Overhand knot

Overhand knot
The overhand knot
Names	Overhand knot, Thumb knot
Category	Stopper
Efficiency	50%
Origin	Ancient
Related	Simple noose, Overhand loop, Figure-eight knot, Angler's loop, reef knot, Fisherman's knot, Water knot
Releasing	Extreme jamming
Typical use	Fishing, climbing, shoelaces, making other knots.
Caveat	Spills if the standing part is pulled forcibly in the wrong direction
ABoK	514
Conway Notation	3
A/B notation	3₁

The use of two overhand knots, one used as a stopper.

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, and water knot. The overhand knot is a stopper, especially when used alone, and hence it is very secure, to the point of jamming badly. It should be used if the knot is intended to be permanent. It is often used to prevent the end of a rope from unraveling.

Tying

Tying an overhand knot

There are a number of ways to tie the Overhand knot.

Thumb method - create a loop and push the working end through the loop with your thumb.
Overhand method - create a bight, by twisting the hand over at the wrist and sticking your hand in the hole, pinch the working end with your fingers and pull through the loop.

Heraldry

Stafford knot of heraldry

In heraldry, the overhand knot is known as a "Stafford knot," due to use first as a heraldic badge by the "Lords of Stafford," then as a general symbol of Staffordshire.^[1]

In nature

As a defensive measure, hagfishes, which resemble eels, produce large volumes of thick slime when disturbed. A hagfish can remove the excess slime, which can suffocate it in a matter of minutes, by tying its tail into an overhand knot, then sliding the knot forward towards its head. This action scrapes the slime off the fish's body. Hagfish also tie their bodies into overhand knots in order to create leverage to rip off chunks of their prey's flesh.^[2]

Knot theory

If the two loose ends of an overhand knot are joined together (without creating additional crossings), this becomes equivalent to the trefoil knot of mathematical knot theory.

Overhand knot in paper-folding

Pentagonal overhand knot tied in flat material

If a flat ribbon or strip is tightly folded into a flattened overhand knot, it assumes a regular pentagonal shape.^[3]

References

↑ Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry (1909), pp. 462, 469.
↑ Helfman, Gene; Collette, Bruce B.; Facey, Douglas E.; Bowen, Brian W. (2009-04-03). The Diversity of Fishes: Biology, Evolution, and Ecology (2nd ed.). Wiley–Blackwell. pp. 234–236. ISBN 978-1-4051-2494-2.
↑ Mathematical Models by H. Martyn Cundy and A.P. Rollett, second edition, 1961 (Oxford University Press), p. 57.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Overhand knots.

Knots

By type

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 Halyard bend 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	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	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	Carrick mat Chinese button knot Celtic button knot Diamond knot Fiador knot Friendship knot Matthew Walker knot Turk's head knot Wall and crown knot

Fishing (angling)	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 Swing hitch Taut-line hitch Timber hitch

Loop	Angler's loop Artillery loop Bale sling hitch Bowline Bumper knot Carrick bend loop Cowboy bowline Diamond knot Double bowline Dropper loop Eskimo bowline Fiador knot Fireman's chair knot Friendship knot loop 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 (slip)	Hangman's knot Running bowline Running highwayman's hitch Slip knot Tarbuck knot

Shanks	Catshank Dogshank Sheepshank

Stopper	Ashley's stopper knot Button knot Double overhand knot Monkey's fist Overhand knot Stevedore knot

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

Lists of knots
Related topics

Lists of knots	Bends Bindings Decorative knots Hitches (friction) Macramé Mathematical

Related topics	Chinese knotting International Guild of Knot Tyers Lashing Rope splicing Seizing

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