Figure of eight knot
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The figure-of-eight knot is a type of stopper knot. It is very important in both sailing and rock climbing to stop ropes from running out of a devices.
The overhand knot, is a jamming knot and is very difficult to untie once it has been under load often needing the rope to be cut. The figure-of-eight will also jam, but is usually more easily undone than the overhand knot.
The figure-eight or figure-of-eight knot is also called (in books) the Flemish knot. The name figure-of-eight knot appears in Lever's Sheet Anchor; or, a Key to Rigging (London, 1808). The word "of" is nowadays usually omitted. The knot is the sailor's common single-strand stopper knot and is tied in the ends of tackle falls and running rigging, unless the latter is fitted with monkey's tails. It is used about ship wherever a temporary stopper knot is required. The figure-eight is much easier to untie than the overhand, it does not have the same tendency to jam and so injure the fiber, and is larger, stronger, and equally secure. The Ashley Book of Knots
The stevedore knot is the figure-eight knot with two half twists added before the end is finally stuck.