Page 181 - The Pocket Guide to Outdoor Knots

SHEET BEND (and with draw-loop)

Purpose

Use this knot to join two lines together, or a line to a loop of some kind (when it
is called a becket hitch). It will also cope with two lengths of cordage of

somewhat dissimilar size and construction, in which case the bight must be made

in the larger or stiffer material.

Tying

Form a bight in one end and insert the other through it (figure 1). Wrap and tuck
the working end as shown, taking care that both ends emerge on the same side of

the knot (figure 2) since the knot seems in some materials to be more secure that
way. Tighten it (figure 3). For a temporary hold-fast, and a quick-release,

incorporate a draw-loop (figure 4).

Knot lore
Remnants of nets from the Neolithic period have been found with mesh knots

that resemble sheet bends.
A “sheet” was—and still is—a rope that controls or trims the lower corner of

a sail (to “sheet home” or “sheet flat” is to pull the sheet taut, and so haul in the
sail), from which comes the name sheet bend. David Steel used the name sheet

bend in his Elements and Practice of Rigging and Seamanship (1794).
Some knot experts campaign against the use of this bend for lines of

different sizes, pointing out that (if they are too dissimilar) a thick and stiff rope
could overcome its weaker partner, straighten out and spill the knot. While this is

a valid concern, it would be throwing the baby out with the bath water to discard
this knot (since the property of accommodating dissimilar lines is a useful one).

Knot craftsman and writer Stuart E. Grainger struck the right note: