HOW TO TIE A (DOUBLE) CARRICK BEND

With an old strong tradition, the carrick bend belongs to the category of connection knots and it is often considered one among the most efficient and elegant marine knots for its symmetry and since because it was generally used in marine decorations in the past.

Double carrick bend has been the most popular solution to join mooring ropes for centuries.

What are its advantages? First of all, it’s simple to tie, it doesn’t slip (even on wet ropes), it has a good grip and it’s easy to untie.

On the other hand, however, it tends to become very voluminous, it’s more efficient on large ropes and it can be easily confused with other similar knots, such as simple carrick bend, which are less safe and stable. This is why it’s not very popular anymore.

Its double version was generally used to move a ship in the quay.

Anyway, let’s see how to tie a double carrick bend.

First of all, we need to let one of the two working ends pass over the loop made on the other rope and then below its working end. This step is essential to avoid tiding a simple carrick bend.

The, we simply need to alternate an “over” and “under” clockwise in order to obtain a perfectly symmetric twist.

This knot completely changes its appearance when tightened but don’t worry: it will have an excellent grip.

What will happen if we tie a simple carrick bend instead of a double one (in the picture below, one of the numerous versions)? It will certainly untie!