tail
A rope spliced to the strap of a block, by which it may be lashed to anything.
tail: a rope extension for securing blocks to rigging
A tail is a length of rope permanently spliced to the strap (the loop or band that holds a block's shell) rather than to the block itself. Its purpose is to provide an attachment point for lashing the block to a yard, boom, rail, or other structural member without needing to thread lashings through the block's metalwork. The tail hangs freely until it is needed, then it is wrapped and tied around whatever object must secure the block.
Blocks with tails appear across merchant and naval vessels wherever permanent, repeatable rigging points are necessary. The tail is typically laid up from the same material as the standing rigging, either natural fiber rope or wire depending on the load and era. A working tail might be 8 to 18 inches long, spliced with a square or eye splice directly into the strap of a single, double, or triple block. This arrangement keeps the strap clear for running through the block's sheaves and avoids the weak points that would come from knotting.
Tail versus seized strop
A tail differs from a block with a seized strop, which uses small rope or wire wrapping around the shell itself. The tail is more permanent and formal, favored in fixed installations or where repeated lashing and unlashing occurs. The seized strop is lighter work and more common on portable blocks handled frequently or stowed away. A block lashed by its tail stays rigged in place for weeks or months; one with a seized strop might be rehung weekly.
When a tail wears or chafes at the lashing point, the rope absorbs friction and abrasion before any damage reaches the block's metalwork. This is by design: the tail sacrifices itself to protect the block. If lashing regularly to the same fitting, the tail can work thin; a frayed or partially severed tail is a signal to replace the block before the strap itself becomes exposed to wear.
The name reflects its function: the tail is the appendage that trails away from the main body of the block, just as the tail of a fish or animal extends from its body. In shipyard and sailmaking tradition, it is always called the tail, never the lanyard or the strop, to avoid confusion with the other rigging terms already crowded into the vocabulary of working sail.