Page 166 - The New Encyclopedia of Knots

Slip knot: a useful stopper knot, and a good way to start tying a parcel.

Start to form a thumb knot (see page 171), but pull through only a bight taken in the working end,
instead of the whole working end. This bight is then secured by the thumb knot when tightened.

figure 121

Slipped reef knot: the slip contained within the reef knot enables the knot to be undone in a hurry by
simply pulling on the slipped end.

Form it in the same way as a reef knot (see page 130), left over right, right over left, but without

pulling through one end, leaving it as a bight which is then secured (figure 121) like a reef bow used
for tying shoe laces (see page 130).

Soft lay or loose lay: a rope is said to be soft laid when it has been loosely twisted.

figure 122.1

Spanish bowline: made on the bight, it is put to good use where conditions call for both of the

standing parts to be under load.

Begin by finding the centre of the rope, and lay it out as three bights (figure 122.1) with the much
larger central bight formed with the left part over the right, while the two smaller outer bights are
turned inwards. Take the top bight and fold it down to lie across the other two bights and the two
standing parts (figure 122.2). Now spread the outer edges of the larger bight outwards to encompass

the two smaller bights, up through which you bring these outer edges of the larger bight (figure
122.3). Pull them well through before working the whole knot tight (figure 122.4) by pulling on both
these and on both ends at the same time. The two outer loops, which can be pulled away from the
standing parts in the opposite direction, will then support separate loads.