View Full Version : Knots, which do you use the most often
When I started hiking several years ago, the only knots I knew and used were the square knot and how to tie my shoes. But I took the time to learn a few of the basics and found that life is so much easier.
Specifically, I know and frequently use while hiking the bowline, the clove hitch, two half hitches, the tautline hitch, the midshipman's hitch, and the trucker's hitch.
I think those knots are invaluable. If you don't know them, I'd strongly encourage you to get a 2' piece of thin cord and spend 10-15 min. learning them. You'd be surprised at how much easier your hiking life will be.
I have found the following two sites to be very, very helpful:
http://www.animatedknots.com/
http://www.netknots.com/html/knots.html
Are there other knots that you find particularly helpful for hiking?
Besides your list I also use the figure eight (stopper knot) occasionally.
I also like the constrictor knot which is a clove knot with a half hitch underneath.
Marlinspike Hitch. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlinespike_hitch)
Am I the only guy who survives happily in the woods using the same knots I learned as a youngin' to tie my shoes?
trippclark
06-23-2009, 09:25
Let's see, on my last hike I used . . .
taut line hitch
two half hitches
square knot
timber hitch
lark's head
Hikes in Rain
06-23-2009, 09:42
I've occasionally been tempted to use the hangman's noose, correctly made with 13 windings, but so far, I've resisted. My favorite knot is the sheepshank, but it's not really all that useful. Square, bowline, double half hitch or timber hitch usually does it. I do know all the ones listed here, but those three or four are my most used.
In order of use:
tautline hitch
clove hitch (I am also a fan of the constrictor as well)
bowline
sheet bend
figure-eight (also with a loop)
larks head
double fishermans bend
2half hitches
square knot
The one knot I have NEVER used is the sheepshank
I've occasionally been tempted to use the hangman's noose, correctly made with 13 windings, but so far, I've resisted.
Does that have any practical, nonracial use?
Ridge Rat
06-23-2009, 09:52
My most used are: figure 8, figure 8 on a bight, truckers hitch, bowline, butterfly, square knot, clove hitch, half hitch, girth hitch, friction hitch. I am sure I use a lot more but those are the ones I can think of as most used off the top of my head. That's just backpacking though, rock climbing and high angle rescue have their own special knots also.
Monkeyboy
06-23-2009, 09:52
Round turn with two half hitches.
Hikes in Rain
06-23-2009, 09:56
Does that have any practical, nonracial use?
Teaching snoring, drunken obnoxious hikers the error of their ways, regardless of race or creed. Other than that......not really. Like the sheepshank (the most useless knot I know), knowledge of how to tie one is just a small part of the useless trivia that clogs my memory, leaving precious little room for useful things.
Fiddleback
06-23-2009, 10:06
Scouting got me into knots and one of my regrets is that good 'ol Mom threw out both my Webelos knot board and my father's. If knots can be 'cool', I use to know a lot of 'cool' knots. But thinking about the OP, I realize that I never use any of 'em.
I hang a bear bag...always. Usually that involves a double half-hitch and a clove hitch. Maybe a couple of each. When I'm in my hammock, I use the figure-8 lashing that Hennessy recommends. My tent requires no knots.
And that's it...right now I can't think of any knot tying I've done in the last several trips...except for my boots.:D
FB
Am I the only guy who survives happily in the woods using the same knots I learned as a youngin' to tie my shoes?
I was like you until I was at Muskrat Creek Sh. and saw a guy rig up a clothes line in nothing flat. Line was guitar-string tight, and he had his gear up drying right away. Even better, the next morning he was able to untie and store the rope without resorting to a knife.
I was really impressed, which probably shows how stupid simple I am, but that said, after learning the tautline, the bowline, and the clove, I was immediately able to tension my tarp and bathtub floor without a problem and hang my bearbag, tie it off to a tree, and get it down and untied in the morning with ease. That convinced me that there are specific knots for specific needs, and knowing just a few for typical hiking applications made things much easier.
Speaking of tieing shoes, check out this site -- very creative and laughably funny ways of tieing your shoes!
http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/index.htm
I was like you until I was at Muskrat Creek Sh. and saw a guy rig up a clothes line in nothing flat. Line was guitar-string tight.........For a clothesline, I use a knot that I'm sure has another name, but I know it as the Speer Four Wrap knot (http://www.imrisk.com/hammock/speerknot.htm). My clothesline goes up in seconds.
Alligator
06-23-2009, 10:56
I picked up this game (http://www.rei.com/product/687141) with a recent REI order.
Half hitch with a loop can work for a clothesline. Bowline is one knot everyone should know, probably other non tightening knots that are better, but a bowline and a halfhitch will get you by.
