Tags :: §knots §bends (knots) §decorative knots §ABoK :: #1440
The Carrick bend is an attractive and very strong bend highly resistant to jamming, but a little fiddly to tie. ABoK calls it the closest to a "perfect" bend.
It has a distinctive appearance when tied loose - if the short ends leave in the same direction, it is known as the "double coin knot"; if they leave from opposite sides the resulting knot is stronger.
The true Carrick bend has 8 crosses, following an "over, under, over" pattern. By flipping some number of "overs" to an "unders", you acquire a different knot which looks superficially the same, but has a different topology. Knots which can be formed in this way include the §reef knot, §granny knot, §sheet bend and others, some which do not have a name.