Strangle Knot

Binding a coil of rope, a bundle of sticks, or the neck of a sack needs a knot that won't slowly work loose the way a simple overhand or half hitch might, especially if the bundle shifts or the cord isn't kept under constant tension. The strangle knot, a close cousin of the better-known constrictor knot, achieves that same self-jamming security through a similar crossed-turn-and-tuck construction, biting down tighter the harder it's pulled and staying put once tension is released.

Its construction crosses two turns around the bundle before tucking the working end through twice, on opposite sides of the crossing - a pattern that locks the turns against each other under load in much the same way the constrictor knot does, which is why the two are frequently discussed together and sometimes used almost interchangeably in binding applications.

That jamming security comes with the same real tradeoff the constrictor knot carries: once it's been pulled tight and set, it typically has to be cut away rather than patiently untied, since the whole point of the design is resisting exactly the kind of loosening that would make untying possible. It's a knot for a binding meant to stay bound, not one meant to be reused.

Where it's chosen over the constrictor knot at all seems to be mostly a matter of regional or traditional naming and habit rather than any decisive functional difference - both knots solve the identical problem of a bundle or coil that needs to stay tightly and permanently bound.

Sailmakers and riggers historically used the strangle knot to whip and bind the ends of rope or seize small stuff (light line) together during rigging work, valuing exactly the same self-jamming quality that makes it useful for a modern bundle of firewood or a coiled extension cord - a binding that holds itself in place without needing a separate finishing knot or continuous hand pressure while other work is done.

Because the knot's own tension does the work of holding it shut, it's also a reasonably good choice for temporarily bundling items that will be transported or stored for a while before being opened again, since there's no risk of the binding gradually loosening in transit the way a simple wrap-and-tuck might, right up until someone deliberately cuts it free.