Eskimo bowline structure of the knot was not identified by Clifford Ashley (in 1944). All of the maneuvers to tie this knot are generally in the opposite (or 'anti' direction) relative to the bowline. Dan Lehman regards the general, bowline-like structure as an 'anti-bowline' in the sense of "anti-clockwise": in that with regard to the main nipping loop, the tail on returning from forming the eye is brought through this loop in the opposite direction relative to what is done for a bowline. When this knot is ring-loaded – and the knot effectively becomes an end-to-end knot – it is effectively a
Bowline developed for use in safety-critical applications. The bowline's name has an earlier meaning, dating to the age of sail. On a square-rigged ship, a bowline (sometimes spelled as two words, "bow line") is a rope that holds the edge of a square sail towards the bow of the ship and into the wind, preventing it from being taken aback. A ship is said to be on a "taut bowline" when these lines are made as taut as possible in order to sail close-hauled to the wind. The bowline knot is thought to have been first mentioned in John Smith's 1691