Is there a right way to tie a bowline?
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We were at the WHOI rope testing facility testing connectors when the topic of how best to tie a bowline came up. As we all know, when the rabbit comes up from his hole, he can run either way around the tree before ducking back down. That choice results in two different looking knots.
On the left we have the bitter end exiting to the outside and on the right the bitter end comes out in the middle. That's the way I'm used to tying it, but which is better?
So we pulled this piece of 1/2" Hydropro with a tensile strength of 5,000 lbs to see which knot held. Here is the result.
The knot on the left failed at 2,861 lbs, 57% of the breaking strength. It was a one-shot deal so we do not know if the other knot was going to last much longer but it looked OK. I can't seem to post a video, so here are the video frames just before and just after failure.
Either way, knots are known to offer less strength than the line because of the tight radius the strands see within the knot. For me, this is reason enough to take the time to do a proper splice.
@clifford_goudey thanks Cliff. Good stuff! So, you don’t know at what point the knot on the right would fail but your suggestion is to have the end come up the middle?
I’m only a decent splicer.. I don’t think I’d trust something important to my splices just yet. Have done a similar test on well done splices? I’d be curious to know how much better they are than a knot.
@mike_spranger This knot, used by fishermen also, can be an alternative, depending on the application
@mike_spranger This knot, used by fishermen also, can be an alternative, depending on the application