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clove hitch

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type of knot

Key facts

Category
Hitch
Origin
Ancient
Related
Slippery hitch , Two half-hitches , Buntline hitch , Cow hitch , Constrictor knot , Ground-line hitch , Lashings , Snuggle hitch
Typical use
Securing lines running along a series of posts, belaying, starting lashings, weak binding
Caveat
Can spill if the standing part is pulled forcibly in the wrong direction
Abok
#11 , #53, #69, #70, #204, #400, #421, #437, #1176 , #1177 , #1178 , #1179 , #1180 , #1245, #1773 , #1774 , #1775 , #1776 , #1778 , #1779 , #1814, #2079, #2541, #2542, #2543 , #2544, #2546, #2547, #2548
Instructions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwdZTHu5rTI

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Image
Webeleinenstek3.svg
Show 2 more facts
maintained by WikiProject
WikiProject Mathematics
Commons category
Clove hitches
Sources (1)

via Wikidata · CC0

~3 min read

Encyclopedic overview

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.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “clove hitch” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.