What is the Water Knot used for?

Making webbing slings for climbing and rappel anchors; Joining the ends of tubular or flat webbing into belts and improvised straps; Making slings and loops for rescue and tree-climbing (arborism) work; Building canyoning anchors with webbing; Splicing load-bearing webbing and light lashings.

How do you tie the Water Knot?

The Water Knot joins two ends of tubular or flat webbing by retracing an overhand knot with the second end following the path of the first. It's the standard for making webbing slings in climbing, because it accommodates the flat shape of webbing well — something most rope knots don't do. Follow the illustrated step-by-step, with a photo for every stage, on Desbravai.

Is the Water Knot hard to tie?

The Water Knot is rated easy, in the Bends category and is taught with a photo at every stage on Desbravai.

What precautions apply when using the Water Knot?

It suffers from tail creep: under cyclic loading the knot gradually slips and swallows the tail — tests measured the tail receding around 0.004 inch per cycle; Leave tails of at least 7.5 cm (3 in) and tighten the knot with your full body weight; Inspect the knot before every use and retighten if the tails have shortened; Never trust a water knot with short tails for a life-safety load.

Water Knot

Q: What other names does the Water Knot have?

It is also known as Water Knot, Tape Knot, Ring Bend, Overhand Follow-Through, Nudo de cinta, Nudo de agua, Nó de fita, Nó de anel. (ABOK #296)

Joins two ends of tubular or flat webbing — the standard in climbing for making webbing slings

Also called: Water Knot, Tape Knot, Ring Bend, Overhand Follow-Through, Nudo de cinta, Nudo de agua, Nó de fita, Nó de anel · ABOK #296

What it is for

Making webbing slings for climbing and rappel anchors
Joining the ends of tubular or flat webbing into belts and improvised straps
Making slings and loops for rescue and tree-climbing (arborism) work
Building canyoning anchors with webbing
Splicing load-bearing webbing and light lashings