Spanish Bowline
loop knot
Life-safety notice
TyingPoint's illustrations are for learning. For any life-safety use — climbing, rope access, rescue, or load-bearing rigging — seek qualified in-person instruction, and always inspect and test every knot before you trust your weight (or anyone else's) to it.
Older rigging manuals list the Spanish bowline among the knots every sailor was expected to know for one specific job: making an improvised sling to hoist an injured sailor up or down a ship's side when no proper chair was rigged. Tied entirely from a bight - it needs no free end at all - it produces two loops from a single central knot, symmetric and independently loadable, exactly what's needed for a two-legged rescue seat.
The tying sequence is more involved than most loop knots: two loops are folded side by side, each folded partly over the other, and then a fresh bight is pulled through from each side in turn. It takes real practice to tie reliably, which is likely why it's less commonly taught today than the bowline on a bight, a knot serving much the same purpose with a simpler tying method.
What the Spanish bowline offers in exchange for that extra complexity is a genuinely symmetric result - both loops come from the same folding sequence rather than one loop being an afterthought fold over the other, which some riggers find easier to size evenly by feel.
Its continued place in seamanship and rescue curricula today is mostly historical and as an advanced-skills exercise rather than an everyday go-to, since the bowline on a bight accomplishes the same double-loop rescue role with a method most people find easier to remember under stress. Where it does still see genuine practical use is in traditional square-rig sail training and among riggers who value a knot that's fully symmetric from the first fold rather than built as one loop tucked over another - a real, if narrow, advantage when both loops must bear equal, predictable load.
How to tie the Spanish Bowline
Fold a bight of rope into an S-shape, laying two loops side by side.
Strength & security
Approx. strength retained: 55-65%
The two loops share a single central knot body and can each be loaded independently, which is what makes it usable as an improvised two-legged seat - one loop for each leg - without the loops slipping into each other under an uneven pull.
Cautions: It's slower and more fiddly to tie correctly than a bowline on a bight, and it must be tied entirely mid-rope from a bight with no working end, which means it can't be adjusted after loading the way a knot with a free tail can.
Alternatives
- Bowline on a Bight
Faster to tie and more widely taught for the same double-loop rescue-seat role, though the Spanish bowline's fully symmetric construction is sometimes preferred for exactly even loop sizing.
FAQ
What is the Spanish bowline traditionally used for?
An improvised two-legged sling for hoisting or lowering a person, historically used aboard sailing ships when no rescue chair was available.
Is the Spanish bowline harder to tie than a bowline on a bight?
Yes - its folding sequence takes more practice to get right, which is a large part of why the bowline on a bight is more commonly taught today for the same rescue role.
Can the Spanish bowline be adjusted after it's tied?
Not easily. It's tied entirely from a bight with no working end, so loop sizing needs to be set correctly during the tying process rather than adjusted afterward.
Why is it called the Spanish bowline specifically?
The name reflects its documented use in older Iberian and Mediterranean seamanship traditions, where the knot appears in period rigging references, though like many traditional knot names the exact geographic attribution is more a record of who wrote it down first than proof of a single point of invention.
Does the Spanish bowline hold up on stiff modern rope?
Yes, reasonably well - because both loops derive their grip from the folded structure rather than friction alone, it isn't as dependent on rope surface texture as some hitches are, though it still needs careful, deliberate dressing on any rope, stiff or supple.
How much rope does the Spanish bowline actually use up?
Considerably more than a single bowline for the same reach, since two full loops plus a central knot body draw a meaningful length out of the working bight - worth planning for when there's limited rope available for the job.