The alpine butterfly is a loop that you can create in the middle of a rope (without the ends). This makes it popular with climbers. You use this loop for many purposes including running rope through it or hooking items to it. It is useful when you want use the alpine butterfly to tension the rope as this will give you a mechanical advantage. This has an important application in camping where you might need to tension the guy lines.

 

	Step 1: Create a bight.
	Step 2: Twist the bight, to create a loop.
	Step 3: Twist the loop as shown.
	Step 4: Pull the end of the second loop under the knot. You should now have two loops and a bight. What you want to do is to pull the bight through those two loops.
	Step 5: You have an alpine butterfly. Pull the two ends of the rope and the bight to tighten.
	Front view of the alpine butterfly.
	Rear view of the alpine butterfly.