strands of the rope to strengthen this juncture the first wrapping is approximately one and five eighths inch wide by three quarters inch thick and the second wrapping is about two inches wide and one and a quarter inch thick in the standard barstow rope being described the second end portion 52 of the bull rope 40 fig2 and 3 is modified to incorporate the subject latch or releasable retainer 42 and thus includes a looped section 80 and a latching section 82 the latter including the latch or retainer of the present invention the looped section is a twisted pair 84 of polyurethane strands 86 each strand being about five sixteenths of a inch in diameter this pair of strands extends from the latching section to a doubled back end 88 thereby providing a loop a plurality of braided retaining rings 90 of corded material are slideably fitted over the stands 84 thereby to maintain the twisted pairs in adjacent spaced relation and to define a loop of restricted size at the end 88 the latching section 82 fig3 and 6 of the bull rope 50 includes separable upper and lower latching end portions 100 and 102 respectively joined to the handle 54 and the looped section 80 the upper and lower latching end portions are of similar construction each including inner and outer layers 104 and 106 each layer being composed of braided strands 108 of polyurethane fibers the upper latching end portion has an upper end 110 joined to the second end 74 of the handle 54 and a lower latching end 114 the lower latching end portion 102 has a lower end 118 joined to the upper end of the looped section 80 and an upper latching end 120.