How to Tie Stop Knots

The stop knot is a common sailing knot that prevents a line from slipping through a block or ring that it's fed through. The stop knots and its major variants are fast, strong knots that you need to know to get through almost any kind of sailing. Follow these steps to tie a stop knot for sailing.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Stopper Knot

1. Wrap the line around your fingers. Take the line a few inches from the end and wrap it around your fingers for one full wrap so that the line crosses your fingers twice.
2. Put the end through the loops. After you've wrapped the line around your fingers the end should be hanging down. Take the end, bring it towards you and then feed it into the two loops held open by your fingers.
3. Tighten the knot. Pull the end tightly through the loops by holding the end of the line and the standing part. Make sure the stopper knot is tight and doesn't run through the ring or block it's tied behind.

Figure Eight

4. Take a piece of the line a few inches from the end and hold it in the air with the end hanging down.
5. Take the end and go behind the standing part of the line. Then, take it back across the front. Take the end again behind the standing part of the line and up through loop you created.
6. Pull tight and check. Pull the end tightly through the loop, making sure that the knot looks like the number 8 and that the knot is sufficiently large for its purpose.

Admiralty Knot

7. Wind the end. Bring the end of the line around the standing line three times, using your fingers to keep the loops in place as they're created. You should end up with three distinct loops.
8. Bring the end through the loops. After you created the three loops bring the end back to the front of the knot and then feed it up through all of the three loops.
9. Pull the end and the standing part of the line to cinch the knot tightly. Make sure the knot is secure.