Alpine Butterfly
Single mid-line loop. Both standing parts and the loop can take load.
Intermediate · Polyester / Nylon rope / Polypropylene / Natural fibre / Dyneema / HMPE
Connection card
Alpine Butterfly
For mid-line loop.
This card does not say how strong the knot is. A retention figure comes from a bench, in one material, at one diameter, tied by somebody who ties it all day — and the line in your hand is none of those. What it does tell you is whether the thing you have just tied is the thing the record describes.
What this plate is telling you
Single mid-line loop. Both standing parts and the loop can take load.
Save this as a picture and it works with a dead signal and a nearly dead battery, which is when a joint is most often tied badly. The rest of this page — the steps, the seating sequence, the failure modes and the bench — is for the evening before.
Before you start
- ·Tie it in the middle of a line, with rope running out on both sides of your hand. For a loop at the end of a line, tie a bowline instead.
- ·The loop can take load along the rope in either direction or at right angles to it. It can also isolate a damaged section of rope inside the loop.
- ·Setting it takes a firm hold on the loop, over a cleat or in your teeth, while you pull both standing parts hard.
- ·It stays reasonably easy to undo even after heavy loading.
Step 1 of 4. Wrap the rope twice around your open hand at the spot in the middle of the line where you want the loop. Lay the first turn near your fingertips and the second back near your thumb.
No drawing of this exact knot yet. The written steps are the reference.
swipe to step
01
Wrap the rope twice around your open hand at the spot in the middle of the line where you want the loop. Lay the first turn near your fingertips and the second back near your thumb.
Two turns around the hand, one lying near the fingertips and one nearer the thumb, with a length of rope hanging off each side of the hand.
Wrapping near the end of the line to make an end loop. You will see only a short tail hanging off one side of the hand, where this knot needs rope running out on both sides.
Fix: For a loop at the end of a line, tie a bowline. For a butterfly, move the wraps to the point where the loop is needed so rope runs out on both sides.
Why: The loop can take load along the rope in either direction or at right angles to it, which is why it belongs in the middle of a line. It is also used to isolate a damaged section of rope inside the loop.
- Used as an end-loop — Wrong job — a bowline or figure-8 would untie easier. This is a mid-line loop, not an end-eye.
arrow keys work
Tying procedure — Alpine Butterfly
- Diagram in reviewA drawing of the Alpine Butterfly itself is being made. Until then, follow the written steps.
Step 01 / 4
Wrap the rope twice around your open hand at the spot in the middle of the line where you want the loop. Lay the first turn near your fingertips and the second back near your thumb.
You should now see: Two turns around the hand, one lying near the fingertips and one nearer the thumb, with a length of rope hanging off each side of the hand.
If it goes wrong: Wrapping near the end of the line to make an end loop. You will see only a short tail hanging off one side of the hand, where this knot needs rope running out on both sides.
Fix: For a loop at the end of a line, tie a bowline. For a butterfly, move the wraps to the point where the loop is needed so rope runs out on both sides.
Why: The loop can take load along the rope in either direction or at right angles to it, which is why it belongs in the middle of a line. It is also used to isolate a damaged section of rope inside the loop.
If wrong: Used as an end-loop — Wrong job — a bowline or figure-8 would untie easier.
- Diagram in reviewA drawing of the Alpine Butterfly itself is being made. Until then, follow the written steps.
Step 02 / 4
Pick up the turn nearest your fingertips, lift it back over the other two turns toward your wrist, then tuck it under both turns so it comes out past your fingertips.
You should now see: The picked-up turn passes over both other turns and back under them, and stands out past your fingertips as a loop.
If it goes wrong: Picking up the turn near the thumb, or laying the lifted turn over the others without tucking it under them. An untucked turn slides straight out when you take the knot off your hand.
Fix: Put the turns back as they were in step 1, pick up the one nearest your fingertips, and take it over both turns and then under both.
Why: The turn you pick up becomes the finished loop. Taking it over and then under the other turns is what binds the wraps into a knot rather than loose coils. Draw it out to roughly the loop size you want.
If wrong: Wrong wrap order — Body inverts into a slip loop.
- Diagram in reviewA drawing of the Alpine Butterfly itself is being made. Until then, follow the written steps.
Step 03 / 4
Grip the new loop and the turns together with your free hand, then slide everything off the wrapped hand without letting the turns separate.
You should now see: A loose but compact knot in your free hand, with the loop sticking out of it and a standing part leaving from each side.
If it goes wrong: Letting the turns spring apart as they come off your fingers, so the tuck slips out of place. You will see loose coils instead of a compact knot.
Fix: If the tuck has come out, rewrap the rope on your hand and repeat steps 1 and 2 rather than trying to rearrange the coils.
Why: Nothing holds the shape yet except the order of the turns. Moving the whole bundle off in one go keeps that order until the knot is pulled tight.
- Diagram in reviewA drawing of the Alpine Butterfly itself is being made. Until then, follow the written steps.
Step 04 / 4
Hold the loop firmly, over a cleat or in your teeth, and pull the two standing parts hard in opposite directions, then pull the loop again until the knot draws down.
You should now see: A compact knot with the loop standing out to one side, the two standing parts leaving in opposite directions, and no movement when you pull all three again.
