The Double Becket Bend is One of The Most Important Knots You Can Learn.

The Double Becket Bend is one of the most useful and important knots you’ll use in a wide variety of survival or emergency situations. It is considered so essential that the Ashley Book of Knots lists it as number 1. It is easy to learn, and it applies in many situations. Best of all, it has that most important characteristic of all good knots — it is easy to untie.

A Little Terminology of Knots

• A knot is both the general term describing how to tie things, but it also has a more specific meaning of tying a line or rope to itself.
• A bend is a knot used to join two ropes.
• A hitch is a knot used to fasten a rope to an object, such as a cleat or a grommet.

When working on the Emergency Shelter series of articles (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), it struck me that you should all learn how to use this knot. Watch the video to learn some trivia and applications of the knot, as well as a slow and easy demonstration of how to tie it.

The Double Becket Bend is also known as the Double Becket Hitch and the Double Sheet Bend. In my experience working on a fishing boat, it is called a hitch if it’s tied to an object like a stake, pole, or cleat. It’s called a bend if it’s tied to another line. Some sources identify it as a Becket Hitch if it’s tied to a spliced loop, and a Sheet Bend if it’s tied to a bight (non-spliced loop). This knot is particularly useful when tying a thin line to a thicker one. In single form it is structurally identical to the Bowline, which is quite simply a single Becket bend tied in a loop on a single line, instead of one rope to another.

Step by Step Instructions on Tying the Double Becket Hitch

~SnoMan