The Blood Knot is a great knot for attaching a halyard to a shackle or a mainsheet to a block in a mainsheet system. This how-to was written by Gerry Fultz, who was part of the SailCare team for many years.
Tap or mouse over the images below to view the text directions for tying this knot.
- Start off by running the end of the line thru the eye of the shackle and leave yourself about 12″ to 14″ of tail
- Start wrapping the tail around both strands of line as tight as you can
- Keep the wrap smooth and tight
- Keep wrapping until you have at least 4 wraps
- Make sure the wraps are smooth and tight
- When you have at least 4 wraps, Shove the tail between the strands
- now push the wraps up against the tail and shackle
- Continue to push the wraps against the shackle and tail as tight as you can. I sometimes use a pair of pliers to get the knot real tight and compact.
- This is what you should end up with. Nice thing about this knot unlike a regular eye splice, it can be pulled apart and used again on another piece of hardware.