Cowboy bowline Various tests of the different versions' strengths show little difference; conjecture about either knot's vulnerability to some failure remain pretty much only that – conjectures. As for the tail of a regular bowline finishing "inside the loop [ eye]", that is more a formal-image state than one of an actual knot, as the draw of the standing part will pull the tail around so that it actually points away from the eye, but there are various ways the knot can be dressed to affect this aspect. There is a rule of thumb which states that the loose end should be
Mutation (knot theory) Mutation (knot theory) In the mathematical field of knot theory, a mutation is an operation on a knot that can produce different knots. Suppose "K" is a knot given in the form of a knot diagram. Consider a disc "D" in the projection plane of the diagram whose boundary circle intersects "K" exactly four times. We may suppose that (after planar isotopy) the disc is geometrically round and the four points of intersection on its boundary with "K" are equally spaced. The part of the knot inside the disc is a tangle. There are two reflections that switch pairs of