The Cat's paw is a

knot A knot is an intentional complication in cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including hitches, bends, loop knots, and splices: a ''hitch'' fastens a rope to another object; a ' ...

used for connecting a rope to an object. It is very similar to the

cow hitch The cow hitch, also called the lark's head, is a hitch knot used to attach a rope to an object. The cow hitch comprises a pair of half-hitches tied in opposing directions, as compared to the clove hitch in which the half-hitches are tied in th ...

except there is an additional twist on each side of the

bight The word is derived from Old English ''byht'' (“bend, angle, corner; bay, bight”). In modern English, bight may refer to: * Bight (geography), recess of a coast, bay, or other curved feature * Bight (knot), a curved section, slack part, or loo ...

, making it less prone to slipping.

Uses

* Attaching a sling (a rope that has been sewn end to end) to a hook

Comments

In one method of tying, it can be pre-formed in the middle of the rope, then slid over the end of a post or rail. In an alternative method, a line with an accessible end and an eye can be attached to another eye, ring or rail with inaccessible ends. The knot balances the load between the two hitches, and is used in wharfs and docks. If one hitch fails, the other hitch should hold until the load can be safely and swiftly lowered to the ground.

Structure

Formed from a bight turned up over itself (like a girth hitch) but with an extra twist on each side. In variations, there may be multiple extra twists.

Tying

Method 1

Form a bight in the middle of the line, and pull it back over itself like a girth hitch. This forms two loops, turned in opposite directions. Convert each loop into an

elbow The elbow is the region between the arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and the me ...

by adding a twist in the direction that will tend to tighten them (the wrong direction will undo the loop completely). Pass both

over the hook, rail or post and pull tight, taking care to push the bight up snugly against the turns.

Method 2

If working end of the line has an eye in it, and the standing end is accessible, the knot can be tied to a closed ring, another eye, or a rail with inaccessible ends, as follows. Pass the eye around the ring or rail, then pass the standing end through its own eye (this effectively forms a girth hitch). Then pass the standing end through the eye again, and pull up tight, taking care to push the bight up snugly against the turns. When using the cat's paw to join two eyes, this process may be repeated several times to give several turns - as many as five in a fine fishing

monofilament A monofilament may refer to: * Monofilament fishing line, a type of thread * A monofilament as used in a monofilament test in a neurological examination * Monomolecular wire Monomolecular wire is a type of wire consisting of a single strand of s ...

. Then when tightened, instead of pulling the bight up against the turns, both eyes are pulled equally, to make neat coils of turns in both eyes, meeting halfway between them.

References

External links

Cat's PawBeknotty - Cat's Paw
{{Knots