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
USS Tom Bowline (1814) — only to be driven off by a gale. "Hornet" arrived five days later, but her landfall coincided with the appearance in the area of British brig-sloop . The two ships closed for action, and "Hornet" damaged "Penguin" seriously enough to warrant destruction of the Briton. The sighting of strange sail on the horizon hastened "Hornet's" burning of the prize, but apprehension turned to relief as the sails proved to be "Peacock" and "Tom Bowline" returning to Tristan da Cunha for the planned rendezvous. "Tom Bowline" embarked the "Penguin's" captive crew and took the prisoners to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.