Jib horses are knotted with an Overhand Knot at the distance of every Yard.
Simple, common, and of limited use...
The Overhand Knot is all of those things, yet so much more. Its simplicity makes it easy to learn, easy to remember, easy to use. It is a foundational knot...it is the start to many knots...it forms the essence of the concept of a knot.
However, the Overhand Knot is often misused. It jams easily, becoming nearly impossible to untie if pulled tightly. To tie an Overhand Knot in the middle of a length of cord is most likely the same as cutting the cord in half. The knot immediately weakens the total strength of the cord. It makes it difficult to pull the cord freely through itself if you try to tie additional knots in the cord.
The best use of the Overhand Knot is as an immediate precursor to the Slip Knot, which is extremely useful, with many different applications.
The Overhand Knot is #515 in The Ashley Book of Knots. Ashley describes the knot as the simplest and smallest of all knot forms, secure but very weak, reducing the strength of rope by 50%. He agrees that the knot jams and is difficult to untie.
The original function of the Overhand Knot, according to Ashley, was in securing square sail reef points. This application would not require the knots to ever be untied.
The most common use nowadays, in my experience, is as a stopper knot for thread when handsewing.
My favorite application of the Overhand Knot is as a puzzle and game with youngsters. By throwing a series of loose half hitches over a finger, and feeding the working end back through all of the hitches, it is possible to tie several Overhand Knots in a row, immediately, seemingly by magic. This permutation of the Overhand Knot is called the Fire-Escape Knot or the Philadelphia Knot (Ashley, #264/564
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