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Research dossier · General Reference

Offset figure-eight bend

dangerous knot

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 9, 2026
Entity authorityQ18356339 ↗
Source-derived summary

The offset figure-eight bend is a poor knot that has been implicated in the deaths of several rock climbers. The knot may capsize (invert) under load, as shown in the figure, and this can happen repeatedly. Each inversion reduces the lengths of the tails. Once the tails are used up completely, the knot comes undone.

More secure knots for this purpose are the Flemish bend (the "figure eight bend"), (doubled) offset overhand bend, or double fisherman's knot.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Offset figure-eight bend” as dangerous knot. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Offset, figure-eight and bend.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current 77-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Offset, figure-eight and bend providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Offset figure-eight bend”, the useful work is to connect “dangerous knot” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q18356339. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

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Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Offset figure-eight bend” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.