I have been thinking about this one for a while.

Most of us were probably taught to form the hole and tree and then the rabbit comes out of the hole goes around the tree and back down the hole, pull it tight and you have the bowline.

I suspect for most of us tying the knot has become fairly automatic and we have ended up with an "inside" bowline.

Depending on which way the rabbit goes around the tree you end up with the tail inside or outside the bight (loop) of the knot.

My thinking is that an "outside" bowline is a cleaner knot for when the bight is around say a bar to which load is to be applied.

Off to You Tube we go and I found this gem.



Here is another excellent vid showing 4 ways to tie a bowline and two ways to tie a sheet bend.



This vid clearly shows the shortcomings of the bowline and the advantages of the anglers knot. I am going to be using this one.