Eye Splicing Illustrated - Making a Permanent Loop in a Rope

Tying an eye splice looks harder than it really is.  Once you have in your mind the over and under weave pattern you use to interlace the loose strands from the end into the strands in the shaft, tying the splice becomes a matter of repeating the twist of the rope followed by the insertion of a strand under the loop you've raisedl.

The end of the rope is cut cleanly to facilitate the insertion of the end strands into the rope shaft so it will make a permanent loop in the end of the rope. 

Simply untwist the rope at the point in the shaft where you want to connect the end of the loop. Lay the three strands side by side, right, left and center. Start with the center strand. Twist up a loop in the shaft of the rope and tuck the center end strand under the loop and back out.

Take the strand to the left of the center strand, twist up the rope and tuck the left strand under the raised loop to the left of the one the center strand is tucked under. The rope goes under the loop from toward the end up toward the shaft of the rope, just like the center strand did.

Now take the right strand and bring it around behind the shaft strand that is to the left of the shaft strand that the center strand is tucked under. Twist open the strands and push the final strand under the free loop (the one that hasn't had a rope tucked under it yet;.

Now simply repeat with all three end strands by going over the shaft strand next to where they emerge from the shaft and under the next strand over as shown. Keep weaving in and out going around the shaft of the rope one row at a time.Go till you have as much of the end strands tucked under shaft strands as possible. If there are shaggy ends sticking out that you can't tuck, wrap a piece of duct tape around loose ends to secure the eye splice or wrap the end of the splice with laced cord.

An eye splice braided in this fashion is stronger than a knot. The more weight and pressure you put on it, the stronger the spice becomes.