Page 194 - The Pocket Guide to Outdoor Knots

CLOVE HITCH

Purpose

The simplicity of this much-used hitch limits its application, for it can be trusted
only as long as the pull is a steady one from a direction that is mostly at right-

angles to the point of attachment. Otherwise it can prove unreliable. Provided

this shortcoming is borne in mind, however, it is a knot worth knowing, one that
can be tied by several different methods (the two most handy ones being
described below).

Tying #1

Take a turn with the working end around the intended anchorage and then cross
over the standing part of the line (figure 1). Tuck as shown (figure 2). To suspend

items by a lanyard—from a fender on a boat to a string of onions in the cellar—
leave a draw-loop for later easy release (figure 3).

Tying #2

To tie this knot quickly and simply in the bight—even when a working end is
available—form a pair of alternate loops and overlap them (figure 4), then slip

the resulting layout over the post or other point of attachment (figure 5).

Knot lore
On land this was once known as the builder’s knot. The name clove hitch seems

to have been published first in the Universal Dictionary of the Marine (1769) by
William Falconer.