Page 73 - The Pocket Guide to Outdoor Knots

ASHLEY’S STOPPER KNOT

Purpose

This bulky knot will block a hole or slot out of which lesser knots pull free. The
overhand knot and the figure of eight knot, for example, share a sort of harelip

imperfection where they surround the standing part of the line in which they are

tied. When a bigger stopper knot is needed, this is the one to use.

Tying

Tie a simple noose (figure 1). Tighten the running overhand knot, then tuck the
working end as shown (figure 2). Finally pull on the standing part of the line,

closing the loop to trap the end (figure 3). Note the neat tricorn arrangement, on
the underside of this stopper knot, where it surrounds the standing part of the

line. It is this feature that renders the knot more effective than most.

Knot lore
The artist and knotsman Clifford W. Ashley discovered this knot over 90 years

ago when he was illustrating the cultured oyster industry for Harper’s magazine.
Spotting a bulky knot that he could not identify aboard one of the fishing fleet,

this was his attempt to reproduce it. A few days later, when he had a chance to
examine the mystery knot up close, it turned out to be nothing more than a wet,

swollen and misshapen figure of eight knot. But this knot (the first of his
numerous knotting discoveries), which he erroneously called the Oysterman’s

stopper knot, has survived as a minor classic in the established knotting
repertoire.