Carrick Bend
Lattice bend for large stiff ropes. Seize a standing hawser.
Intermediate · Polyester / Nylon rope / Polypropylene / Natural fibre
Connection card
Carrick Bend
For rope → rope join.
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
Lattice bend for large stiff ropes. Seize a standing hawser.
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
- ·Its main use is heavy rope and hawsers. In small line, a Zeppelin bend or a sheet bend is quicker to tie and to check.
- ·Leave tails of at least 10 to 20 cm (4 to 8 in) when you pull the standing parts.
- ·Unseized, the knot rolls over into a smaller, bulkier shape as it tightens. Wikipedia describes this capsized form as secure and stable.
- ·To keep a loaded hawser bend flat, seize each tail to its own standing part. Wikipedia warns that a seized carrick bend slips unless both ends are secured.
Step 1 of 4. Form a loop near the end of the first rope with its working end crossing under the standing part, and lay the loop flat so the crossing is easy to see.
No drawing of this exact knot yet. The written steps are the reference.
swipe to step
01
Form a loop near the end of the first rope with its working end crossing under the standing part, and lay the loop flat so the crossing is easy to see.
A flat loop with the working end passing beneath the standing part at the crossing, and the two parts leading away from the same side of the loop.
Crossing the working end over the standing part, which starts the weave the wrong way round. Another is reaching for this bend in small, soft line when its main use is heavy rope and hawsers.
Fix: Re-lay the loop with the working end under the standing part. For small line, a Zeppelin bend or a sheet bend is quicker to tie and to check.
Why: In a true carrick bend every crossing alternates over and under. Starting with the working end under its standing part sets the pattern that the second rope follows in steps 2 and 3.
- Used on small soft line — Overbuilt, hard to dress, wrong job. Small soft line wants a Zeppelin or sheet bend.
arrow keys work
Tying procedure — Carrick Bend
- Diagram in reviewA drawing of the Carrick Bend itself is being made. Until then, follow the written steps.
Step 01 / 4
Form a loop near the end of the first rope with its working end crossing under the standing part, and lay the loop flat so the crossing is easy to see.
You should now see: A flat loop with the working end passing beneath the standing part at the crossing, and the two parts leading away from the same side of the loop.
If it goes wrong: Crossing the working end over the standing part, which starts the weave the wrong way round. Another is reaching for this bend in small, soft line when its main use is heavy rope and hawsers.
Fix: Re-lay the loop with the working end under the standing part. For small line, a Zeppelin bend or a sheet bend is quicker to tie and to check.
Why: In a true carrick bend every crossing alternates over and under. Starting with the working end under its standing part sets the pattern that the second rope follows in steps 2 and 3.
If wrong: Used on small soft line — Overbuilt, hard to dress, wrong job.
- Diagram in reviewA drawing of the Carrick Bend itself is being made. Until then, follow the written steps.
Step 02 / 4
Lay the loop on top of the second rope's working end, then take that end over the first rope's standing part and under the first rope's working end.
You should now see: The second rope's working end runs under the loop, over one arm of the first rope and under the other, so each crossing along its path alternates.
If it goes wrong: Two overs or two unders in a row where the second rope crosses the first. Run a finger along the second working end and say over or under at each crossing; a repeat means the weave is broken.
Fix: Back the working end out to the last crossing that alternated correctly and weave on from there: under the loop, over the standing part, under the working end.
Why: NetKnots gives the whole path of the second rope as under the loop, then over, under, over, under, over. This step makes the first three of those crossings.
If wrong: Broken over-under lattice — Capsizes into a tangle under load.
- Diagram in reviewA drawing of the Carrick Bend itself is being made. Until then, follow the written steps.
Step 03 / 4
Take the second rope's working end back across the loop: over the first rope, under its own standing part, then over the first rope again.
You should now see: A flat, symmetrical lattice of eight crossings that all alternate, with the two working ends leaving on diagonally opposite sides.
If it goes wrong: Going over its own standing part instead of under, which leaves both tails on the same side. Animated Knots warns that this version can work loose under an on-and-off pull.
