Bowline
Fixed eye that unties after load. Backup the tail on a serious job.
Beginner · Polyester / Nylon rope / Polypropylene / Natural fibre
Connection card
Bowline
For fixed eye in the end, loop dropped over a post.
Fixed eye: working end up through a small loop, around the standing part, back down. Collar seated.
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
Fixed eye that unties after load. Backup the tail on a serious job.
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
- ·It cannot be tied or untied while the standing part is under load, so make the loop before the line takes strain.
- ·Leave a tail at least a hand's width long, and more in slick rope.
- ·An unloaded bowline can work itself untied. On an unattended line, or one holding a boat or a person, back up the tail with a stopper knot.
- ·For a line that goes slack and snatches tight over and over, Hook the Horizon suggests a round turn and two half hitches instead.
Step 1 of 4 · move 1 of 2. Make a small loop in the standing part, with the rope toward the end lying on top
swipe to step
01.1
Make a small loop in the standing part, with the rope toward the end lying on top
- Hold:
- Left hand holds the small loop where the rope crosses
- Move:
- Right hand lays the rope that runs on to the end over the standing part
Make a small loop in the standing part with the rope leading to the working end lying on top, then push the working end up through the loop from underneath.
A small loop in the standing part with the working end poking up out of it, and a length of rope between them that will become the eye.
Forming the small loop in the working end instead of the standing part, or with the standing part on top. When you test it, the eye slides smaller instead of holding its size.
Fix: Shake it out and make the small loop again in the standing part, with the working-end side on top, before going any further.
Why: The small loop becomes the nip that grips the working end once the eye is loaded. Hook the Horizon notes that a loop made in the working end gives a slip knot that closes under load.
- Cowboy / wrong-direction loop — Collar sits on the wrong part and can capsize. The working end must go up through the small loop, around the standing part, and back down.
arrow keys work
Tying procedure — Bowline
Step 01 / 4
Make a small loop in the standing part with the rope leading to the working end lying on top, then push the working end up through the loop from underneath.
You should now see: A small loop in the standing part with the working end poking up out of it, and a length of rope between them that will become the eye.
If it goes wrong: Forming the small loop in the working end instead of the standing part, or with the standing part on top. When you test it, the eye slides smaller instead of holding its size.
Fix: Shake it out and make the small loop again in the standing part, with the working-end side on top, before going any further.
Why: The small loop becomes the nip that grips the working end once the eye is loaded. Hook the Horizon notes that a loop made in the working end gives a slip knot that closes under load.
1Small loop2Standing partStep 1 of 4 · move 1 of 2
Make a small loop in the standing part, with the rope toward the end lying on top
Hold: Left hand holds the small loop where the rope crosses. Move: Right hand lays the rope that runs on to the end over the standing part.
- 1Working end, up through the small loop2Big loop
Step 1 of 4 · move 2 of 2
Bring the working end up through the small loop from underneath
Hold: Left hand keeps the small loop from turning over. Move: Right hand brings the end up through the loop from behind, leaving a big loop below.
You should now see: A big loop hanging below the small one, and the working end standing up out of the small loop.
Step 02 / 4
Take the working end around behind the standing part, above the small loop.
You should now see: The working end wrapped around the back of the standing part and pointing back down toward the small loop.
If it goes wrong: Passing the end across the front of the standing part instead of behind it. No collar forms around the standing part, which you can see once the knot is set.
Fix: Back the end out and take it around behind the standing part, then carry on to the next step.
Why: The turn behind the standing part becomes the collar. It holds the working end in place against the pull on the eye.
1Collar round the standing partStep 2 of 4 · move 1 of 1
Take the end round behind the standing part and back to the front
Hold: Left hand holds the small loop and the end where it came through. Move: Right hand takes the end behind the standing part and round to the front.
You should now see: The end has gone behind the standing part and come round to the front, making a collar round it.
Step 03 / 4
Bring the working end back down through the small loop, running alongside the strand where it came up.
You should now see: The working end lying beside its own strand inside the small loop and finishing inside the eye, with a tail at least a hand's width long.
If it goes wrong: Stopping with the end still above the loop, or pulling so much through that only a stub is left. A short tail can work back out when the knot is unloaded and shaken.
Fix: Feed the end down through the small loop. If the tail is shorter than a hand's width, untie it and start with more rope past the loop.
Why: Animated Knots warns that an unloaded bowline can readily work its way untied. A long tail, more in slick rope, gives the knot room to shift without the end pulling free.
