Tie the 10 Most Useful Knots

By Grit Staff
Published on September 24, 2008
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GRIT editors
1: Overhand Knot; 2: Figure-eight Knot; 3: Reef (Square) Knot; 4: Sheet (Becket) Bend; 5: Carrick Bend; 6: Bowline; 7: Clove Hitch; 8: Timber Hitch; 9: Taut-line Hitch; 10: Sheepshank

Binders and ratchet straps have made it so you can get through life without needing to know how to tie any but the most rudimentary of knots, but sooner or later, you will find yourself with a load that needs securing and only a hank of rope to get the job done. Before you get started with knot tying, it is useful to learn a little of the language.

HITCH: Category of knots used to attach a single rope to an object.

BEND: Category of knot used to join ropes together.

BITTER END: The end of a rope that’s being manipulated. In the case of a rope that’s hitched to a well bucket, the bitter end is that which is not attached to the bucket.

STANDING PART: The segment of the rope that you aren’t using at the moment. It can be coiled, stretched, or otherwise left inactive.

BIGHT: An arc in the rope. This can be a semicircle or a loose loop through which the bitter end may run.

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