EASY EYE-SIZING FOR THE ALPINE BUTTERFLY KNOT

Practical Knots
1

Traditional methods of tying the ABK have typically not been depicted demonstrating the easy eye-sizing facility of the “Hybrid” Method https://youtu.be/DYGdvL9-P30. Yet, certain ergonomic interpretations of the “Hand Wrap” and the “Twist” Methods exhibit it’s easy eye-sizing feature.

Two interpretations, one for each method, are described here:

The Hand-Wrap Method:
#1.) Wrap three coils on your left hand.
#2.) Slip your left hand’s thumb under the leftmost coil and press the middle coil between your thumb and palm.
#3.) Loosely capture the two coils on the back of the left hand with your right hand.
#4.) Pull the middle coil from the other coils and re-orient them into the horizontal plane. The amount of rope pulled will determine the size of the completed knot’s Eye.
#5.) Pass the middle coil - now a Bight - through the opening of the other two coils.
#6.) Pull the Bight and set the knot tight to finish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg4bt1HeleM

The Twist Method:
#1.) Suspend the rope above and on both sides of your right hand wrist.
#2.) Twist the rope twice with your left hand to form two Loops and two Crossing Parts (aka Elbow).
#3.) Hook the endmost Loop over your right hand thumb.
#4.) Place your left hand thumb and forefinger down into one Loop each in order to capture their respective Crossing Part.
#5.) Pull the endmost Loop down and bring it through to the other side of the Standing Lines, forming a Bight - the Bight determines the size of the completed knot’s Eye.
#6.) Pass the end of the Bight up over the Crossing Part and through the opening above, then pull the Bight and set the knot tight to finish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV39a-EjwB8

alpineer

2

Thanks for the comparative tying methods. I’ve been a twist fan for years but seeing the wrap video has made me a convert.
The ABK is my go-to knot for trucker’s hitch tie downs. Haul tight, pinch the bight, finish with a slip hitch and it all unties easily.

3

The simplest, most error-proof ways of tying the Butterfly Loop are already quite easy to size the eye during tying. Just pull as much line as you need during the appropriate stage of tying:

http://notableknotindex.webs.com/butterflyloop.html

For the first method in the link, it’s during the very first motion to the right. For the next method shown in the link, you can pull extra line during the step denoted by the gray downward arrows. If you’re familiar with the methods, it usually doesn’t even need to be said.

4

The first post has been edited with video links.