Triple 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.
Extend the bowline-on-a-bight's folding method from two bights to three and the result is a knot that can improvise a rough three-point harness from bare rope: two loops around the legs and a third around the chest or over a shoulder, giving a rescuer more control over an incapacitated person's orientation while hoisting or lowering them than a single- or double-loop seat allows.
The method is a direct extension of the two-loop version - fold three bights instead of two, tie the first stage of a bowline treating them as one bundle, then open them out and fold them over the knot body rather than tucking them through. The added complexity comes almost entirely from getting three loops even, rather than two; small folding errors that barely matter with two loops can leave one of three loops noticeably short and overloaded.
Because of that sensitivity to even folding, the triple bowline sees far less everyday teaching than the bowline on a bight - it's a specialist technique, generally covered in more advanced wilderness or technical rescue courses rather than as a core scouting or sailing skill.
Its value is genuinely situational: in an unplanned rescue with no rated harness available and a person who needs to be lifted or lowered in a controlled orientation rather than simply hanging from a single loop, the extra loop is worth the added tying complexity. Outside that specific scenario - and especially wherever a properly rated harness is available - it offers no advantage over the simpler bowline on a bight, and its greater sensitivity to uneven dressing makes it a genuinely riskier knot to rely on under time pressure.
How to tie the Triple Bowline
Fold the rope into three parallel bights rather than the two used for a bowline on a bight.
Strength & security
Approx. strength retained: 50-60%
Extending the bowline-on-a-bight method to three loops instead of two lets it form a rough improvised harness - two loops for the legs, one around the torso or over a shoulder - genuinely more stable than a single- or double-loop seat for lifting an unconscious or incapacitated person.
Cautions: Getting all three loops evenly sized is considerably harder than with the two-loop version, and an unevenly dressed triple bowline can leave one loop bearing dangerously more load than the others - this is strictly a last-resort improvisation, never a substitute for a rated rescue harness where one is available.
Alternatives
- Bowline on a Bight
Simpler and more reliably even when only two loops - not three - are needed, and the more widely taught, more thoroughly documented option.
FAQ
How does the triple bowline differ from the bowline on a bight?
It's the same folding method extended to three bights instead of two, producing three independently loadable loops instead of two - useful for a rough three-point improvised harness.
Is the triple bowline a substitute for a climbing or rescue harness?
Only as a genuine last resort with nothing better available. It's harder to dress evenly than the two-loop version and carries no padding or fall-rating.
Why isn't the triple bowline more widely taught?
Because getting all three loops evenly sized is noticeably harder than with two loops, and the two-loop bowline on a bight already covers most of the same rescue-seat use cases more reliably.
How long a bight of rope does a triple bowline need?
Considerably more than a two-loop bowline on a bight, since three separate loops each need enough slack to fold and open cleanly - most riggers plan for at least a third again as much working rope as the two-loop version requires.
Should the torso loop be tied tighter than the leg loops in a triple bowline?
Generally yes, since a snugger chest or shoulder loop helps keep an incapacitated person upright during a hoist, while looser leg loops are more comfortable and easier to check for circulation - though exact sizing is a judgment call made in the moment, not a fixed rule.
Is the triple bowline taught in any standard wilderness first-responder curriculum?
It appears in some advanced technical rescue and mountaineering courses as an improvised-harness technique, but it isn't part of most standard wilderness first-responder syllabi, which generally prioritize carrying and correctly using a rated rescue harness over improvising one from bare rope.