Cowboy bowline Cowboy bowline The cowboy bowline (also left-hand bowline, Dutch marine bowline or winter bowline) is a variation of the bowline loop knot. The cowboy bowline has the working end go around the standing part on the side closer to the loop and results with the working end outside the loop. In contrast, a regular bowline has the working end finishing inside the loop. (The "rabbit" goes around the "tree" in the opposite direction from normal.) Some hearsay suggest the Dutch Navy uses (or used) this variant of the bowline because they consider it superior since the working end is not
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