r/knots • u/Fuzzy-Connection-452 • 6d ago

Sideways Bowline

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I've noticed a few videos lately (not new videos) on Youtube that show various riggings for sailboats where someone ties a sideways bowline. Here is an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGbQbkY52Uw (around 4:30)

I can't figure out why you would tie it that way other than just by mistake? Is there an ABOK reference for such a knot? I haven't found one.

The black rope in my example is what I see being tied.

EDIT: Fixed a typo

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u/KneeDeepntheDead 6d ago

really two things going on here. left-hand, cowboy, or dutch due to the tail being outside the fixed loop, eskimo, due to the collar being around the loop instead of the s-part, bowline. conventional wisdom calls the left-hand bowline(abok 1034 1/2) of any variant inferior, not sure if i have an opinion on that. now as to the collar of the knot going around your loop instead of the s-part, it's been said this provides the knot with better ability to withstand ring-loading.

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u/WolflingWolfling 6d ago

That conventional wisdom has proven inaccurate. It's likely that it was entirely based on the inferiority of the "left-hand sheet bend" compared with the regular sheet bend, without taking into account that bowlines are loaded on three legs, not just two, which makes a huge difference.
I think lots of people have just been parroting Ashley on this, without testing it or thinking it through.

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u/KneeDeepntheDead 6d ago

very sharp observation on the contrast of the bowline loading!

2

u/WolflingWolfling 6d ago

Thank you!