Butterfly bend
Template:Short description{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other The butterfly bend is a knot used to join the ends of two ropes together. It is the analogous bend form of the butterfly loop,<ref name="tossrig"/> in that it is the butterfly loop with the loop cut.<ref name="budult">Template:Citation</ref> The observation that the butterfly loop is secure enough to isolate a worn or damaged section of rope within the loop indicated that the bend form of the knot would be similarly secure.<ref name="pdsmith">Template:Cite book</ref>
HistoryEdit
When Phil D. Smith made the first known presentation of the Hunter's bend in 1953 (under the name "rigger's bend"),<ref name="TKB">Template:Citation</ref> he described it as a modification to the butterfly bend.<ref name="pdsmith"/> While the bend form had been known to mountaineers, nautical rigger Brion Toss brought the knot to a wider audience when he published it in 1975. Unaware of the earlier publication, Toss called the butterfly bend the strait bend after the Strait of Juan de Fuca.<ref name="tossrig"/><ref name="asheraltbook">Template:Citation</ref>
TyingEdit
The butterfly bend can be tied using a subset of the methods used for tying the loop form by holding the two rope ends together and treating them as if they were a single bight. However, specific methods have been developed for tying the bend form directly, including the one shown below and characterizable using the mnemonic device "A d through a b; 'twixt the two and toward me":
SecurityEdit
A properly tied butterfly bend should be as secure as the equivalent loop form.<ref name="tossrig"/> However, subtle positioning errors during the above shown tying method can result in a similar looking but insecure bend knot.<ref name="notableknots">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>