1End, inside the big loopStep 3 of 4 · move 1 of 1
Put the end back down through the small loop, beside where it came up
Hold: Left hand holds the collar against the standing part. Move: Right hand pushes the end down through the small loop, next to its first pass.
You should now see: Both sides of the collar through the small loop side by side, and the end lying inside the big loop.
Step 04 / 4
Hold the eye in one hand and the standing part in the other and pull to set the knot, working the collar snug on the standing part. Back up the tail on an unattended line.
You should now see: A collar hugging the standing part and the small loop closed down on the two strands inside it. The eye keeps its size when you pull on it.
If it goes wrong: Setting the knot by tugging only the tail, which leaves the collar loose. A loose collar lets the knot change shape and work open as the load comes and goes.
Fix: Work the collar down against the standing part by hand, then pull the eye and standing part apart again. For an unattended line, add a stopper knot in the tail.
Why: Set the bowline firmly before adding any backup. Animated Knots warns that a Yosemite tie-off added before the bowline is tightened can leave a slip knot.
1Collar2Small loopStep 4 of 4 · move 1 of 1
Hold the end and the big loop's side together, and pull the standing part to dress it
Hold: Left hand holds the end and the side of the big loop beside it together. Move: Right hand pulls the standing part until the collar and the small loop close up.
You should now see: The small loop closed round both sides of the collar, the collar snug round the standing part, and the end inside the big loop.
Watch the tie
Best way to tie a bowline knot for sailing with troubleshooting & variationsJessica and Ryan Adventures · 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
Drawn from a rope model of this knot: which strand passes over which comes from where the rope actually lies.
- ·Fixed eye with a tight collar around the standing part and the tail back down the nipping loop
- ·Collar dressed tight before any backup tuck
- ·Tail exits down through the nipping loop, long enough to backup
- ·Single nipping loop, no extra wraps pretending to add strength
Verify before you load it
Every line is pass or fail. One fail means retie — do not load a knot you argued with.
- 01Fixed eye with a tight collar around the standing part and the tail back down the nipping loop
- 02Collar dressed tight before any backup tuck
- 03Tail exits down through the nipping loop, long enough to backup
- 04Single nipping loop, no extra wraps pretending to add strength
- 05Wrong loop direction is a cowboy bowline — dress it or restart
- 06Collar tight, tail long, backup if the job is serious
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.
Load direction
The pull comes down the standing part and out through the eye. The collar is the only thing holding it: it nips the standing part against the turn, and that grip is friction, not a jam. That is why a bowline can be untied after it has been loaded hard — and why it can shake loose when it is loaded and unloaded over and over instead of steadily.
Collar hard against the standing part with no daylight in the turn. If you can see light through it, the knot is being held by nothing and will roll the first time the eye is pulled sideways.
When this family fails, it fails as these. The recovered end still outranks the name.
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
- !Left unloaded and shaken, so it works its way untied
- !Repeated slack and snatch on an unattended line with no backup
- !Tail shorter than a hand's width, especially in slick rope
- !Small loop made in the working end, so the eye slides closed
Cowboy / wrong-direction loop
Collar sits on the wrong part and can capsize
The working end must go up through the small loop, around the standing part, and back down · step 01
Open collar
Eye inverts or walks under cyclic load
An undressed bowline is not finished · step 04
Tail left up or too short
No lock, or no room to backup
The tail must return down the nipping loop · step 03
Loop capsizes or the collar walks
Check
- ?Collar tight against the standing part
- ?Tail long enough
Then
- →Dress and backup
- →Use a figure-8 loop if you cannot inspect a bowline
Cowboy / wrong-direction loop
Check
- ?Collar sits on the wrong part and can capsize
- ?Inspect step 01
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
Open collar
Check
- ?Eye inverts or walks under cyclic load
- ?Inspect step 04
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
Tail left up or too short
Check
- ?No lock, or no room to backup
- ?Inspect step 03
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
Same failure class, different geometry. Open the plates — Diagnose still starts from the symptom.
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
- ×Life-critical without a backup
- ×Slick HMPE (use a splice)
- ×A loop that must never capsize
Strength, and where the number comes from
41.8–70.7% of the weaker line
Measuredrope, end-to-end, 17 samples pooled across the published literature — a rope quantity, not a fishing-line one, and the range is wide enough that no single bowline number is defensible
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.
Record reviewed 2026-08-14
Vetted references
- Animated Knots — Bowline
Animated Knots by Grog
- Best way to tie a bowline knot for sailing with troubleshooting & variations
Jessica and Ryan Adventures
Check the finished knot against what correct looks like before you load it.