

    Check

    • ?This is just a bowline with a wandering tail
    • ?Inspect step 02

    Then

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

  • Collar never seated

    Check

    • ?Finish cannot save an open-collar bowline
    • ?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

Not ideal for

  • ×A thirty-second dock eye (plain bowline is enough)
  • ×Wrong dress order — that inverts the bowline
  • ×HMPE

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