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Reef Knot
(Square Knot)
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An excellent
general purpose
knot for tying two pieces of string or twine together,
the reef knot is possibly the most commonly used knot
for the job, and is easy to learn. However, it cannot be
overly stressed that the Reef knot is not a long term
or secure knot, and it should only be used to finish
parcels or bindings. In other cases, use a more secure
method of bending two ropes together, such as a
Sheet bend,
a
Double Sheet bend,
or a
Fisherman's Knot.
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Unfortunately, the Reef knot can easily change into a
slipping
Lark's Head
(see below), so it should
never
be used where life or limb are at risk.
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Holding one end of each rope in each hand, pass the
left rope over the right, and tuck under. Then pass
the same rope, now in the right hand, over the left
rope, and tuck under.
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It is common to chant "Left over Right and Under,
Right over Left and Under" when tying the knot.
(This can also be performed as "Right over Left
and Under, Left over Right and Under".)
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The reef knot can easily be undone by gripping
one loose end, and pulling it back over the knot,
in the opposite direction, thus straightening the
rope which is pulled. The other rope forms a
Lark's Head
knot, and slips off the tugged rope.
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The knot gets its name from its use on sailing ships,
when the sails were "reefed" - rolled up and tied to
the cross spar with a reef knot. To release the sail,
the sailors would climb the rigging, and work their
way along the cross spar, pulling the top end of
the reef knot down. They only had to use one hand,
holding on with the other. The weight of the sail
would cause the reef knot to slip, and the sail
would be released.
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Tip. If you want to tie two ropes together of similar
thickness then never use a Reef knot. Only use it
with string and twine when tying parcels, whippings
and bindings.
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Tip. Never use this knot to join ropes of two different
thicknesses.
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