Parts of a Rope – Strands, Yarns, Fibers and Tying Terms

All 10 parts on the diagram

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What rope is made of 6

Strand Yarns twisted together. Three or more strands make a laid rope.
Yarn Fibers twisted together. Two or more yarns make a strand.
Fibers The fine threads a rope starts from: hemp, cotton, nylon and others.
Whipping Twine bound round the end of a rope. It keeps the rope from unraveling.
Sheath The braided outer cover of a kernmantle rope. It protects the core.
Core The inside of a kernmantle rope. It gives the rope its strength.

Tying terms 4

Standing part The part of the rope that is not active in tying.
Loop A bend in which the rope crosses itself.
Bight A bend with no crossing of the rope.
Working end The rope's free end, the part active in tying.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two independent sources use it. (1) Wikipedia, text only: Rope (fibers spun into yarns, yarns formed into strands, strands twisted to lay the rope, each twist opposite to the last; ends bound with twine, a whipping), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rope; Kernmantle rope (an inner core guarded by a woven outer sheath), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernmantle_rope; List of knot terminology (bight, loop, standing end or standing part, working end, whipping), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_knot_terminology. (2) A. Hyatt Verrill, Knots, Splices and Rope Work (1917), public domain, Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13510 (fibres, yarn, strand, core, whipping; standing part, bight, end). (3) United States Army Training Circular TC 21-24, Rappelling, public domain: https://archive.org/details/milmanual-tc-21-24-rappelling (bight, loop, running end or working end, standing part; the core and the braided outer sheath of a kernmantle rope). Hints and detail lines are in our own words. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's product, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

Ten names in two pictures. First what a rope is made of: fibers, yarns and strands, a whipping, and the sheath and core of a kernmantle rope. Then the words used in tying: standing part, loop, bight and working end.

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From fiber to rope

Fibers are twisted into a yarn, yarns into a strand, and strands into the rope. Each twist runs the opposite way to the one before, which holds the rope together. A whipping of twine keeps an end from unraveling. A kernmantle rope is built differently: a braided sheath protects a core that gives the rope its strength.

The words used in tying

The working end is the free end that does the tying; the standing part is the rest. A bight is a bend in which the rope does not cross itself. When it does cross, the bend is a loop.

Bight or loop? Look for the crossing: a loop crosses itself, a bight does not.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a rope called?

A laid rope is made of fibers twisted into yarns, yarns twisted into strands, and strands twisted into the rope. In tying, the free end is the working end, the rest is the standing part, and bends are bights or loops.

What is the difference between a bight and a loop?

A bight is a bend in which the rope does not cross itself. A loop is a bend in which it does.

What is the standing part of a rope?

The standing part is the part of the rope that is not active in tying a knot. The end that does the tying is the working end, also called the running end.

What is kernmantle rope?

A rope with an inner core protected by a braided outer sheath. Kern means core and mantle means sheath. The core gives the rope its strength, and the sheath protects the core from wear.