How to Tie a Clove Hitch

The clove hitch ties in about two seconds, unties just as fast, and slides when you want it to. That combination makes it the knot for temporary, non load bearing work: trail markers, guidelines, anything you will move again later.

Run it from one tree to the next and the line between them pulls taut. Need it longer or shorter? Push the two lines together and slide the knot along.

Every lashing begins and ends with a clove hitch. Build a tripod for a cooking pot or a camp chair and this knot is holding both ends of the binding. Same story with a square lashing across two shelter beams.

Beyond lashings it bundles sticks, cinches a bag shut, keeps a coil of rope tidy, and doubled up it makes a drag handle. DJ even ties a whole paracord bed with it, one clove per wrap so nothing sags when he lies down.

Look closely at those examples and the clove is never carrying the load by itself. It starts and finishes the lashing; the lashing does the work.

On its own a clove can walk loose from nothing more than wind shaking the line. Handy, adjustable, quick, and not to be trusted bare. The upgrades further down are what fix that.

This is the rope end method, and it is the one to learn first. Take the end of your line and wrap it around the branch or pole. Come back underneath, then cross the line over itself as you start the second wrap.

Now look at the front face of your object. You want a clear X sitting there. If you cannot see it, the second wrap went the wrong side of the first.

Push the working end under the exact center of that X, then pull both ends apart to tighten.

A correctly tied clove has the two ends leaving in opposite directions with the diagonal crossing over both. To take it apart, push the two ends toward each other and it falls open.

Sometimes there is no end to work with, only the middle of a line. Say the phrase out loud while your hands move: two over, one under.

Bring your right hand over the top and onto the back of your left. That is loop one. Do it again for loop two. Those are your two over. Now pass the right hand underneath the left for the one under. Drop the whole bundle over the pole and pull both ends.

Same result, less counting. Hold the rope in your left hand, cross over and grab it with your right, then bring your arms back to where they started. Your two loops are already made and stacked correctly.

Slide them over the end of the spar and pull. Pick whichever of the two middle methods sticks in your hands and drill that one.

The cheapest upgrade there is. Tie a stopper knot in the tail and the clove stops creeping, but it still will not bind up when you want it off.

A half hitch over the standing line does the same job and comes undone even faster. Either one turns a knot you are watching nervously into one you can walk away from.

Build the X the usual way, but instead of pushing the bare end through the middle, push a bight of rope through it and tighten.

It behaves exactly like a normal clove until you yank the tag end, and then the whole thing lets go at once. Leave that bight long and finish it with an overhand knot and you have a grab loop, which turns a bundle of sticks into something with a handle.

Make your X as normal. This time, rather than threading the middle, wrap across first and then tuck under itself.

What you get is a rolling hitch: it slides freely along the line where you push it, then locks the instant you put weight on it. Useful rope to rope, and DJ points out it makes a very good adjustable drawstring on a pair of sweatpants.

The last variation is the strongest binding knot you can tie. Start the clove exactly as before: wrap, cross, through the X. Then, instead of pulling it tight, carry the wrap on in the same direction and tuck it under the wrap on the far side.

Pull both ends and it bites down hard. This is the one for slippery rope and for anything you genuinely need to stay put. Fair warning: most of the time you will cut it off rather than untie it.