Nautical dictionaries and histories of sailing provide the answer. General resources tend to lump the becket end in with sheet bends and the general category of "bow"lines. There's also a particular line splice whose name I won't mention here. :-) P In a message dated 10/6/2009 8:47:55 P.M. Central Daylight Time, wimblees at aol.com writes: Its origin is nautical, having to do with a securing line with an eye on one end and a knot at the other. The knotted end was called the becket end. A sheet bend (becket bend) is a knot which attached two lines together. It has nothing to do with Thomas a Becket. P Paul Interesting explanation. Below is Wikipedia's answer. But it still doesn't explain where term "becket" came from. My dictionary doesn't give an origin of the term. It just gives an explanation of the word, similar to the one below. Any one? Wim Sheet bend >From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from _Becket bend_ (mip://03757438/w/index.php?title=Becket_bend&redirect=no) ) Jump to: _navigation_ (mip://03757438/default.html#column-one) , _search_ (mip://03757438/default.html#searchInput) Sheet bend (mip://03757438/wiki/File:Schotstek_rechts.jpg) Names Sheet bend, becket bend, weaver's knot, weaver's hitch Category _Bend_ (mip://03757438/wiki/List_of_bend_knots) Related _Bowline_ (mip://03757438/wiki/Bowline) Typical use joining two ropes of different diameters _ABoK_ (mip://03757438/wiki/The_Ashley_Book_of_Knots) (simple) #1, #1431; (double) #488, #1434; (weaver's) #2, #485; The Sheet bend (also known as becket bend, weaver's knot and weaver's hitch) is a _bend_ (mip://03757438/wiki/Bend_knot) which binds two ropes together or a rope to a sheet corner. Doubled, it is effective binding lines of different diameter or rigidity securely. The sheet bend is related in structure to the _bowline_ (mip://03757438/wiki/Bowline) . It is very fast to tie, and along with the bowline and _clove hitch_ (mip://03757438/wiki/Clove_hitch) is considered so essential it is knot №1 in the _Ashley Book of Knots_ (mip://03757438/wiki/Ashley_Book_of_Knots) ._[1]_ (mip://03757438/default.html#cite_note-0) It is a more secure replacement for the _reef knot_ (mip://03757438/wiki/Reef_knot) (square knot), especially in its doubled variety._[2]_ (mip://03757438/default.html#cite_note-1) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20091006/d5698a87/attachment-0001.htm>
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC