Bight (knot)

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An open loop (ABoK #31) of rope, narrower than a bight

In knot tying, a bight is a curved section or slack part between the two ends of a rope, string or yarn.^[1] "Any section of line that is bent into a U-shape is a bight."^[2] An open loop is a curve in a rope narrower than a bight but with separated ends. ^[3] The term is also used in a more specific way when describing Turk's head knots, indicating how many repetitions of braiding are made in the circuit of a given knot.^[4]

Slipped knot

Not to be confused with slip knot.

In order to make a slipped knot (also slipped loop and quick release knot), a bight must be passed, rather than the end. This slipped form of the knot is more easily untied. The traditional bow knot used for tying shoelaces is simply a reef knot with the final overhand knot made with two bights instead of the ends. Similarly, a slippery hitch is a slipped clove hitch.

In the bight

The phrase in the bight (or on a bight) means a bight of line is itself being used to make a knot. Specifically this means that the knot can be formed without access to the ends of the rope.^[5] This can be an important property for knots to be used in situations where the ends of the rope are inaccessible, such as forming a fixed loop in the middle of a long climbing rope.

Many knots normally tied with an end also have a form which is tied in the bight, for instance the bowline and the bowline on a bight. In other cases a knot being tied in the bight is a matter of the method of tying rather than a difference in the completed form of the knot. For example the clove hitch can be made in the bight if it is being slipped over the end of a post but not if being cast onto a closed ring, which requires access to an end of the rope. Other knots, such as the overhand knot, cannot be tied in the bight without changing their final form.

Examples

The blue rope (right) is half-hitched through and around a bight of the red rope (left) in this Sheet bend.
The final tuck of this Slipped buntline hitch is made with a bight rather than the end, making it easier to release after tightening.
In the tying of a marlinespike hitch, a bight of the standing part is snagged through the loop.
The bights, in the case of this 3-lead 10-bight Turk's head knot, are the scallops along the perimeter of the knot.
The Alpine butterfly knot is a climbing knot which is tied in the bight and forms a reliable fixed loop.
The Bowline on a bight forms two fixed loops in the middle of a rope.
An Overhand knot tied in the bight results in an Overhand loop.
A figure-eight knot tied in the bight results in a figure-eight loop.

References

↑ Clifford W. Ashley, The Ashley Book of Knots (New York: Doubleday, 1944), 597. ISBN 9780385040259.
↑ Budworth, Geoffrey (2002). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Knots, p.18. ISBN 9781585746262.
↑ Ashley (1944), 13.
↑ Ashley (1944), 232.
↑ Ashley (1944), 207.

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Knots

Overview

Colours

Bends	Adjustable bend Albright special Alpine butterfly bend Ashley's bend Basket weave knot Beer knot Blood knot Carrick bend Double fisherman's knot Fisherman's knot Flemish bend Grief knot Harness bend Heaving line bend Hunter's bend Nail knot One-sided overhand bend Racking bend Sheet bend Shoelace knot Shroud knot Simple Simon under Single carrick bend Surgeon's knot Surgeon's loop Triple fisherman's knot True lover's knot Water knot Zeppelin bend Zeppelin loop

Binding knots	Boa knot Bottle sling Constrictor knot Corned beef knot Granny knot Ground-line hitch Jamming knot Miller's knot Packer's knot Reef knot Strangle knot Thief knot Transom knot

Climbing knots	Alpine butterfly knot Autoblock Bachmann knot Beer knot Bowline on a bight Directional figure eight Double anchorman knot Double bowline Farmer's loop Figure-eight knot Figure-eight loop Figure-of-nine loop Friction hitch Klemheist knot Munter hitch Overhand loop Prusik Trident loop Yosemite bowline

Coils	Alpine coil Butterfly coil

Decorative knots	Carrick mat Chinese button knot Celtic button knot Knife lanyard knot Diamond knot Fiador knot Friendship knot Matthew Walker knot Turk's head knot Wall and crown knot

Fishing knots	Angler's loop Arbor knot Bimini twist Blood knot Fisherman's knot Half blood knot Improved clinch knot Knotless knot Nail knot Palomar knot Snell knot Trilene knot Triple fisherman's knot Turle knot Uni knot

Hitches	Adjustable grip hitch Anchor bend Axle hitch Bachmann knot Bale sling hitch Barrel hitch Becket hitch Blackwall hitch Blake's hitch Boom hitch Buntline hitch Cat's paw Clove hitch Cow hitch Double overhand noose Falconer's knot Farrimond friction hitch Friction hitch Garda hitch Gripping Sailor's hitch Ground-line hitch Half hitch Halter hitch Highpoint hitch Highwayman's hitch Hitching tie Icicle hitch Improved clinch knot Killick hitch Knute hitch Lobster buoy hitch Marlinespike hitch Munter hitch Ossel hitch Pile hitch Snuggle hitch Timber hitch

Loop knots	Angler's loop Artillery loop Bale sling hitch Bowline Bumper knot Cowboy bowline Diamond knot Double bowline Dropper loop Eskimo bowline Fiador knot Fireman's chair knot Halter hitch Handcuff knot Honda knot Jury mast knot Overhand loop Portuguese bowline Rigid double splayed loop in the bight Slippery eight loop Span loop Spanish bowline Tom fool's knot Trident loop Triple bowline Triple crown knot Water bowline Yosemite bowline Zeppelin loop

Running knots	Hangman's knot Running bowline Running highwayman's hitch Slip knot Tarbuck knot

Shanks	Catshank Dogshank Sheepshank

Stopper knots	Ashley's stopper knot Double overhand knot Monkey's fist Stevedore knot

Whipping knots	Common whipping Overhand knot with draw-loop Portuguese whipping Sailmaker's whipping West Country whipping

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