Bowline

Lore & Background

The bowline's name has an earlier meaning dating to the Age of Sail. On a square-rigged ship, a bowline (sometimes spelled as two words, bow line) is a rope that holds the edge of a square sail towards the bow of the ship and into the wind, preventing it from being taken aback. A ship is said to be on a 'taut bowline' when these lines are made as taut as possible in order to sail close-hauled to the wind. The bowline knot is thought to have been first mentioned in John Smith's 1627 work A Sea Grammar under the name Boling knot. Smith considered the knot to be strong and secure, saying, 'The Boling knot is also so firmly made and fastened by the bridles into the cringles of the sails, they will break, or the sail split before it will slip.' Another possible finding was discovered on the rigging of the Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu's solar ship (26th century B.C.) during an excavation in 1954.

Reader's Guide

The bowline is used to make a loop at one end of a line, tied with the rope's working end. The loop may pass around or through an object during the making of the knot, and the knot tightens when loaded at the standing part of the line. It is commonly used in sailing small craft, for example to fasten a halyard to the head of a sail or to tie a jib sheet to a clew of a jib. The bowline is well known as a rescue knot for such purposes as rescuing people who might have fallen down a hole or off a cliff onto a ledge, and it is particularly useful because it is possible to tie with one hand. The Federal Aviation Administration recommends the bowline knot for tying down light aircraft. A rope with a bowline retains approximately 2/3 of its strength, with variances depending upon the nature of the rope. In the United Kingdom, the knot is listed as part of the training objectives for the Qualified Firefighter Assessment. Its main deficiencies are a tendency to work loose when not under load or under cyclic loading, to slip when pulled sideways, and the bight portion to capsize in certain circumstances. To address these shortcomings, a number of more secure variations have been developed, including the round turn bowline, water bowline, Yosemite bowline, and others such as the cowboy bowline, French bowline, Portuguese bowline, running bowline, Birmingham bowline, Spanish bowline, bowline on the bight, triple bowline, Eskimo bowline or Cossack knot, and the Kalmyk loop.

Did You Know?

• The bowline is sometimes referred to as king of the knots because of its importance.
• The bowline knot is thought to have been first mentioned in John Smith's 1627 work A Sea Grammar under the name Boling knot.
• A possible finding of the bowline was discovered on the rigging of the Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu's solar ship (26th century B.C.) during an excavation in 1954.
• The Federal Aviation Administration recommends the bowline knot for tying down light aircraft.