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Tying It All Together - Three Great Knots For Use Out On The Trail
Traveling the Trail
The Bowline
If you could only take one knot out to the islands with you, this would be a good choice. Properly tied in ordinary rope, there is little danger of the bowline slipping before the breaking point of the rope itself is reached – a comforting thought when you’re tying up a boat. Nearly as important, the bowline is easy to untie, even after having been dunked in water and put under load. If you should ever have to deal with particularly thick or stiff materials – a rolled-up bedspread for example, or anything cable-like, one of the best ways to join them is with two interlocking bowlines.
The Clove Hitch
An outstanding, nearly all-purpose hitch. Simple to tie, simple to untie, and it won’t jam under strain. There are better hitches if you’re especially concerned about security, and if you’re attaching a rope to a square shape (like a piece of lumber) the clove is not appropriate, but for your run-of-the-mill, tie-this-thing-to-that-post kind of problem, the clove is your best choice.
The Sheet Bend
A strong, simple, easy-to-tie connection; one that you can trust. In the same way that the clove and bowline are, the sheet bend is an all-star knot, the basic of its category. The doubled variation is a bit more secure, and is suggested if something important is on the line.
From The Klutz Book of Knots by John Cassidy, illustrations by Heather Preston and Zahid Sadar. Adapted with permission from Klutz, Inc. ©1985 John Cassidy.