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
Stopper knot Stopper knot A stopper knot (or simply stopper) is a knot that creates a fixed thicker point on an otherwise uniform thickness rope for the purpose of preventing unreeving: stopping the rope at that point from slipping out of a narrow passage. Stopper has three distinct meanings in the context of knotting and cordage. A decorative stopper knot may be referred to as a lanyard knot. A monkey's tail, "is a permanent or semipermanent stopper that is put in the bight as well as the end. It is also called single throat seizing, seized round turn, clinch, and pigtail...A small