Thief knot

Thief knot

Names	Thief knot, Bag knot, Bread bag knot
Category	Binding
Origin	Ancient
Related	Reef knot, Granny knot, Grief knot
Releasing	Jamming, but not always
Caveat	spills
ABoK	#1207

The Thief knot resembles the reef knot (square knot) except that the free, or bitter ends are on opposite sides. It is said that sailors would secure their belongings in a ditty bag using the thief knot, often with the ends hidden. If another sailor went through the bag, the odds were high the thief would tie the bag back using the more common reef knot, revealing the tampering, hence the name. It is difficult to tie by mistake, unlike the granny knot.

The thief knot is much less secure than the already insecure reef knot. It unties itself if the lines are pulled when the same action would seize a reef knot.^[1]

Tying

Tying the thief knot step-by-step

Related knots

Sources

↑ Ashley, Clifford Warren (1950). The Ashley Book of Knots. Doubleday. p. 221. (knot number 1207)

External links

The Reef Knot Family

Knots

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 Overhand loop Prusik Trident loop Yosemite bowline

Coils & Shanks	Alpine coil Butterfly coil Over/under cable coiling Chain sinnet Sheepshank

Decorative	Carrick mat Chinese button Celtic button Diamond Fiador Friendship Ghiordes & Senneh Matthew Walker Turk's head Wall and crown

Fishing (angling)	Angler's loop Arbor Bimini twist Blood Fisherman's Half blood 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 knot Killick Knute Lobster buoy Marlinespike Munter Ossel Pile Pipe Sailor's Snuggle Swing Taut-line Timber

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 Triple crown 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

Category
WikiProject
Commons

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Thief knot

Tying

Related knots

See also

Sources

External links