HISTORY ‘The sheet bend was probably known by Neolithic people; remnants of Stone Age nets have been found with mesh knots resembling sheet bends. David Steel referred to it by this name in Elements and Practice of Rigging and Seamanship (1794), when it was tied in a sheet (ie, a bit of running rigging to trim a sail). Many knot experts campaign against the use of this bend for lines of different size, pointing out that (if they are too dissimilar) a thick and stiff rope could straighten out and spill the small cord. While this is a fair criticism, the sheet bend — if used sensibly ~ cannot simply be dismissed. Double sheet bend