Page 96 - The Pocket Guide to Outdoor Knots

REEF (OR SQUARE) KNOT

Purpose

This is a binding knot for use in threads, string and other small cords. Use it only
to fasten both ends of the same piece of small stuff, when it is strictly for

bandages and packages, including the reefing of sails aboard dinghies and yachts

that have traditional reefing points. With twin draw-loops it is the knot used to
tie shoe laces (when it is called a double reef bow). It relies for its security upon
bearing against whatever it is tied around, and is also a weak knot (reducing the

breaking strength of whatever it is tied in by as much as a half). For these

reasons it must never be used as a bend to join two working ropes.

Tying

When an overhand knot is tied in two ends of the same twine or cord around
some foundation (or a space) it is known as a half-knot. Half-knots, like

overhand knots, may be left-handed or right-handed depending upon the

direction in which their knot parts helix. To make a reef knot, tie a single half-
knot (figure 1), then add a second half-knot of opposite handedness (figure 2). In
this example repeat the instruction: “Left over right, then right over left.” The

result is a flat knot, consisting of two interlocked bights, with both working ends

emerging on the same side of the knot (figure 3).

Knot lore

Stone age cave dwellers almost certainly knew the reef knot. So did the ancient
Egyptians, Greeks and Romans (who called it the Hercules knot), and

distinguished it from the granny knot which, because it can both slip and jam, is
less reliable. Incidentally, the granny knot is not thought to be a slur on the knot-

tying ability of grandmothers, but is more likely to be a corruption of “granary