The water knot (also tape knot, ring bend, grass knot, or overhand follow-through) 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 ...

frequently used in

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders), to small boulders. Climbing is done ...

for joining two ends of

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together, for instance when making a

sling sling may refer to: Places * Sling, Anglesey, Wales * Sling, Gloucestershire, England, a small village in the Forest of Dean People with the name * Otto Šling (1912–1952), repressed Czech communist functionary Arts, entertainment, and media ...

Tying

It is tied by forming an

overhand knot The overhand knot is one of the most fundamental knots, and it forms the basis of many others, including the simple noose, overhand loop, angler's loop, reef knot, fisherman's knot, Half hitch, and water knot. The overhand knot is a stopper, ...

in one end and then following it with the other end, feeding in the opposite direction. The ends should be left at least long and the knot should be "set" by tightening it with full body weight. The ends can be knotted, taped or lightly

sewn Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a sewing needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era. Before the invention of spinning yarn or weaving fabri ...

to the standing parts to help prevent them from creeping back into the knot.

Craig Luebben Craig Luebben (20 May 1960 – 9 August 2009) was an American rock climber and author. A climber since the early 1980s, Luebben wrote a number of climbing-oriented books, designed the "Big Bro" wide-crack climbing protection device, and was a seni ...

, ''Knots for Climbers'' (Evergreen, Colorado: Chockstone Press, 1993), 19.

Uses

The knot can be used for joining flat materials such as leather or tape.John 'Lofty' Wiseman SAS ''Survival Handbook, Revised Edition''; William Morrow Paperbacks (2009)

Security

Once tied, for additional security each end should be tied in a double overhand stopper knot around the other standing end. Some testing has shown that the water knot, in certain conditions, can slip very slightly but very consistently, with cyclic loading and unloading at relatively low forces; it is the tail on the exterior that slips (this would be the blue tail in the image presented here). In tests using 9/16in (14.3 mm) tubular nylon webbing, repeated loading and unloading with 250 lbs (113 kg) caused one of the 3in (76 mm) tails to work back into the knot in just over 800 loading cycles. Another test showed similar results for Spectra tape (but not for new, 1-inch tubular nylon). And yet the knot can be loaded to rupture without slippage. These results validate the need to leave adequate tails and inspect water knots before each use. With single

safeties on either end, the combination eventually seized and the slipping stopped.Tom Moyer,
Water Knot Testing
', 1999 International Technical Rescue Symposium, 1999. accessed 2007-04-07.) Although used extensively in climbing and caving, there is some opinion that the water knot is unsafe. According to Walter Siebert, several deaths have been reported due to failure of this knot (although, as in many failed-knot cases, the actual mechanism of failure is unknown, and only conjecture can be inferred). He demonstrates in a video how easily the knot can pull loose if snagged. Siebert references an article from Pit Schubert in 1995 that details many deaths investigated where the water knot was used with webbing and failed. Schubert drew the conclusion after reviewing the remaining webbing and the sites where these falls took place that the knot can open if it catches on an edge or any protrusion. However, these analyses fail to note that this uncommon vulnerability can lead to trouble only if (a) the knot will move much under load, so as to pull out enough tail to fail, and the exterior strand must be loaded from the top, so that a downwards pull by the interior strand (the red one, as shown here) will pull away from the snagged exterior strand. Orienting the knot in the opposite way and placing it high, removes these failure conditions. In Germany, the knot is sometimes called ''Todesknoten'', which means death knot.

Variations

The figure-8 water knot (or figure-8 bend or

Flemish bend The Flemish bend, also known as a figure eight bend, a rewoven figure eight is a knot for joining two ropes of roughly similar size. A loose figure-eight knot is tied in the end of one rope. The second rope is now threaded backwards parallel t ...

) is based upon a figure-8 (or Flemish) knot instead of an overhand knot. It is easier to untie.

References

{{Knots Climbing knots

Tying

Uses

Security

Variations

See also

References