Wilderness Knots: The Two Simplest Ways to Tie a Clove Hitch

Two Simplest Ways to Tie a Clove Hitch

The clove hitch is an important knot commonly used way to fasten a rope to an object. It’s quick knot to tie and is easily undone.

It’s used in two different scenarios; it’s the same knot although you tie it in different ways….

  • Where you can tie the knot first and then slip it over the end of an object, and
  • Where you have to fasten it around the middle of an object

A lot of people have trouble with tying the clove hitch, and I think that comes down to teaching methods. Here are the two most common ways I use to tie the clove hitch along with the simple memory tricks I used for each method

Method 1: The Clove Hitch When You Can Access the END of an Object

how to tie a clove hitch around an open anchor - animated gif

In this scenario you tie the knot first and then slip it over one end of object in question. I’ve found the easiest way to teach this style of clove hitch is using a 3 step method:

  • Bring RIGHT OVER LEFT to create a loop,
  • Bring RIGHT OVER LEFT to create a second loop beside the first,
  • Now bring LEFT OVER RIGHT (i.e. bring the LEFT loop over the RIGHT loop) to create the clove hitch.

Here’s a quick video breakdown of this approach!

Method 2: The Clove Hitch When You Have to Tie It Around the MIDDLE of an Object

In this scenario you want to tie a clove hitch to an object where you can’t access the open end of that object. For example you want to tie a clove hitch around the thwart of a canoe or the middle of a tall tree truk.

Tying a clove hitch around an object when you can’t access an open end of that object can be tricky. Here’s another 3 step method to accomplish this:

  • Wrap the line around the object coming UNDER the original line,
  • Wrap it again and now pass it OVER the original line, and
  • Now finish it by coming UNDER the OVER pass.

Here’s another quick video taking you through this second method!

Hope you found this useful!

Stephan Kesting

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