Tying the clove hitch

Hitches

1. 1

   The clove hitch is an ancient knot consisting of two successive single hitches tied around an object. It is most effective for securing a middle section of rope to an object the rope crosses over — a line on a fencepost, a guyline on a peg, or a climber's clip-in to an anchor. It can also be used as an ordinary hitch or as a binding knot, but it is not particularly secure in either application.

2. 2

   Despite its limitations the clove hitch is considered one of the most important knots, alongside the bowline and the sheet bend. The name was given by Falconer in his Dictionary of 1769, but the knot is much older, having been tied in ratlines as early as the first quarter of the sixteenth century. In sailing, where the clove hitch was originally used on ratlines crossing shrouds, the forward end is always made fast first.

3. 3

   The clove hitch's main weakness is that it walks loose under cyclic load — it is fine for a steady pull but unreliable when the rope is repeatedly tensioned and slackened. For mooring and similar long-term uses, a round turn and two half-hitches is more secure. For climbers, the clove hitch's combination of being adjustable, easy to tie one-handed at a carabiner, and easy to redress makes it the standard for clipping into anchors during multi-pitch belays.