Make a fixed eye with two nipping turns and a collar around the standing part.
A double bowline adds a second small turn to the familiar bowline. The working end passes through both openings, goes around the standing part, and returns through the same pair. The large eye is still a single working loop; “double” refers to the two nipping turns.
Keep the two turns in the same direction and align their openings before threading the end. The collar belongs around the standing rope above them. It does not go around one side of the large eye. This lesson leaves the tail inside that eye.
When to use it
- Make a fixed loop when a double-turn bowline is appropriate.
- Compare the collar and nipping turns with a standard bowline.
Keep in mind
An extra turn does not make a bowline immune to loosening. Critical rope systems need the specified finish, sufficient tail and instruction appropriate to the activity.
Check your knot
- There are two aligned nipping turns.
- The end passes through both on its way in and out.
- The collar surrounds the standing part.