@Steve_in_Idaho said:
My Sparky knot turned out quite neat, every time I tied it. I think it will actually hold quite well.
AHEM… “Sparky’s Loop” if you please, Sir. Ah, what the hell… it’ll take on a life of it’s own eventually. 
@bnystrom said:
When I tied it with the standing end reversed, it snugged up nicely and looked very tidy.
Yes, I found this as well; particularly when used in the reversed sense from my initial picture.
Thanks to you both for the kind words.
It does look a lot more functional when reversed.
When I first looked at the knot I thought too complexe to tie to be of much use to me. It wasn’t until I analyzed the structure that I saw it as some form of modified bowline. Then it became apparent it should be started just like one. That was when I could see the tail and standing ends made better sense if they were reversed. This seemed to reduce the complexity of tying the knot. Now that I have actually tied this knot I find it to be perhaps a modified left handed bowline. It can even be simplified by doing just one loop around instead of two. Though two loops around would provided more friction, and probably make the knot harder to slip.
Left handed bowline
As far as I can tell the simplified version will hold just as well and be quicker to tie. However, I find it hard to believe the simplified version hasn’t been tied and used in the past, and the bowline proved more efficient. However, do I get to name this one…
@castoff said:
As far as I can tell the simplified version will hold just as well and be quicker to tie. However, I find it hard to believe the simplified version hasn’t been tied and used in the past, and the bowline proved more efficient. However, do I get to name this one…
Sure. Why not?
But you should be aware that in stiffer rope it won’t hold unless there’s constant pressure. That’s what I found anyway.
One advantage of the bowline is even after being under heavy pressure over an extended time it is easy to untie. You said your knot doesn’t jam either. I don’t know if the simple Sparky knot would jam but think it might. Only using it would tell. Have you used your knot much?
@castoff said:
I don’t know if the simple Sparky knot would jam but think it might. Only using it would tell. Have you used your knot much?
Nope, I have not… er, knot?
I’m thinking pushing the two loops apart will undo it easily, but I’m going to have to try it after some extreme loading. Maybe I’ll plan for some bungee jumping this weekend… um… no.
LOL, I don’t even jump off the tailgate anymore!