If it goes wrong: Pulling only the standing parts, or only the loop, so the knot sets twisted with one standing part leaving at an angle. A knot not set on all three parts can change shape under its first real load.
Fix: Loosen the knot, straighten the turns, and pull again on the loop and on both standing parts until it sits square.
Why: Setting the knot on all three parts pulls it into the shape it will hold under load. It stays reasonably easy to undo even after heavy loading.
If wrong: Twisted body never loaded on all three parts — One standing part slips through under load.
Watch the tie
This Knot is a GAMECHANGER! - The Alpine Butterfly Knot.The Bear Essentials · Opens on YouTubeExternal video from a creator we follow — not produced by us. Nothing on this page loads from YouTube until you follow the link.
Seating sequence — where failures are born
The step list compresses the finish. Run these phases in order, one at a time.
01 Form
Build the structure loose enough to see every turn.
None. Shape first.
02 Dress
Nest every turn. Crossed parts will walk or jam.
Light — hold the shape.
03 Set
Load the standing part so the intended turns take the strain.
Working load, not a snatch.
04 Check
Confirm the lock still breaks or inspects as the job requires.
None extra.
05 Commit
Only load it after the structure reads correct. Wrong means remake.
Working load, not a snatch.
Finished structure — what correct looks like
No drawing of this exact knot yet. The written steps are the reference.
- ·Square mid-line body; loop standing perpendicular; both standings leaving opposite sides
- ·Load the loop and both standing parts together so the body sits square
- ·No free tail — this is mid-line; the 'tag' is the loop itself
- ·Wrap order intact from the hand — fingertip turn around the other two
Verify before you load it
Every line is pass or fail. One fail means retie — do not load a knot you argued with.
- 01Square mid-line body; loop standing perpendicular; both standings leaving opposite sides
- 02Load the loop and both standing parts together so the body sits square
- 03No free tail — this is mid-line; the 'tag' is the loop itself
- 04Wrap order intact from the hand — fingertip turn around the other two
- 05A scramble off the hand or a twist in the body is a retie
- 06Square body, loop standing, both standings opposite. A twist is a retie
Field notes — dark, cold, gloves
- ·Dress is the lock. A pretty knot that is not dressed is not finished.
- ·HMPE usually wants a splice, not a hitch you learned in polyester.
- ·If you cannot break or inspect it under the load you expect, it is the wrong job.
When this family fails, it fails as these. The recovered end still outranks the name.
A mid-line eye that can take load in three directions.
- !Twists not nested — the eye distorts under side load
- !Tied as an overhand on a bight, which will not take three-way load
- !Eye sized after it was already loaded
- !The lifted turn was laid over the other turns but not tucked under them, so it slides straight out as the knot comes off the hand.
- !The turns separated while sliding off the hand and the tuck came out of place, leaving loose coils instead of a knot.
- !It was set on only the loop or only the standing parts, so it sits twisted and can change shape under its first real load.
Wrong wrap order
Body inverts into a slip loop
Fingertip turn must wrap around the other two before it leaves the hand · step 02
Twisted body never loaded on all three parts
One standing part slips through under load
Dress by pulling the loop and both standings · step 04
Used as an end-loop
Wrong job — a bowline or figure-8 would untie easier
This is a mid-line loop, not an end-eye · step 01
Loop distorts or one standing part slips through
Check
- ?Square body
- ?Loop standing perpendicular
- ?Both standings leaving opposite sides
Then
- →Untie and retie the hand wraps
- →Load all three parts to dress
Wrong wrap order
Check
- ?Body inverts into a slip loop
- ?Inspect step 02
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
Twisted body never loaded on all three parts
Check
- ?One standing part slips through under load
- ?Inspect step 04
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
Used as an end-loop
Check
- ?Wrong job — a bowline or figure-8 would untie easier
- ?Inspect step 01
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
Get it right with everything in your favour0/5 clean
Good light, dry hands, a table. Until the sequence is automatic here there is nothing for the harder rungs to test — you would only be learning that difficult conditions are difficult, which you already knew.
How · Tie it, check it against the list, log it. Five clean and the ladder opens.
Nothing marked. Log it clean, or mark what happened first.
Not ideal for
- ×An end-loop (use bowline / figure-8)
- ×A loop you will tie and untie every five minutes in stiff hawser
Strength, and where the number comes from
60.7–80.6% of the weaker line
Measuredbutterfly loaded loop-to-end in rope, 5 samples pooled across the literature; pulled end-to-end with the loop unloaded the same knot drops to 59.2–68.8%, so which legs you load changes the number
A Review of Knot Strength Testing (2016) — Thomas Evans, SAR3
Percentages come from published tests on their own line, their own knot-tyer and their own pull rate. Yours is a different system. Treat a figure as a reason to test, not as a result you already have.
- Animated Knots — Alpine Butterfly Loop
- The Bear Essentials — This Knot is a GAMECHANGER! - The Alpine Butterfly Knot.
Cited tying video already attached to this record.
Record reviewed 2026-08-14
Vetted references
- Animated Knots — Alpine Butterfly Loop
Animated Knots by Grog
- This Knot is a GAMECHANGER! - The Alpine Butterfly Knot.
The Bear Essentials
Related knots
Check the finished knot against what correct looks like before you load it.