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Inspired by @ShemSeger's possibly invented knot, I'm curious to see if anyone knows anything about this knot:

Final knot: enter image description here

Reverse deconstructed: enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here

It's basically the same idea from a double figure eight loop but applied to an overhand knot. It uses less rope than a double figure eight, but that's the only advantage I could see for its existence.

It is neither a double overhand knot nor a double overhand loop (same knot but tied with loops).

Is it a known knot that has been tested (and potentially avoided)?

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    I like it. Figure eights are used because they're easier to untie, but this knot doesn't seem to take any more effort to get loose than a double figure eight. What I like most about it, besides being simpler to tie, is that it uses much less rope. Call it the Mendez Loop. I'm going out onto my backyard wall to test it right now.
    – ShemSeger
    Sep 23, 2015 at 2:24
  • @ShemSeger When you get your knot tested, please ask them to test mine too :) On a serious note, it seems too simple of a variation for it to be original, but who knows.
    – Chris Mendez
    Sep 23, 2015 at 2:50
  • When I was taking rescue training, I made a knot similar to this. The instructor instantly recognized it as a "Yugo Knot". 'You go first, I ain't trusting that thing!' :-)
    – Van
    Dec 17, 2018 at 22:41

5 Answers 5

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My brother happened to be over tonight using my climbing wall, he does rescue work, and he says they use this knot to tie leg loops for rescue harnesses.

First of all, the knot in your picture isn't properly dressed, the loop pulls through the knot and ends up looking like this:

enter image description here

It's a variation of a bowline on a bight. My brother's going to check his manual for the name, I'll edit my answer as soon as he gets back to me.

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  • A better knot to use than this one may be the Karash Double Loop.
    – ShemSeger
    Sep 23, 2015 at 3:59
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    Nice, though it's still not the same. I updated the post to show the steps in reverse, the difference being that instead of pulling the end of bight through the new loop, I pulled the middle pair through and then passed the loop over. This means the bunny ears are constructed inside an overhand knot. Very close though.
    – Chris Mendez
    Sep 23, 2015 at 11:45
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    @chrismendez It's exactly the same, the knot in my picture was tied exactly the same as yours. The difference is the knot in my picture has been dressed. Under load, the knot in your picture will end up looking the same.
    – ShemSeger
    Sep 23, 2015 at 15:53
  • Yep, the knot's not good. Posted a picture of the false pair of loops. Good work!
    – Chris Mendez
    Sep 23, 2015 at 23:44
  • @ShemSeger Good observation that this is a "variation" on bowline-on-a-bight in that that knot easily transforms into this one, and back. This in Ashley Book of Knots as #1696, "Knotted Strap Hitch".
    – Beanluc
    Dec 17, 2018 at 21:51
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Yep, when weighted the rope pulls through and reveals a false pair of loops.

enter image description here

Definitely not a knot/loop that should be used!

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  • That's weird. Are you sure it's the same knot from your OP?
    – Roflo
    Apr 25, 2016 at 20:45
  • This is all in the dressing. If you tighten the overhand knot before pulling too hard on the loops, you can leave the connecting collar that links them above the knot. If you pull the loops to tighten the knot, this part pulls through the knot as shown clearly in this loosened picture. A bowline Yosemite finish can do the same sort of thing if you pull the working end up too hard before tightening up the nipping turn, the extra loop slides up and through the turn, leaving a knot no more (and possibly less) secure than an unfinished bowline.
    – AdamV
    Dec 3, 2018 at 13:26
  • The issue here is that three parts of the loops are pulling downward from the same side of the knot. But the fourth comes out from the top of the knot and over the collars. Pulling these collars down loosens the knot, allowing it to slide. To my eye, repeated load/unload cycles here could pull the loops ever tighter like a noose. Definitely not one to put round a part of your body eg as leg loops.
    – AdamV
    Dec 3, 2018 at 13:28
  • This in Ashley Book of Knots as #1696, "Knotted Strap Hitch". There's a use for it, just not - as AdamV observed - when you don't want the loops to tighten around whatever's inside them.
    – Beanluc
    Dec 17, 2018 at 21:55
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You may be referring to a bunny ears figure eight - it's an versatile knot used to construct rock climbing anchors.

http://www.backcountry.com/explore/bunny-ears-the-best-multi-pitch-climbing-knot-youve-never-heard-of

It has the benefit of having redundancy in the main loop (two loops in bunny ears compared to one in a typical figure eight). It's also possible to create 'ears' of different lengths - which is helpful if you need to equalize different gear placements.

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This knot is actually what our trip guides use to set up our high ropes course, each loop goes to a carabiner on their full body harness (which is a great way for both loops to be equalized) and they climb up the course with this knot. I'm not sure why you're saying it's not to be used, but our research and years of using this knot have been conducive to a safe environment. Just be sure to grab the correct loop to pull over, or else it will feed from the main rope they are climbing up, decreasing the integrity of the knot.

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  • I'm very surprised to find someone using this in the way you describe. Are you absolutely sure they are not using a figure 8 on the bight, which looks similar at first glance?
    – AdamV
    Dec 3, 2018 at 13:24
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It's the same shape as Ashley's "Knotted Strap Hitch", #1696 page 294.

That hitch is intended to be tied with both loops around the hitched object and with both ends loaded, not as a two-loop loop knot with a running end and a standing end.

As a loop knot, it wouldn't be named a "hitch" even if it were of any use in any real-world application, but, this is a name for this knot, when used as a hitch.

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