Harness bend

Bend knot for joining ropes

Harness bend

Category	Bend
Typical use	Joining two ropes
ABoK	#1474

The harness knot is a general purpose bend knot used to join two ropes together. The knot can be tied under tension and will not capsize.^[1]^[2]

Tying

The harness knot is essentially one half hitch and one crossing hitch each made by one of the two joined ropes, around the other ropes body. The ends get caught in between the two ropes and these two hitches, at the elliptical eye in the middle of the knot.

There are two other variants to this bend: a double harness bend with ends pointing in opposite directions, and a double harness bend with parallel ends i.e. with ends pointing in the same direction. The starting side of one of the hitches has to be different, in order to have the ends approach the elliptical eye in the middle, from the prescribed direction.

Double harness bend ABOK #1420 - untightened
Double harness bend with parallel ends ABOK #1421 - untightened
2 - sometimes ends are crossed, sometimes are not - like in abok 1420

Relationship to other knots

The double harness bend is an unfinished Fisherman's knot (or even a Double fisherman's knot): the end needs to go through its own half hitch (twice) to form a (double) overhand knot.

The double harness bend is an unfinished Blood knot: The half hitches need to take one or several turns around both ropes before going through the eye in the middle.

The double harness bend with parallel ends is an unfinished Reever knot: The ends need to go through the opposite half hitch, to be lined up with its own rope body.

All these knots are more secure than the harness knot but they are not as easy to untie.

From double harness bend ABOK #1420 to Fishermans bend: ends through own half hitch
From double harness bend ABOK #1420 to Blood knot: ends take full rounds around both ropes before the half hitch
From double harness bend with parallel ends ABOK #1421 to Reever bend: ends through opposite half hitch

Use

The harness bend is useful when one needs to tighten the slack in a binding loop before locking the knot in the tight position. The name probably comes from the use in fixing the saddle on the back of the horse, tightening as soon as the horse that has learned to inhale at first move, exhales.

In situations where a more professional quick and secure packing is required, it may be more proper not to tie a harness bend starting with a crossing hitch and locking with a half hitch, but another more reliable combination of loop to tighten in, and hitch to lock with, such as these:

a Packer's knot starting with a figure-eight knot and locking with a half hitch,
a corned beef knot starting with a buntline hitch and locking with a half hitch,
another alternative is starting with a bowline and locking with a sheet bend

Harness of leather and blue fabric band
Packers knot
Sheet bend to bowline's loop

References

^ "A-Z of Knots: G-H". Scouting Resources. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
^ "Bends: The Harness Bend". Helsinki.fi. Retrieved 2009-11-01.

External links

How to tie

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By type

Bends	Adjustable Albright special Ashley's Alpine butterfly Basket weave Beer Blood Carrick Double fisherman's Fisherman's Flemish Grief Halyard Harness Heaving line Hunter's Nail One-sided overhand Racking Sheet Shoelace Shroud Simple Simon under Single carrick Surgeon's Surgeon's loop Triple fisherman's True lover's Water Zeppelin
Binding	Boa Bottle sling Constrictor Corned beef Granny Ground-line hitch Jamming Miller's Packer's Reef Strangle Thief Transom
Climbing	Autoblock Bachmann Beer Bowline on a bight Alpine butterfly Directional figure eight Double bowline Farmer's loop Figure-eight Figure-eight loop Figure-of-nine loop Friction hitch Klemheist Munter hitch Noose Overhand loop Prusik Trident loop Yosemite bowline
Coils & shanks	Chain sinnet Sheepshank
Decorative	Carrick mat Chinese button Celtic button Diamond Fiador Friendship Ghiordes & Senneh Matthew Walker Turk's head Wall and crown (triple crown knot)
Fishing (angling)	Angler's loop Arbor Bimini twist Blood Fisherman's Improved clinch Knotless Nail Palomar Snell Trilene Triple fisherman's Turle Uni
Hitches	Adjustable grip Anchor bend Axle Bachmann Bale sling Barrel Becket Blackwall Blake's Boom Buntline Cat's paw Clove Cow Distel Double overhand noose Falconer's Farrimond friction Friction hitch Garda Ground-line Half Halter Highpoint Highwayman's Hitching tie Icicle Improved clinch Killick Knute Lobster buoy Marlinespike Munter Ossel Pile Pipe Sailor's Snuggle Swing Taut-line Timber Trucker's Tumble
Loop	Angler's Artillery loop Bale sling hitch Bowline Bumper Carrick bend loop Cossack Cowboy bowline Diamond Double bowline Dropper loop Eskimo bowline Fiador Fireman's chair Friendship knot Halter hitch Handcuff Honda Jury mast Overhand Portuguese bowline Rigid double splayed loop in the bight Slippery eight Span Spanish bowline Tom fool's Trident Triple bowline Water bowline Yosemite bowline Zeppelin
Running (slip)	Hangman's Running bowline Running highwayman's hitch Tarbuck
Splices & splicing	Eye Fid Marlinspike Rat-tail T Western Union
Stopper	Ashley's stopper Button Double overhand Monkey's fist Overhand Stevedore
Whipping	Common Overhand knot with draw-loop Portuguese Sailmaker's West Country

Lists of knots
Related topics

Lists of knots	Bends Bindings Decorative knots Hitches (friction) Mathematical
Related topics	Chinese knotting Density History International Guild of Knot Tyers Macramé Mizuhiki Norigae Ropework Lashing Splicing Seizing Sennit