Round turn and two half hitches
The round turn and two half hitches a very useful knot. Imagine you’re out on a two week backpacking trip and it has been raining non-stop for 3 days. You got your sleeping bag wet despite your best efforts. You’re not looking forward to another miserable night in a wet bag. Suddenly the clouds part and the sun in shining. It’s time for a long break (or time to stop for the day) to dry everything out. You can either lay everything out on the ground or hang a clothes line if you find a sufficiently sunny spot between two trees. Since it’s a breezy day and you find a good spot for a clothes line, you decide to to hang a line. What kind of knot should you use to hang your clothes line to the trees?
The round turn and two half-hitches is a great knot for this scenario. This type of knot is used to secure a line or rope to a fixed object, like a tree. The first part of the knot is a round turn, which controls the load and provides friction against the support. This allows you to make the line taught. The two half-hitches secure the line and keeps the line tight.
How to tie the round turn and two half hitches
The round turn and two half-hitches is tied as illustrated in the photographs. A trekking pole takes the place of the tree in the above scenario.
Round turn: Photos 1, 2, 3
Half-hitch #1: Photos 4, 5
Half-hitch #2: Photos 6, 7
Pull tight: Photo 8
Uses for the round turn and two half hitches knot
Here are the two most common scenarios where you would use a round turn and two half hitches on your backpacking trip:
- Hanging a clothes line
- Securing a tarp line to a tree
