VIEW VIDEO: How to Tie and Apply the Clove Hitch and Half Hitches
Ah, the clove hitch. It’s a simple way to attach a rope to a pole, it’s side-to-side adjustable and is frequently used to start and finish a variety of lashings. Some folks don’t like it because in various applications, it’s not the most secure or reliable choice. But, in those instances, there are numerous alternatives. See the following photos—all close clove hitch relatives.
The clove hitch is one of the most-frequently-used knots Scouts learn, so common, yet it can also be very elusive, especially when it comes to completing certain lashings. In the knot-tying universe, the clove hitch is a whole lot more prevalent than most of us realize, and it can be tied in a variety of ways and from a variety of different perspectives.
Two Half Hitches. Here’s what John Thurman says in Pioneering Projects: “The first and everlasting thing to remember about the clove hitch is that it is composed of two half hitches. What a very obvious thing to say, but there is hardly one Scout in a hundred who learns what it means. If only we can get Scouts to learn that if you make one half hitch and another half hitch and bring them together they make a clove hitch, what a lot of time the Movement would save in the amount of fiddling and fumbling that goes on when a clove hitch is the order of the day. We would be able to start in the sure knowledge that we can make clove hitches and pass quickly on to better and brighter things.”
Before addressing the various ways to approach tying a clove hitch, did you ever wonder why the basic knot, two half hitches is called “Two Half Hitches?” (The name “Double Half Hitch” has also been used.) What’s a half hitch anyway? Well, now we know it’s half a clove hitch, (the line wraps around the object and then passes under itself) but how many of us have realized that in actuality, two half hitches is a clove hitch tied around the rope’s standing part? That’s what it is! On a side note, the very useful taut-line hitch is nothing but a clove hitch started off with a roundturn (called a rolling hitch), which is also tied around the rope’s standing part. As mentioned above, the clove hitch is whole lot more prevalent than most of us realize, and indeed it can be tied in a variety of ways. Here we go:
Open-End Clove Hitch (Clove Hitch on a Bight). Back in the 60s at Camp Wauwepex, a Scout camp on Long Island, one of the attractions in the Scoutcraft area was a vertical pole about 4 feet tall with a rope attached near the bottom. This was a “Hitching Post.” It was put up so Scouts could see how many Half Hitches they could throw over the top of the pole as quickly as possible. Watching fellow Scouts who had mastered the simple technique provided enough motivation to learn how to do it too, and it was easy to get quite good at it. As we were throwing hitches over the pole with greater and greater alacrity, we weren’t aware that every two of these hitches was a clove hitch. Nor would we have cared. It was just fun to see how fast we could get. VIEW VIDEO: Hitching Race
When preceding from the left, all that needs to be done is:
- Form a right underhand loop and place it over the pole.
- Form another right underhand loop and place it over the pole (on top of the pervious one).
- Voila! Clove hitch!
When preceding from the right, instead of right underhand loops, form left underhand loops.
Without being informed, one can just look at two of these half hitches and see they look exactly like a clove hitch. Of course, that’s because these two half hitches are a clove hitch. Throwing two half hitches over the open end of a vertical pole is the hands down, quickest way of tying a clove hitch. After you’ve done it for awhile, it takes about a second. A common way to refer to this “Clove Hitch on a Bight” is to call it an “Open-Ended Clove Hitch.” It’s exactly what the doctor ordered when you need to tie a clove hitch over the end of a spar. It’s also the only way to tie a clove hitch in the middle of a long line, like when securing a hand rope on the top of an A-frame during the construction of a Double A-frame Monkey Bridge (unless you want to pull foot after foot of rope through the hitches because you’re using an alternate method, or… you just don’t know any better).
It’s really surprising how many folks, old and young, aren’t familiar with this simple method of tying a clove hitch. Here’s an amusing illustration: A young Scout was competing at a camporee for the best time in completing a Rope-Toss-Log-Lift Challenge. After throwing the rope over the crossbar and tying the end to a log with a timber hitch, the third step is to secure the other end of the rope to a stake in the ground with a clove hitch. Ah! An open ended pole! So, this young Scout completes the first two steps, runs over to the stake and, bam! He ties an Open-Ended Clove Hitch over that stake in nothing flat. The jaw of the Scouter conducting the event drops down. With mouth open and a look of bewilderment on his face, he leans down, scratches his head, and examines the knot. Yes, to his surprise, indeed it’s a clove hitch! This skinny, young Scout did something the adult had never seen before, and the old guy was astonished!
