Page 311 - The Ashley Book of Knots

THE ASHLEY BOOK OF KNOTS

The importance of the CLOVE HITCH as a STAKE HITCH rests largely

upon the ease, celerity anc1 variety of the ways in which it may be

formed. It can be tied with either one hand or two, picked with one

hand off the deck or out of the air, as easily by night as by day; but,

except as a CROSSING KNOT, there is a better holding knot for about

every purpose to which the CLOVE HITCH can be put. Nevertheless

the CLOVE HITCH is a very important knot and the most used of all

POST HITCHES. At sea it is sometimes tied as :l hitch in the ends of

seizings, and ashore it is the nearest thing there is '.:0 a general utility

.,'4 hitch. It is by no means secure, but it is the quickest hitch there is to

tie, and one of the easiest to remember.

Besides the several methods of tying given on the following page,

there are a number of additional ways shown among the tricks and

puzzles on pages 408 and 409.

1773. The CLOVE HITCH was mentioned by F akoner in 1769.

"Tom Bowling," in 1866, called it the BUILDER'S KNOT. It consists of

two SINGLE HITCHES, the second one superimposed over the first. It

is commonly tied in hand and then dropped over a post.

1774. A quick 'Way of tying the CLOVE HITCH in medium-weight

rope is here shown. With the back of the left hand and the palm of

the right hand uppermost, grasp the rope with the two hands several
I

'7 feet apart. Rotate each hand one half turn as indicated by the arrows

7 and clap the knuckles of the right hand into the palm of the left

6

I'~S hand. Transfer the upper hitch into the grasp of the left hand and

drop the knot over a post.

1775. To make the hitch directly over a post while pulling on the

rope: Pull with the left hand and impart a right twist with the right

hand, which will cause the bight between the two hands to form a

SINGLE HITCH. This is dropped over the post while the left hand still

holds the standing part of the rope taut. A second hitch is then added

in the same way.

1776. To tie around a tall post: Where the post or pole is too tall

for dropping hitches over the top, there is but one way to tie the

knot. Make a turn with the end below the standing part, then put a

hitch above by reeving the end without reversing the direction of

the turns.

1777. A one-hand method of casting a CLOVE HITCH directly over

the post. It is accomplished with a half turn of the right ann, which

is repeated in adding the second hitch.

1778. The STEAMBOAT HITCH is the quickest and most convenient

1118 way that I know of tying the CLOVE HITCH in medium- or heavy-

weight rope. It was first shown to me by E. E. du Pont, who had seen

it tied on a Chesapeake Bay steamer. H. W. Riley, in a Cornell Agri-

'174) cultural School knot bulletin, calls this the "Circus method."

The CLOVE HITCH does not draw up snugly when pull is exerted

on one end only and there is almost always an initial slip that cannot

be gauged with certainty. The hitch may be unwound with a rotat-

ing pull in one direction, particularly if it is tied to a square post and

the rope is stiff.

1779. This shows the sailor's trick of picking up a CLOVE HITCH

from deck, employing one hand only. Between the second and third

diagrams the loop is laid to the left across the lower part of the rope

and the hand grasps the two parts pictured. With a little practice

this may be done with a bale hook instead of the hand (jji 2544).

Other ways of tying the CLOVE HITCH are given in Chapter 33,

[ 302 ]