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A hitch is a type of knot used to secure a rope to an object or another rope. Hitches are used in a variety of situations, including climbing, sailing, and securing loads. They are classified based on their ability to be tightened or released, their resistance to slipping, and their strength. Some common types of hitch knots include the clove hitch, the timber hitch, and the round turn and two half-hitches.
A simple mathematical theory of hitches has been proposed by Bayman. [1] It predicts whether or not a hitch will hold, given the diameter of the post, the diameter of the rope, and the coefficient of friction between the post and the rope. The theory has been extended by Maddocks and Keller, including an approximate treatment of knots that are not hitches. [2] For example, they predict that a square knot will hold when the coefficient of friction of the rope with itself is greater than 0.24. These predictions are approximately correct when tested empirically. [3]
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| Knot | Description | Image |
|---|---|---|
| Adjustable grip hitch | A simple and useful friction hitch which may easily be shifted up and down the rope while slack. |  |
| Alternate ring hitching | A type of ringbolt hitching formed with a series of alternate left and right hitches made around a ring |  |
| Anchor bend | A knot used for attaching a rope to a ring |  |
| Bale sling hitch | A knot which traditionally uses a continuous loop of strap to form a cow hitch around an object in order to hoist or lower it. |  |
| Barrel hitch | The "barrel hitch" and "barrel sling," named for their use in hoisting cargo aboard ships, are a simple yet effective way to suspend an object. |  |
| Becket hitch | Any hitch that is made on an eye loop, i.e., on a becket. |  |
| Blackwall hitch | A temporary means of attaching a rope to a hook. |  |
| Blake's hitch | A friction hitch commonly used by arborists and tree climbers as an ascending knot. |  |
| Boom hitch | A rather robust and secure method of attaching a line, or rope to a fixed object like a pipe, post, or sail boom |  |
| Bottom-loaded release hitch | ||
| Buntline hitch | A knot used for attaching a rope to an object. It is formed by passing the working end around an object, then making a clove hitch around the rope's standing part, taking care that the turns of the clove hitch progress towards the object rather than away from it. |  |
| Cat's paw | A knot used for connecting a rope to an object. |  |
| Chain hitch | A knot used to connect a rope to a cylindrical object. Similar to the marline hitch, but formed with successive Clove hitch knots. |  |
| Clinging clara | ||
| Clove hitch | A clove hitch is two successive half-hitches around an object. |  |
| Continuous ring hitching | A series of identical hitches made around a ring |  |
| Cow hitch variant | ||
| Cow hitch with toggle | ||
| Cow hitch | A hitch knot used to attach a rope to an object. |  |
| Double overhand noose | A hitch knot used to bind a rope to a carabiner. |  |
| Farrimond friction hitch | A quick release adjustable friction hitch for use on lines under tension. |  |
| Garda hitch | A ratcheting knot used to disallow dual direction rope travel. |  |
| Gripping sailor's hitch | A secure, jam-proof hitch used to tie one rope to another, or a rope to a pole, boom, spar, etc., when the pull is lengthwise along the object. |  |
| Ground-line hitch | A type of knot used to attach a rope to an object. |  |
| Half hitch | A simple overhand knot, where the working end of a line is brought over and under the standing part. |  |
| Halter hitch | A type of knot used to connect a rope to an object. |  |
| Highpoint hitch | A type of knot used to attach a rope to an object. |  |
| Highwayman's hitch | A quick-release draw loop knot used for temporarily securing a rope that will need to be released easily and cleanly. |  |
| Hitching tie | A simple knot used to tie off stuff sacks that allows quick access as it unties quickly. |  |
| Icicle hitch | A knot for connecting to a post when weight is applied to an end running parallel to the post in a specific direction. |  |
| Improved clinch knot | Also known as the Salmon Knot, a knot that is often used for securing a fishing line to a hook or lure. |  |
| Killick hitch | A type of hitch knot used to attach a rope to oddly shaped objects. |  |
| Knute hitch | A knot used to attach a lanyard of small stuff to a marlingspike or other tool. | |
| Magnus hitch | A knot used to attach a rope to a rod, pole, or other rope. (See also Rolling hitch) |  |
| Marline Hitching | A knot used to attach a rope to a cylindrical object. Similar in appearance to the Chain Hitch, but a succession of overhand knots. |  |
| Marlinespike hitch | A temporary knot used to attach a rod to a rope in order to form a handle. |  |
| Midshipman's hitch | An adjustable loop knot for use on lines under tension. |  |
