Blood Knot (BK)
By Lazarus
The Blood Knot is nothing more than a simple Double Overhand Knot (or triple, quadruple, etc.) Overhand Knot
In movies, when you see a rope flogger, like a cat of nine tails, you often see it’s portrayed with knots in the end. According to the Ashley book of knots, this was rarely the case, historically speaking. Most rope Floggers actually use aboard ships historically did not have knots in the end. However, if you would like a knot or multiple knots at the end of your falls, this is a simple and effective choice.
Rope Consumption details are provided below
Video
2-Twist Blood Knot (BK2)
Beginning with a piece of rope
Multi-Twist Blood Knot (BK3, BK4, BK5, BK6, etc...)
You can also make a blood knot with 3, 4, 5, 6, + turns, but you need to pay a bit more attention to the technique or you’ll end up making a malformed one… I will demonstrate creating a 4-turn blood knot (BK4)
Start by making a loop
Rope consumption
| Variant | Rope / strand | Height |
|---|---|---|
| Blood Knot (2-Twist) | 4" (10 cm) | 0.75" (2 cm) |
| Blood Knot (3-Twist) | 5" (12.5 cm) | 1" (2.5 cm) |
| Blood Knot (4-Twist) | 6" (15 cm) | 1.25" (3.5 cm) |
| Blood Knot (5-Twist) | 8" (20 cm) | 1.5" (4 cm) |
| Blood Knot (6-Twist) | 10" (25 cm) | 1.75" (4.5 cm) |