Fix: Pull the working end back to the edge of the loop and repeat the tuck, going under its own standing part, so the tails end up diagonally opposite.
Why: Wikipedia notes that the form with the ends diagonally opposed is considered more secure than the one with both ends on the same side.
- Diagram in reviewA drawing of the Carrick Bend itself is being made. Until then, follow the written steps.
Step 04 / 4
Pull both standing parts slowly in opposite directions, leaving tails of at least 10 to 20 cm (4 to 8 in). In heavy rope that will stay loaded, seize each tail to its own standing part.
You should now see: Unseized, the knot rolls into a smaller, bulkier shape as it tightens, which is normal. Seized, it stays flat with both tails bound along their standing parts.
If it goes wrong: Leaving a hawser unseized when it needs to stay flat, or seizing only one tail. Wikipedia warns that if both ends are not secured to their standing parts, a seized carrick bend will slip.
Fix: Add a seizing to the second tail so both are bound. If an unseized knot has rolled over, check it is tight and both tails are still long before loading it again.
Why: Rolling over, or capsizing, is how an unseized carrick bend sets. Wikipedia describes the capsized form as secure and stable, and the knot as not jamming even after heavy loading or soaking.
If wrong: Unseized standing hawser — Tails walk and the lattice opens.
Watch the tie
Learn How To Tie A Carrick Bend/Pretzel KnotWhyKnot · 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.
- ·Alternating over-under lattice; first tail under its standing part; second tail across the loop and under itself
- ·Pull standings; seize both tails if this stays
- ·Both tails seized on a standing hawser — an unseized Carrick can walk
- ·Open lattice, not a pile — count the overs
Verify before you load it
Every line is pass or fail. One fail means retie — do not load a knot you argued with.
- 01Alternating over-under lattice; first tail under its standing part; second tail across the loop and under itself
- 02Pull standings; seize both tails if this stays
- 03Both tails seized on a standing hawser — an unseized Carrick can walk
- 04Open lattice, not a pile — count the overs
- 05Broken over-under weave is a tangle and will capsize
- 06Dressed lattice, tails seized if this is a standing hawser
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.
Two interlocking overhands or a Carrick lattice — tails on the documented sides.
- !Tails on the wrong sides of the bend
- !Broken lattice or a reef-knot form in disguise
- !Undressed so one overhand takes the whole load
- !Both tails leave on the same side of the knot. Animated Knots warns this form can work loose under an on-and-off pull.
- !Only one tail is seized to its standing part. Wikipedia warns a seized carrick bend slips unless both ends are secured.
- !The weave has two overs or two unders in a row, so it is not a true carrick bend
Broken over-under lattice
Capsizes into a tangle under load
The weave is the bend — count the overs · step 02
Unseized standing hawser
Tails walk and the lattice opens
Animated Knots: seize the tails on a standing job · step 04
Used on small soft line
Overbuilt, hard to dress, wrong job
Small soft line wants a Zeppelin or sheet bend · step 01
Bend capsizes into a tangle or walks
Check
- ?Alternating over-under
- ?Tails seized if standing
Then
- →Retie the lattice
- →Seize the tails
- →Use Zeppelin on small line
Broken over-under lattice
Check
- ?Capsizes into a tangle under load
- ?Inspect step 02
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
Unseized standing hawser
Check
- ?Tails walk and the lattice opens
- ?Inspect step 04
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
Used on small soft line
Check
- ?Overbuilt, hard to dress, wrong job
- ?Inspect step 01
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
- ×Small soft line (Zeppelin or sheet bend is faster)
- ×Left unseized on a standing hawser
Strength, and where the number comes from
Not established
Absent from the pooled rope-knot test data, and the '~65–80%' the catalogue attributed to Animated Knots is not on that site.
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 — Carrick Bend
- WhyKnot — Learn How To Tie A Carrick Bend/Pretzel Knot
Cited tying video already attached to this record.
Record reviewed 2026-08-14
Vetted references
- Animated Knots — Carrick Bend
Animated Knots by Grog
- Learn How To Tie A Carrick Bend/Pretzel Knot
WhyKnot
Related knots
Check the finished knot against what correct looks like before you load it.