Finishing a Lashing with Two Half Hitches.
Here’s the story: When you learn how to do this, number one, it’s faster. Number two, it’s also easier to securely finish off the frapping turns, because it’s a cinch to snug both half hitches in close and pull them real tight, which is definitely something you want to do.
1/2 HITCH + 1/2 HITCH = CLOVE HITCH —> WATCH AND SEE!
SCOUT PIONEERING 
For a while now I have been finishing my lashings using the two half hitches method and I really like it because it does away with the awkward struggle with the cross, the part where kids often lose their tension. Still I can’t help but wonder: Does this give the same strength to the end knot? Because you are not just making a clove hitch like you normally would. You are making it mirrored. This leaves the loose end of the rope only secured under one turn instead of two. This is also evident by how the two half hitches method is less likely to bind and easier to undo afterwards.
That’s why I prefer backing it up with at least one, potentially two, extra half hitches for important load bearing lashings. Additionally, it feels like the extra half hitches themselves are a lot more secure after a two half hitches clove hitch rather than after a standard cross clove hitch.
From my perspective, except for an extra unobtrusive “crossover”, either way, the configuration ends up the same. Additional half hitches are always welcome!
I agree, if two half hitches are good, then three are better. If three are better, then four are ‘more better’….so on and so forth. I’ve also seen bush crafters finish with a quick overhand knot as a stopper knot.
Yep. You can always lock a clove hitch with a half hitch around the standing part.
The extra crossover does matter though, because for a clove hitch at the end of a lashing, the main tension is not perpendicular to the pole on which it is laid. A standard cross clove hitch is pulled closed by the tension in the frapping turns, with the standing end crossing over the running end and pulling against it, both being secured by the diagonal turn. This means that the running end is also being put under tension. A two half hitches method has the standing end pulling directly into the diagonal turn, being pulled away from the running end. I assume this means the running end has a slightly higher chance of coming undone.
Just to be clear, I am not arguing against using the double half hitch method. It works great, I have built amazing structures using it, I’m even trying to convince my current group to start adopting it. Still, I think it is worth discussing the difference, just like how there can be argued about the running end of a bowline being on the inside or outside of the loop
Interesting perspective!
Funny, it occurs to me that a Clove Hitch is a variation of the Half Hitch, the Rolling Hitch is a variation of the Clove Hitch, and the Constrictor Knot is another Clove Hitch variation.
From one Half Hitch, 3 other knots build from there!
Which I think may be a good way to present it to the scouts! “If you know the Half Hitch, then…..”
Yes indeed. A clove hitch is two identical half hitches. When the second half hitch proceeds in the opposite direction, you get a lark’s head. When the two half hitches (clove hitch) are tied around the standing part of the line, you get “Two Half Hitches” (Double Half Hitch). When you apply an additional turn inside the loop after the first half hitch, you get a taut-line hitch which is a rolling hitch around the standing part.
…..just had another revelation!
The scouts have such issues learning the Tautline Hitch.
Anyway, it just occurred to me that a Tautline Hitch is nothing more than a Rolling Hitch tied to the standing end of a line and a Rolling Hitch is nothing more than a Clove Hitch variation with an extra turn before crossing over!!
That’s how we should be teaching the Tautline Hitch as a variation of a Clove Hitch, which most kids ‘get’ after a few tries.
….anyway just my $.02!!
Right again, Steve!
The Teaching Progression should be:
1. Tie Clove Hitch around a horizontal stave.
2. Move on to a Rolling Hitch (Clove Hitch w/extra turn) around the same stave.
3. Tie Clove Hitch around a standing line( no real benefit, but will be a baby step to tautline)…..(or maybe skip this step??)
4. Tie a Rolling Hitch around the standing line….and Viola!…Tautline Hitch!
I have been teaching the technique of finishing the lash as you describe for several years now. Until now, I thought I was alone. I use a lot of the motivations you describe, but some are new to me. Some scouts get it. Some are so concerned that they do it as the handbook shows that they are stunningly resistant. Nice article — I will use when my explanations seem to be failing. Thanks.