How to tie a clove hitch

Use a clove hitch for a quick, adjustable hold, and lock it with two half hitches whenever the load matters.

Close-up view of a nautical rope tied to a weathered wooden post by the water. — Photo: Beth Fitzpatrick / Pexels

Area: HandsFrom age 11Time to learn: 15 minutes

A clove hitch is two turns around a post with the end tucked under the crossing; it ties and adjusts in seconds, but it can slip, so back it up.

SafetyNever rely on a clove hitch by itself to hold a person, a boat or anything that could fall or drift if it lets go. Learn knots for climbing or rescue in a class taught by a certified instructor.

Why it matters

It is the fastest way to tie a rope to a post, rail or ring, and it slides to adjust until it is loaded. That is why theater crews use it to set the height of a curtain bar, and boaters use it to hang fenders from a rail. Its weakness is just as well known: Animated Knots warns that it slips, can also bind, and should be deeply distrusted when used by itself. Knowing when it slips is what makes it useful.

How to do it

Hold the rope so the long standing part hangs on your side of the post. Pass the working end around the post once.
Bring the end diagonally across the front of the standing part, forming an X, and take it around the post a second time, next to the first turn.
Tuck the end under that second turn, right beside the X, so it comes out pointing the opposite way from the standing part.
Pull both ends to tighten. Check it: one diagonal crosses the front, and the two ends leave from under it side by side, in opposite directions.
To drop it over the top of a post instead, make two identical loops the same way up, lay the second behind the first, and slip both over the post together, then tighten.
Before it takes a load, slide it to the height or length you want.
Lock it. With the end, tie two half hitches around the standing part and pull them snug against the clove hitch.
To untie it, push the two turns toward each other to loosen them, then pull the end back out.

Common mistakes

Using it alone where the pull changes direction, such as a mooring line or a swinging load. The turns can roll around the post and the hitch spills.
Tying it on a square or rectangular post, where it holds less well than on a round one.
Trusting it in slick or thin cord. Some rope materials let it slip under load, and thin cord can bind so tight after a heavy load that it is hard to untie.
Stacking extra clove hitches for security. The first turns can jam so tight they cannot be untied; use two half hitches around the standing part instead.

You can do this when …you can tie a clove hitch around a post without looking, point to the X and the two ends under it, and lock it with two half hitches.