«
»

How To: Tie a Bowline Knot

A good handful of my friends like to use the bowline knot rather than the figure eight when sport climbing.  The reason of preference is usually because the bowline knot is easier than the figure eight to untie after loaded with pressure (a fall) making it ideal when projecting a line.  I had yet to learn this knot well enough to visually check it, having to double check the knot by inquiring of the climber if it looked correct.  As a belayer I feel like I should understand everything that is going on with a climb, including the knot, ensuring that I can personally double check everything.  So today I watched this video to learn.  It’s cheezey, but does a good job at explaining the technique.

If you have any other useful resources to learning the bowline or other important knots, please feel free to comment.


Tags: ,

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 at 9:48 am and is filed under climbing, safety. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • Jess Taverna
    My husband and I both use the bowline regularly, have been for quite a few years now. In addition to the aforementioned easier-to-untie, another bonus of this knot vs. the figure 8 is that it is generally more compact and sits closer to the harness, which can be nice when fumbling for a clip (especially on very closely spaced bolts). Most people who use the bowline use some kind of backup that will impact how the knot looks visually, so that's something to be aware of. We use a double bowline--which means making TWO loops to feed the end through (vs. the one loop shown above)--and then a bowline backup, which involves feeding the rope end back up through the two loops, around the loops, and then down through the bottom of the knot (hard to explain in writing, obviously, so definitely have it shown to you by someone who uses it).
  • I admittedly haven't yet watched the clip, but bowlines are notorious for coming undone...I knew a girl in Rifle who was 80 feet up on a route at a rest when she watched her rope fall to the ground...she calmly climbed to the next bolt and clipped herself in. Also, Adam Abraham, a former BD employee also had a very serious groundfall using a bowline. This is not a knot for everyone and absolutely depends on a good safety knot to back it up- a bowline backup is the only way.

    All that being said, that is the knot I myself use, with a bowline backup of course.
  • I agree, Melissa. I don't think the bowline will ever be the knot for me because I simply trust the figure 8. But I am glad I know how to visually check it now.

    Lil' chicka, when you say bowline backup, you mean tying ANOTHER bowline. Is that correct?
  • justinslc
    My dad taught me how to tie a bowline around my waist. With some practice, I got to the point where I could tie it in about 2 seconds. It's still the only way I know how to tie one. I think the around-the-waist method is a bit easier to remember, and it has the benefit of already being around you when you're done, if someone is throwing you a rescue line.

    I found a clip of a somewhat portly Scoutmaster demonstrating the method:

    http://www.instructables.com/i...
  • JustinSlc,
    Hey, thanks for reading and commenting. I love the video of the portly Scoutmaster. And actually, it is funny because I was just talking to my climbing partner, Kathryn, and she said she only knew how to tie the bowline with one hand. :) Now, I can learn as well.
    Thanks.
    Rachel
blog comments powered by Disqus