Knot Tying

Stopper · Cub Scouts · The first knot most Cub Scouts tie

Puts a lump in the end of a rope so it cannot slip back through a hole, a grommet, or your hand.

1. Make a loop near the end of the rope.
2. Pass the short end through the loop.
3. Pull both ends until it snugs down.

Once an overhand knot is pulled tight and gets wet, it can be nearly impossible to untie. Use it where you never plan to take it apart.

Bend (joins two ropes) · Tenderfoot · Tenderfoot 3a

Joins two ropes of the SAME thickness, and ties off a bandage or a bundle. It is the knot on the back of every neckerchief slide and the one the Scouting knot patches are named after.

1. Left end over right end, and tuck it under.
2. Now right end over left end, and tuck it under.
3. Pull all four strands. Both loops should lie flat and mirror each other.

Get the second half backwards and you have tied a granny knot, which slips under load. A square knot looks like two interlocking loops lying flat; a granny knot looks twisted. Never use a square knot where a life or a heavy load depends on it.

Hitch (ties rope to an object) · Tenderfoot · Tenderfoot 3b

Ties the end of a rope to a post, a ring, a tree, or a tent stake and stays put. This is the knot for the far end of a clothesline.

1. Pass the rope around the post and bring the end back alongside the standing part.
2. Tie a half hitch: end over the standing part, around, and back through the loop you made.
3. Tie a second half hitch the same way, in the same direction.
4. Slide the two hitches together and pull tight.

The second hitch has to go the same direction as the first. Reverse it and you get a knot that works loose.

Adjustable hitch · Tenderfoot · Tenderfoot 3c

The tent guyline knot. It grips under tension but slides by hand, so you can tighten a sagging dining fly at midnight without untying anything.

1. Pass the rope around the stake and bring the end back toward the standing part.
2. Wrap the end around the standing part twice, both wraps INSIDE the loop, working toward the stake.
3. Make one more wrap outside the loop, on the far side.
4. Snug it down. Slide the knot along the standing part to adjust, then let it grip.

It only holds if there is steady tension on the line. A slack guyline lets the taut-line hitch wander.

Bend (joins two ropes) · Second Class · Second Class 2f

Joins two ropes of DIFFERENT thickness, which is where a square knot fails. Also the knot for tying a rope to a loop or a sail grommet.

1. Make a bight (a U shape) in the thicker rope.
2. Pass the end of the thinner rope up through the bight.
3. Wrap it around behind both legs of the bight.
4. Tuck it back under itself, not through the bight, and pull tight.

Both short ends should finish on the SAME side of the knot. If they end up on opposite sides you have tied the weaker left-hand version.

Loop · Second Class · Second Class 2g

Makes a fixed loop in the end of a rope that will not slip, will not shrink around whatever is inside it, and unties even after it has been loaded. The rescue loop.

1. Make a small loop in the standing part, leaving a long working end.
2. Bring the end up through that loop from underneath.
3. Pass the end around behind the standing part.
4. Send the end back down through the small loop and pull it tight.

The rabbit comes out of the hole, around the tree, and back down the hole. Send the rabbit around the wrong side of the tree and it falls apart under load.

Hitch (ties rope to an object) · First Class · First Class 3b

Grabs a log or a pole so it can be dragged or hauled, and lets go the second the pull stops. It is also how a diagonal lashing starts.

1. Pass the rope around the log and bring the end back around the standing part.
2. Twist the end back around itself three or four times, following the lay of the rope.
3. Pull on the standing part. The wraps bite down on the log.

It needs constant tension. Slack the rope and a timber hitch simply falls off, which is a feature when you are dragging wood and a hazard if you thought it was holding something up.

Hitch (ties rope to an object) · First Class · First Class 3b

Fastens a rope to a pole in two seconds. It starts and finishes a square lashing and a shear lashing, so no lashing gets built without it.

1. Wrap the rope around the pole once, crossing over the standing part.
2. Wrap around the pole a second time, in the same direction.
3. Tuck the end under the second wrap so it lies parallel to the first, and pull both ends.

On a smooth or slick pole a clove hitch can roll and loosen. Back it up with a half hitch when it is holding anything that matters.

• Whip the ends of natural-fiber rope: bind the last inch with waxed twine so the strands cannot unlay.
• Fuse the ends of synthetic rope (nylon, polypropylene, paracord) by melting them with a flame, and let them cool before touching.
• Coil rope loosely and hang it. Rope stored in a tight ball or crushed under gear takes a set and stops running clean.
• Dry rope before it goes in the box. Wet rope in a tote grows mildew, and mildew rots natural fiber.
• Keep rope out of the dirt. Grit works into the fibers and cuts them from the inside.
• Retire any rope with cuts, glazing, or a soft spot where the core has gone. Cheap to replace, expensive to trust.

• Give every scout their own 4 to 6 foot length of rope and let them keep it. A knot learned on a borrowed rope goes home with the rope.
• Two different colors of rope for the bends (square knot, sheet bend). When the two ropes look different, a scout can see whether the knot is right.
• Teach the JOB first, then the knot. Hang a real clothesline. Stake a real tent. A knot with no job attached is gone in a week.
• Practice behind your back, then with your eyes closed. That is the difference between knowing a knot and being able to tie it in the dark and the rain.
• Untie everything at the end. Untying is where a scout learns which knots jam.
• Five minutes at every meeting beats an hour once. Knots are a muscle.