Water Knot

Water Knot

Definition

The water knot that essentially uses two overhand knots is also known by the names ring bend, grass knot, tape knot and overhand follow through. As you can see in the below diagram, the second red strap passes along the course of the first overhand knot in the reverse direction to form the second overhand knot. Flat materials such as tape, leather and straps can be joined by this knot.

It has shown 64% efficiency with 1” tubular webbing of nylon in tests. It reduces the line strength by around 30%-40%. According to The Ashley Book of Knots, the knot has been so named in early editions of English author Izaak Walton which is a trusted source.

How to Tie a Water Knot

How to Tie a Water Knot

Tips

  1. You should arrange the knot neatly and pull it tight for perfect tying.
  2. For additional security, you can back it up by tying each end in a double overhand knot around the other standing part.
  3. Ensure that the tails left after making the knot are at least three inches long. It enables you to inspect the knot for slippage. Also check that the ends exit from different sides of the knot that indicates correct tying.
  4. You can tie it with ropes too. For cordelette, though, we recommend using the double fisherman’s knot.

Advantages

Disadvantages

  • Easy to tie
  • Strong knot that can carry a lot of pressure provided the tail ends are of sufficient length
  • Good for joining two lines
  • If it is loaded without leaving enough tail ends, the knot may fail by slipping.
  • Hard to untie.

Water Knot v/s Other Knots

  1. Figure 8 follow through – Common for tying a climbing rope into a harness.
  2. Sheet bend – Can join two lines of different diameters too.
  3. Square knot – Is not as suited for webbing.
  4. Beer knot – More difficult to tie and one of the tails being hidden from view, doesn’t allow as much safety checks.

Uses

  1. To join two ends of webbing in climbing/rock climbing for making webbing loops, rigging rappelling anchors, etc.
  2. Making grab handles and slings or quickdraws.
  3. Firefighting and rescue operations.
  4. Building hammocks.
  5. Setting up slacklines.

How to Do a Water Knot: Video Tutorial

How to Tie a Water Knot Step by Step

  1. Make a loop with the blue strap
  2. Pass the end through it
  3. Semi-tighten and pass the red strap through the knot
  4. Pass the red end to the back
  5. Pass it through the frontal wrap of the blue knot
  6. Tighten both the ends
  7. The knot is made

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