Overhand Knots
This simple knot has many uses:
- Finishing the end of a rope so it does not fray.
- Temporarily marking the bight of your rope before you put it down. (See below)
- As a component of a harness to hold two ropes together in one place before they are separated in another. (See below and the Hishi Karada tutorial)
- As a stop knot to keep a rope from slipping through the end of a pulley.
Because of its tendency to bind when put under tension and therefore be difficult to untie, it is typically only used in areas where it is intended to be permanent or in situations where it will not be subjected to a great deal of tension.
Warning: This knot should never be used in situations where it might be holding the weight of a human (such as if you are doing a suspension). An overhand reduces the amount of tension a rope can withstand (its strength) by 50%.
Video
Core Overhand Knot Basics - Pictures & Text
Take the end of a rope
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Form a loop and tuck the end through the loop as shown
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Tighten. Done.
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Practical method for tying when rigging, using two hands - Pictures & Text
When used in bondage, it is often helpful to make overhand knots in a consistent manner so that you get consistent look. For example, you may wish to put a series of overhand knots down the front of your partner as part of several different types of harnesses
Advanced-Overhand-1--01
Place the fingers of your left hand behind the rope at the point where you want the overhand knot to be
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With your other hand, bring the tail up behind your two fingers…
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…And then to the front, crossing over the standing line
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Spread the two fingers of your left hand just a little bit to allow your right forefinger through that loop to hook the tail
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Use that finger to draw the tail through the loop
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Like this
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Pull the tail all the way through
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Using your left fingers as a stopping point to position the knot as it is being tightened, pull the tail with your right hand to tighten.
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Done. Let’s do it again using exactly the same technique so you can see how doing it consistently leads to nice symmetry
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There you are, two knots created the same way, lying the same way, nicely evenly spaced
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Practical method for tying when rigging, using one hand - Pictures & Text
There are times when you need to tie an overhand knot with a single hand. I am going to use my left hand to hold this a rope under a little bit of tension so it’s easier to see what I am doing, but it is not necessary
Advanced-Overhand-2--01
Using your dominant hand, run two fingers behind the tail
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Twists those fingers around that tail as shown…
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All the way around…
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…until they are in a position where they can grab the tail
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Grab the tail
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And pull it through the loop
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Tighten.
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Done
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Using the Overhand Knot to mark your bight - Pictures & Text
Place the fingers of your non-dominant hand behind the rope a short distance from your bight
Protect Bight (1)
With your other hand, bring the tail up behind your two fingers and back to the front, crossing over the standing line
Protect Bight (2)
Spread the two fingers inside the loop just a little bit to allow your other forefinger through that loop to hook the tail
Protect Bight (3)
Use that finger to draw a small bit of the tail through the loop
Protect Bight (4)
Tighten
Protect Bight (5)
This can now be set aside or dropped until needed
Protect Bight (6)