Page 63 - Patty Hahne "The Pocket Guide to Prepper Knots"

6. Pull on the working end to tighten the backup knot. If
you’ve tied it correctly, it should look like an “x” on one
side and an “=” on the other. Figure 16e shows the way
the entire figure 8 follow-through knot with a backup
knot should look.

Figure 16e.

Note: This is a complex knot that is often used in critical
applications. After tying it, you should double- and triple-check to
make sure it is tied correctly. It’s even a good practice to have
someone else double-check to make sure the knot looks
to be correctly tied.
Some people determine if their knot is tied correctly by
getting into the habit of looking at the knot and making sure
they have five pairs of two ropes followed by a backup knot.
Remembering that the backup knot looks like the multiplica-
tion sign on one side and the equal sign on the other, you
may want to use a mnemonic phrase such as 5 x 2 = 10.
Five pairs, multiplied by two ropes in each pair, equals ten
strands of rope. This is illustrated in Figure 17. If you flip the

Instructions for Tying Prepper Knots 57