| Munter hitch | A simple knot, commonly used by climbers and cavers as part of a life-lining or belay system |  |
| Ossel hitch | A knot used to attach a rope or line to an object. |  |
| Palomar knot | A knot that is used for securing a fishing line to a fishing lure, snap or swivel. |  |
| Pile hitch | A kind of hitch, which is a knot used for attaching rope to a pole or other structure. |  |
| Pipe hitch | A hitch-type knot used to secure smooth cylindrical objects. |  |
| Prusik knot | A friction hitch or knot used to put a loop of cord around a rope, applied in climbing, canyoneering, mountaineering, caving, rope rescue, and by arborists. |  |
| Reverse half hitches | ||
| Round turn and two half-hitches |  | |
| Sailor's hitch | A secure, jam-proof hitch. |  |
| Siberian hitch | A knot used to attach a rope to an object. |  |
| Slippery hitch | A knot used to attach a line to a rod or bar. |  |
| Snell knot | A hitch knot used to attach an eyed fishing hook to fishing line. | |
| Snuggle hitch | A modification of the clove hitch |  |
| Taut-line hitch | An adjustable loop knot for use on lines under tension. | |
| Tensionless hitch | An anchor knot used for rappelling or rope rescue. | |
| Timber hitch | A knot used to attach a single length of rope to a cylindrical object. |  |
| Trilene knot | A multi-purpose fishing knot that can be used for attaching monofilament line to hooks, swivels and lures. | |
| Trucker's hitch | A compound knot commonly used for securing loads on trucks or trailers. |  |
| Tugboat hitch (Lighterman's hitch) | An easy release knot ideal for heavy towing. | |
| Tumble hitch | A quick-release draw loop knot used for temporarily securing a rope that will need to be released easily and cleanly. |  |
| Two half-hitches | A type of knot, specifically a binding knot or hitch knot. |  |
| Uni knot | A multi purpose fishing knot that can be used for attaching the fishing line to the arbor of a reel, for joining lines, and for attaching lures, snaps, and swivels. |  |
Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. Types of friction include dry, fluid, lubricated, skin, and internal.
A knot is an intentional complication in cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including hitches, bends, loop knots, and splices: a hitch fastens a rope to another object; a bend fastens two ends of a rope to each another; a loop knot is any knot creating a loop; and splice denotes any multi-strand knot, including bends and loops. A knot may also refer, in the strictest sense, to a stopper or knob at the end of a rope to keep that end from slipping through a grommet or eye. Knots have excited interest since ancient times for their practical uses, as well as their topological intricacy, studied in the area of mathematics known as knot theory.
The overhand knot is one of the most fundamental knots, and it forms the basis of many others, including the simple noose, overhand loop, angler's loop, reef knot, fisherman's knot, half hitch, and water knot. The overhand knot is a stopper, especially when used alone, and hence it is very secure, to the point of jamming badly. It should be used if the knot is intended to be permanent. It is often used to prevent the end of a rope from unraveling. An overhand knot becomes a trefoil knot, a true knot in the mathematical sense, by joining the ends. It can also be adjusted, faired, or mis-tied as a half hitch.
The clove hitch is an ancient type of knot, made of two successive single hitches tied around an object. It is most effectively used to secure a middle section of rope to an object it crosses over, such as a line on a fencepost. It can also be used as an ordinary hitch, or as a binding knot, but it is not particularly secure in either application. It is considered one of the most important knots, alongside the bowline and the sheet bend.
Although the name clove hitch is given by Falconer in his Dictionary of 1769, the knot is much older, having been tied in ratlines at least as early as the first quarter of the sixteenth century. This is shown in early sculpture and paintings. A round turn is taken with the ratline and then a hitch is added below. The forward end is always the first to be made fast.
The trucker's hitch is a compound knot commonly used for securing loads on trucks or trailers. The general arrangement, using loops and turns in the rope itself to form a crude block and tackle, has long been used to tension lines and is known by multiple names. Knot author Geoffrey Budworth claims the knot can be traced back to the days when carters and hawkers used horse-drawn conveyances to move their wares from place to place.
The figure-eight knot or figure-of-eight knot is a type of stopper knot. It is very important in both sailing and rock climbing as a method of stopping ropes from running out of retaining devices. Like the overhand knot, which will jam under strain, often requiring the rope to be cut, the figure-eight will also jam, but is usually more easily undone than the overhand knot.