Some packages of rope and maybe mason line have an illustrated sheet of various knots.
peakbagger
06-23-2009, 13:05
I used the bowline quite often as its about the only good knot for "plastic" rope.
warraghiyagey
06-23-2009, 13:14
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e148/elke520/Random/VelcroShoes.jpg
Johnny Swank
06-23-2009, 14:26
tautline hitch
clove hitch
bowline
figure-eight
2half hitches
square knot
Couldn't live w/o the taut line hitch. Sometimes use a trucker's hitch too
When I explored pit caves I often used an anchor knot with a half hitch back to secure the rope to a tree or bumper.
The other cavers with me usually wanted to add more knots for "safety". But if an anchor hitch won't do it, what will?
beakerman
06-23-2009, 16:34
Scouting got me into knots and one of my regrets is that good 'ol Mom threw out both my Webelos knot board and my father's. If knots can be 'cool', I use to know a lot of 'cool' knots. But thinking about the OP, I realize that I never use any of 'em.
I hang a bear bag...always. Usually that involves a double half-hitch and a clove hitch. Maybe a couple of each. When I'm in my hammock, I use the figure-8 lashing that Hennessy recommends. My tent requires no knots.
And that's it...right now I can't think of any knot tying I've done in the last several trips...except for my boots.:D
FB
does your tent have any guy lines? what if your tensioner breaks as they have been known to do? that is what the taught line hitch is for. I've taken all the tensioner off my tent and just use taugth line hitches now. i un tie them and they don't get as tangled and i don't ahve to think about which loop to pull to make it work.
I have a large knot board that i did as a scout. I still teach knots and lashings to my boy scouts. I've used many of them. Knots are like any other tool if you have it you will use it if not you make due with what ever you have only knowledge of knots is litterally weightless.
leeki pole
06-23-2009, 16:55
Square knot, clove hitch, two half hitches with a safety loop, slip knot and a knot that could save your life someday in a rescue situation, the bowline. We learned to tie it with one hand in military science. Not as easy as it sounds, try it sometime.
S the bowline. We learned to tie it with one hand in military science. Not as easy as it sounds, try it sometime.
That is difficult. Everyone should be able to do it, if you ever get near water.
Doesn't have to be pretty.
Homer&Marje
06-23-2009, 18:43
Think it is called a bowline hitch or something to that extent. Only knot my dad taught me. Only one I have needed...
warraghiyagey
06-23-2009, 18:58
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ISO_Fbr87qg/R5rQgPgFnqI/AAAAAAAAAfI/XUaK59xoAOc/s400/DonKnotts1.jpg
Fiddleback
06-23-2009, 20:02
does your tent have any guy lines? what if your tensioner breaks as they have been known to do? that is what the taught line hitch is for. I've taken all the tensioner off my tent and just use taugth line hitches now. i un tie them and they don't get as tangled and i don't ahve to think about which loop to pull to make it work.
I have a large knot board that i did as a scout. I still teach knots and lashings to my boy scouts. I've used many of them. Knots are like any other tool if you have it you will use it if not you make due with what ever you have only knowledge of knots is litterally weightless.
You're right...that is what a taut line hitch is for. But as I said, the tent requires no knot tying (REI Half Dome; no guy lines)...until or unless the lines affixed to the fly or something else fails.
http://tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:Td7bQsqA8_Wu6M:http://justinsomnia.org/images/rei-half-dome-2-hc.jpg http://justinsomnia.org/images/rei-half-dome-2-hc.jpg
Aside from the figure-8 lashing, the same applies to the Hennessy.
I didn't mean to come off as anti-knot. Of course I use knots when I need to...but once the bear bag is hung, my knot tying on the trail is usually finished until it's time to retie my boots.:) Every once in a while I'll practice some knots just to make sure I haven't forgotten them. I tie far more knots during those review sessions than I ever do on the trail.
I envy you and your knot board. Mine, and my father's (which would be almost 80 years old now), would have made nice souvenirs. But they both ended up in a landfill years ago. As did some very collectible OA and other patches... I learned too late to act that the definition of 'collectible' is; something you use to have that your mother threw out.:o
FB
beakerman
06-24-2009, 01:15
yeah I realized I misspelled taut as I hit post...I really need to contribute so I can edit my posts.
I never got into OA when I was a young one...I was too much trouble at the time. Sometimes I think nothing has changed...I still get in trouble from time to time. I guess that keeps them guessing what I will do next.
My mom kept my scout stuff but tossed literally boxes of baseball cards dating back into the mid 60's that my oldest brother started collecting and I collected as well.
Kerosene
06-24-2009, 10:44
These have been all I've really needed, all learned from Scouts:
Taut-line Hitch
Half Hitch
Clove Hitch
Square Knot
Bowline
Jayboflavin04
06-24-2009, 10:57
Taut Line/Mid shipmans Hitch. The mid-shipmans hitch is better for synthetic ropes. Pretty much the same knot.
Bowline, double fishermans, clove.
Learn a few basic knots. You will be happy you did
http://www.animatedknots.com/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com