Knots: five that cover most jobs

Five knots cover most jobs: a fixed loop, a hitch to a post, an adjustable line, a join between two ropes and a way to pull a load tight. Practise each one until you can tie it in the dark. None of them is for climbing or for lifting people.

Words used here

• Working end: the end you tie with.
• Standing part: the rest of the rope, the part that takes the load.
• Bight: a U-shaped bend in the rope that does not cross itself.
• Turn: one pass of the rope around a post or another rope.

Bowline: a loop that will not slip

Use it for a fixed loop at the end of a rope: around a tree, a post or a load. It holds under strain and still unties easily afterwards.

1. Make a small loop in the standing part, with the side toward the working end lying on top.
2. Pass the working end up through the small loop from underneath.
3. Take it around behind the standing part.
4. Bring it back down through the small loop.
5. Hold the working end against the side of the big loop and pull the standing part tight.

Leave a tail at least 10 times as long as the rope is thick, and finish with an overhand knot in the tail around the side of the loop. A bowline can shake loose when it carries no load.

Clove hitch: tie to a post

Use it to tie a rope to a post, rail or pole quickly, for example to start a lashing or hold a line.

1. Pass the working end around the post.
2. Cross it over the standing part and go around the post a second time.
3. Tuck the end under the second turn, so it comes out beside the standing part but heading the other way.
4. Pull both ends tight.

A clove hitch can slip or roll off when the pull changes direction or the post turns. For anything that matters, add two half hitches around the standing part.

Taut-line hitch: a line you can tighten

Use it for tent and tarp guy lines and clotheslines. It slides to adjust, then grips under load.

1. Pass the working end around the stake or anchor and bring it back alongside the standing part.
2. Wrap it twice around the standing part, working toward the anchor, inside the loop.
3. Take it across, outside those two turns (farther from the anchor), and make one more turn around the standing part.
4. Tuck the end under that last turn and pull snug.

Slide the knot up the standing part to tighten the line, down to loosen it. It grips best on rough rope; on slick or stiff line, add an extra turn in step 2.

Sheet bend: join two ropes

Use it to join two ropes, even of different thickness, or to tie a rope to a loop.

1. Make a bight in the thicker (or stiffer) rope.
2. Pass the end of the thinner rope up through the bight.
3. Take it around behind both legs of the bight.
4. Tuck it under itself, across the front of the bight.
5. Pull the standing parts apart to tighten.

Both short ends should finish on the same side of the knot; if they end on opposite sides, the knot is weaker. If the ropes differ a lot in size or are slippery, go around the bight a second time before step 4 (a double sheet bend). A sheet bend can loosen when it carries no load.

Trucker's hitch: pull a load tight

Use it to tie down a load, a tarp ridge line or anything that needs a rope pulled hard.

1. Tie the rope to the first anchor (a bowline works).
2. Partway along, make a fixed loop in the standing part. A quick option is a slipped overhand loop; a figure-eight loop on a bight jams less.
3. Pass the working end around the second anchor (a hook, ring or rail) and back up through the loop.
4. Pull the working end down. The loop acts like a pulley: in theory it triples your pull, but friction at the loop takes much of that away.
5. Pinch the rope at the loop to hold the tension, then tie off with two half hitches around both strands below the loop (or a slipped half hitch, for a quick release).

The rope rubs on itself at the loop and wears there; check it before each use. Do not use it to lift.

Two half hitches

The finishing knot for the clove hitch and the trucker's hitch, and a simple way to tie off to a post.

1. Pass the working end around the post or the other strands.
2. Take it around the standing part and back through the loop it made (one half hitch).
3. Repeat in the same direction for the second half hitch, then pull snug.

Sources

• NOAA Ocean Service: Tied up in knots (US government, public domain; bowline, sheet bend, hitches)
• US Army: Bowline tying checklist (US government work, public domain; safety overhand and tail length)
• Wikipedia: Taut-line hitch (links only)
• Wikipedia: Trucker's hitch (links only)
• Wikipedia: Sheet bend (links only)