Page 254 - The Pocket Guide to Outdoor Knots

BULL HITCH

Purpose

This is an alternative to the pedigree cow hitch (previous page) which, like that
knot, may be tied either directly (with an end) or in the bight.

Tying #1

Bend a bight into a pair of loops, one slightly larger than the other (figure 1).
Wrap the larger of the two loops in a 360º circuit, going over and around the

smaller loop (figure 2). Slip the resulting knot onto its foundation and tighten
(figure 3).

Tying #2

When a ring or rail without an available end is the point of attachment, tie this
knot directly with a working end (figures 4–6).

Knot lore

This modified version of a cow hitch was reported by Robert Pont (a member of
the International Guild of Knot Tyers) in Knotting Matters (January 1995). He

called it the Piwich knot, after a child named Piwich Kust of the Bois Brule tribe
whom he had seen tie it in Quebec, Canada. As it is a beefed-up and stronger

version of a cow hitch it was too tempting not to rename it a bull hitch.