A becket bend reduces the breaking strength of the line by how much?

• A. 20%
• B. 10%
• C. 41%
• D. 5%

Answer: (C)

When we talk about how a knot affects rope strength, the key idea is knot efficiency—the amount of the rope’s original breaking strength that remains after the knot is tied. The becket bend, while reliable for joining lines, alters the rope’s load path and introduces friction and stress concentrations where the rope bends around the knot. This particular knot typically leaves about 59% of the rope’s original breaking strength, meaning the strength is reduced by roughly 41%. That’s why the 41% figure is the best match.

In practice, this level of reduction is common for many common bending knots: you get a noticeable drop from the rope’s straight-line strength, but it’s still usable for many tasks. The other numbers would imply much smaller reductions, which isn’t characteristic of the becket bend’s loading pattern.