Talk:Stopper (knot)

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[edit] Does nautical usage belong in this article?

Not sure how to do this, but I think this term should be renamed. "Stopper Knots" are a category of knots. There is no one knot named "stopper", as the examples in the definition imply. There is however, in nautical terms, a "Stopper", which refers to a length of line, tied to another line, that "stops" the other line from running.

So "Stopper (Knot)" is not the name of a particular knot, it's a category of knots, and probably should be renamed here as Stopper-Knot so it's not confused with a "Stopper" (the short length of line)... blah blah blah... Now I am confusing myself!

Not sure how to go about clarifying this. -- (unsigned comment made 2006-02-01T20:38:07 by User:Dviglione)

The above comment was made prior to a revamp of the page. Hopefully the new version is somewhat clearer. If it were to be eventually split out, I would suggest the title "Stopper (sailing)" or "Stopper (nautical)" and leave the title of this article the same. --Dfred 23:31, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Double overhand knot?

Also, in the picture of the Flemish Bend, backed up by double overhand knots, those are not actually double overhand knots--at least not according to your page on the knot by that name. Those backup knots are basically half of a double fisherman's knot. I don't know if they have a name besides that. This knot should be mentioned in this section, though, because it's a common stopper knot used in climbing. Same with a version that uses three wraps of the rope instead of two (this variation is often called a barrel knot). -- (Unsigned comment by User:38.117.172.158, 2007-03-07T20:23:49)

Yes, thanks for the comments. You're correct that this knot is known by several names -- although it is in fact topologically identical to a double overhand knot -- and my recollection was that the climbing books I've seen use the name "Double overhand knot" when referring to its use as a backup knot. Incidentally, I have considered merging Strangle knot and Double overhand knot, but my feeling is they should be left as separate articles. Perhaps additional discussion is warranted in the Double overhand knot article regarding various forms it can take. --Dfred 23:31, 7 March 2007 (UTC)