There are 2 ways to finish a bowline. Ashley states that one way is secure and the other way isn't as secure which I interpret to mean it can slip.
Following the rabbit and the rabbit hole mnemonic, the rabbit come up out of the rabbit hole and around the tree and then back down the rabbit hole. Now there are 2 ways to go around the tree before going back down the rabbit hole.
One way around the tree will end with the rope down the middle of the loop as shown here:
The otrher way around the tree will end with the rope outside of the loop as shown here:
Ashley states that the first way around the tree is the more secure.
Just to confuse you , one of the European Navies, the Dutch if I remember correctly, hold the opposite view.
I have always tried to follow Ashley's recommendation. Sometimes I get sloppy and don't pay any attention and sometimes when I do that, the bowline has slipped on me. Since I wasn't paying any attention, I don't know which way I went around the tree when it slipped.
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