Small-stuff

This page explains commonly used terms related to knots. Contents: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZBBendA bend is a knot used to join two lengths of rope. BightA bight is a slack part in the middle of a rope, usually a curve or loop. Knots that can be tied without access to either end of the rope are called knots in the bight. To tie a knot with a bight is to double up the rope into a bight and then tie the knot using the double rope. Binding knotBinding knots are knots that either constrict a single object or hold two objects snugly together. Whippings, seizings and lashings serve a similar purpose to binding knots, but contain too many wraps to be properly called a knot. In binding knots, the ends of rope are either joined together or tucked under the turns of the knot. Bitter endAnother term for the working end. In its original meaning, and still today in strict nautical meaning, the bitter end was the opposite end of a rope or cable, from the working end, and not the same. The name comes from the "bitts" or "cable bitts", which were fixtures comprising a pair of strongly fixed posts used on wooden sailing ships to attach the inboard end of the anchor cable. The outboard end of a rope