What do you need to do with a rope?

Common tasks

• Join Two Ropes Together
• Attach a Rope to a Post or Ring
• Tie Off to a Tree or Post
• Create a Fixed Loop
• Create an Adjustable Loop
• Tension and Tighten a Line
• Shorten a Rope Without Cutting It
• Secure a Load (Roof Rack, Trailer, Tarp)

Featured knots

• Bowline
• Bowline on a Bight
• Running Bowline
• Water Bowline
• Spanish Bowline
• Triple Bowline
• Figure-Eight Loop
• Double Figure-Eight Loop

Three ways into the same 100 knots

Browse by task if you know what you're trying to do — join two ropes, attach to a post, build a fixed loop, secure a roof-rack load, and 16 more real jobs. Browse by activity if you know the context instead — boating, fishing, camping, climbing, survival, household, or decorative knotting each get their own curated shortlist. Or search the full knot directory directly if you already know (or half-remember) a knot's name. Whichever door you come in through, every knot page carries the same real history, exact tying steps, and honest strength notes.

What every knot page covers

A knot's page opens with real history where the record actually supports it — the bowline's centuries of documented maritime use, or the more recently formalized alpine butterfly's mountaineering origin — rather than a manufactured backstory when none is known. That's followed by the tying sequence itself, broken into numbered steps you move through one at a time, each written for that knot's actual mechanics rather than adapted from a generic description. After the steps comes the part most knot references skip: a plain statement of what the knot is actually for, the situations where it's the wrong choice, and a short list of genuine alternatives with the specific reason each one might serve better for a slightly different version of the same job.

Strength and security get the same honest treatment. Instead of a single confident number, each page states an approximate retained-strength range and notes whether the knot is prone to slipping, jamming under load, or working itself loose with vibration or repeated cycling — because those are the failure modes that actually matter in practice, and a single percentage figure hides all three. Any knot genuinely used in a life-safety context — climbing, rope access, technical rescue — carries an explicit, consistently rendered warning rather than a one-off safety paragraph buried in the prose, so it's never missed and never inconsistent from page to page.

FAQ

Why are the knots shown as 3D models rather than drawings?

Because a drawing has to fake depth, and a knot is defined by which strand passes over which. Flat artwork here twice depicted knots that could not actually be tied. A model resolves every crossing from the geometry instead, so it cannot be drawn the wrong way round — and you can rotate it to settle the question a picture never can: did that end go in front or behind? 99 of the 100 knots have one; each was checked by machine against the crossings, clearances and threading that knot actually requires.

Can I use these knots for climbing or other life-safety situations?

Any knot page tagged life-safety carries an explicit warning: illustrations are for learning, and any life-safety use needs qualified in-person instruction plus your own inspection and testing.

How is TyingPoint organized?

Three ways in: by the knot's name, by what you're trying to do (join, attach, secure a load, and 17 more tasks), or by activity (boating, fishing, camping, climbing, survival, household, decorative).

Where do the strength and security numbers come from?

From published testing where it exists — and where it doesn't, the page says so instead of printing a number. An August 2026 audit against published references removed several figures that no source actually supports; many well-known knots have simply never been put on a test rig, and a number invented to fill the gap would be worse than an honest blank. The methodology page explains what that audit found and changed.

Is there a paid product, and what does it add?

The printable knot field cards PDF ($9.99) is a curated, print-and-laminate-ready set covering 40 essential knots grouped by activity, for offline use in a boat bag, tackle box, or pack — the free site stays complete on its own either way.

Who this site is for

Sailors and boat owners come here needing a reliable cleat hitch or a mooring bowline that will still untie easily after a night of tidal surge. Anglers need a snell knot or a Palomar knot that costs as little of their line's rated strength as possible. Climbers and rope-access workers need to understand a figure-eight loop or a prusik's real mechanics before ever trusting one in person, under qualified supervision. Campers, scouts, and everyday rope users mostly just need a hitch that holds a tarp down in the wind or a lashing that keeps two poles from shifting apart, without needing to memorize the vocabulary of professional rigging first. The site is built to serve all of those readers from the same 100-knot roster, without assuming prior knowledge of knot names or rope terminology going in.