The figure-eight or figure-of-eight knot is also called the Flemish knot. The name figure-of-eight knot appears in Lever's Sheet Anchor; or, a Key to Rigging. The word "of" is nowadays usually omitted. The knot is the sailor's common single-strand stopper knot and is tied in the ends of tackle falls and running rigging, unless the latter is fitted with monkey's tails. It is used about ship wherever a temporary stopper knot is required. The figure-eight is much easier to untie than the overhand, it does not have the same tendency to jam and so injure the fiber, and is larger, stronger, and equally secure.
A whipping knot or whipping is a binding of marline twine or whipcord around the end of a rope to prevent its natural tendency to fray.
The sailor's hitch is a secure, jam-proof hitch knot. A hitch knot is a type of knot that has the ability to fit to the size and shape of an object that it is being tied to.
The klemheist knot or French Machard knot is a type of friction hitch that grips the rope when weight is applied, and is free to move when the weight is released. It is used similarly to a Prusik knot or the Bachmann knot to ascend or descend a climbing rope. One advantage is that webbing can be used as an alternative to cord. The Klemheist is easier to slide up than a Prusik. The klemheist is also a way to attach a snubber to the anchor rope of small boats, with the advantage that it is easy to undo.
Self-locking devices are devices intended to arrest the fall of solo climbers who climb without partners. This device is used for rope solo climbing, for "ground-up climbing", and for "top rope solo climbing". To date, several types of self-locking devices have evolved.
The Munter hitch, also known as the Italian hitch, mezzo barcaiolo or the crossing hitch, is a simple adjustable knot, commonly used by climbers, cavers, and rescuers to control friction in a life-lining or belay system. To climbers, this hitch is also known as HMS, the abbreviation for the German term Halbmastwurfsicherung, meaning half clove hitch belay. This technique can be used with a special "pear-shaped" HMS locking carabiner, or any locking carabiner wide enough to take two turns of the rope.
The cow hitch, also called the lark's head, is a hitch knot used to attach a rope to an object. The cow hitch comprises a pair of single hitches tied in opposing directions, as compared to the clove hitch in which the single hitches are tied in the same direction. It has several variations and is known under a variety of names. It can be tied either with the end of the rope or with a bight.
The Bachmann hitch is a friction hitch, named after the Austrian alpinist Franz Bachmann. It is useful when the friction hitch needs to be reset quickly or often or made to be self-tending as in crevasse and self-rescue.
The rolling hitch is a knot used to attach a rope to a rod, pole, or another rope. A simple friction hitch, it is used for lengthwise pull along an object rather than at right angles. The rolling hitch is designed to resist lengthwise movement for only a single direction of pull.
A Prusik is a friction hitch or knot used to attach a loop of cord around a rope, applied in climbing, canyoneering, mountaineering, caving, rope rescue, ziplining, and by arborists. The term Prusik is a name for both the loops of cord used to tie the hitch and the hitch itself, and the verb is "to prusik". More casually, the term is used for any friction hitch or device that can grab a rope. Due to the pronunciation, the word is often misspelled Prussik, Prussick, or Prussic.
An autoblock is a rope device used in climbing and caving for both rappelling (downward) and ascending (upward).
The capstan equation or belt friction equation, also known as Euler-Eytelwein formula, relates the hold-force to the load-force if a flexible line is wound around a cylinder.
The reef knot, or square knot, is an ancient and simple binding knot used to secure a rope or line around an object. It is sometimes also referred to as a Hercules knot. The knot is formed by tying a left-handed overhand knot between two ends, instead of around one end, and then a right-handed overhand knot via the same procedure, or vice versa. A common mnemonic for this procedure is "right over left; left over right", which is often appended with the rhyming suffix "... makes a knot both tidy and tight". Two consecutive overhands tied as described above of the same handedness will make a granny knot. The working ends of the reef knot must emerge both at the top or both at the bottom, otherwise a thief knot results.
The reef knot or square knot consists of two half knots, one left and one right, one being tied on top of the other, and either being tied first...The reef knot is unique in that it may be tied and tightened with both ends. It is universally used for parcels, rolls and bundles. At sea it is always employed in reefing and furling sails and stopping clothes for drying. But under no circumstances should it ever be tied as a bend, for if tied with two ends of unequal size, or if one end is stiffer or smoother than the other, the knot is almost bound to spill. Except for its true purpose of binding it is a knot to be shunned.
