How to Tie an Eye Splice Boating Knot

The eye splice knot allows you to create a strong, permanent loop that has dozens of uses in boating. By using the strands of a rope to splice the rope into itself, you end up with a knot that is stronger than the rope it's made from. To tie an eye splice knot for boating, follow these steps.

Instructions

1. Prepare the rope. Separate the 3 strands of the rope. Use a lighter to melt each of the ends or, if the rope is not synthetic, wrap tape around each end to keep the strands intact. Decide how big you want the loop to be and wrap a piece of tape around the rope where the loop begins on the standing part of the rope.

2. Untwist the line. Separate the stands from each other for as much length as you need to do the splicing. Keep the strands separate and untangled.

3. Begin the splice. Take the standing part of the rope in hand and twist it against the grain to make a gap between 2 of the strands. Take one of your taped, separated strands and pass it through the gap you've made. Pull it tight.

4. Continue to splice by alternating. Take the next strand on the standing part of the rope and twist the section in opposite directions to create another gap between the 2 strands. Take the second unraveled end strand and pass it through the gap. Perform the same splice with the third strand. Continue alternating in this fashion until you've done it 5 times.

5. Finish off the ends. In most cases of tying the eye splice knot, the ends turn out longer than the splice area and stick out of the spliced rope. Trim the ends and, if the rope is synthetic, burn them to the rope. Otherwise wrap a bit of tape around the ends to keep them tidy and useful for boating.