Thieves knot

No its not a square knot. This knot is not really practical, but its an interesting knot. I've heard that sailors used to use this knot to tie the pull straps that closed the bags with their personal belongings. If the owner later returned and found a square knot instead of the thieves knot, he/she knew that someone else (a thief) had untied the thief's knot, rummaged through the bag and retied a square knot to close it.

How to do it:

Why its not a square knot

If you look closely at the ends of the rope, you will notice that a thieves knot has one short end pointing up and one short end pointing down. The square knot always has both short ends facing up or down, but never one up and one down like the thieves knot.


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