REEF KNOT

The Reef Knot figures prominently in Scouting worldwide. It is included in the World Scout badge (WOSM badge) and many Scouting Awards. This knot is called a reef knot in Britain and a square knot in American. It is only useful in simple applications, easy tied and will not jam, so it is always easy to untie.

Given Names	Reef knot, Square knot, Hercules knot.
Scouting Class	Tenderfoot/Membership
Typical Use	Joining two ends of a single line to bind around an object.
Condition	Not secure as a bend. Spills easily if one of the free ends is pulled outward. Does not hold well if the two lines are not the same thickness.

The REEF KNOT or SQUARE KNOT is an ancient and simple binding knot used to secure a rope or line around an object. Although the reef knot is often seen used for tying two ropes together, it is not recommended for this purpose due to potential instability.

A reef knot is formed by tying a left-handed overhand knot and then a right-handed overhand knot, or vice versa. A common mnemonic for this procedure is "right over left, left over right", which is often appended with the rhyming suffix "makes a knot both tidy and tight". Two repeated overhands of the same handedness will make a granny knot. The working ends of the reef knot must emerge both at the top or both at the bottom, otherwise a thief knot results.


TYING:

Most people think this is the basic knot. In fact, you should not use it to join two pieces of string together. It is the best knot for tying string round something, like a parcel, as it lies flat, and is easy to undo. Both strings should be of equal size.

The normal mistake is to make the same half-knot twice. The top half is the opposite of the bottom half. Think of the string rather than your hands. The same string goes from left to right, over, under and over again. Then it returns from right to left, over, under and over again. (If you make the same half knot twice, you end up with a granny knot!) You must also be careful when tightening the knot. Pull both strings equally and not too hard at first. If you pull one string much harder than the other, the knot will be pulled out of shape, and at worst will be merely a number of loops of one string round the other.

To release the knot a sailor could collapse it with a pull of one hand; the sail's weight would make the collapsed knot come apart. It is specifically this behavior which makes the knot unsafe for connecting two ropes together.

A reef knot can be loosened easily by taking an end and a standing part of one rope in each hand and pushing the bights apart. A square knot can also be loosened by pulling the ends and standing part of one rope in opposite directions.

USES

The reef knot is used in all first aid work and for joining two pieces of string or cord of equal thickness, for example a bundle of objects that is unlikely to move much. In addition to being used by sailors for reefing and furling sails, it is also one of the key knots of macramé textiles.

The knot lies flat when made with cloth and has been used for tying bandages for millennia. As a binding knot it was known to the ancient Greeks as the Hercules knot and is still used extensively in medicine.

It has also been used since ancient times to tie belts and sashes. A modern use in this manner includes tying the obi (or belt) of a martial arts.

With both ends tucked (slipped) it becomes a good way to tie shoelaces, whilst the non-slipped version is useful for shoelaces that are excessively short. It is appropriate for tying plastic garbage or trash bags, as the knot forms a handle when tied in two twisted edges of the bag.

HISTORY

The reef knot is at least between 2,000 and 9,000 years old.  The name "reef knot" dates from at least 1794 and originates from its common use to reef sails, that is to tie part of the sail down to decrease its effective surface area in strong winds.

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Knotting