Knots and Cordage
A handful of well-tied knots and the right piece of rope will keep a tarp up in a prairie gust, hold a load in the truck and hang a bear bag or a clothesline. This guide covers ten useful knots, how to choose and look after rope and paracord, and how to practise until your hands know the knots without thinking.
On this page
Why knots matter here
Lethbridge is one of the windiest cities in Canada. Environment and Climate Change Canada’s climate normals for the Lethbridge airport show about 116 days a year with wind gusts of 40 km/h or more. Wind is what finds a badly tied knot. A guy line that was fine at supper is flapping loose at midnight, a tarp corner lets go, or a load in the back of the truck shifts on the highway.
A few good knots fix most of those problems. You don’t need hundreds. You need a small set you can tie quickly, check at a glance, and untie afterwards without a knife.
At camp
Guy lines, tarps, ridgelines, clotheslines, hanging food and gear, and tightening a line without retying it.
On the road
Holding down a load, a tarp over a trailer, or a canoe on a roof rack, with a knot that pulls tight and comes undone easily.
At home
Tying up garden plants, bundling branches for the yard waste, hanging a bird feeder, joining two lengths of cord. (A hammock or swing holds a person: hang it only with the straps and hardware made for it.)
Before you set up a tarp or tent, check the forecast page for wind speed and gusts. A knot you can adjust, such as the taut-line hitch or a Prusik, lets you retighten lines after a gusty night.
Gary’s picks
Gary’s four favourite knots are the bowline, the Prusik hitch, the half hitch and the clove hitch. He taught knots to all his kids, and his grandkids all know their knots too.
His knot-tying goes back to his years as a Boy Scout leader. That story is told in our camping guide.
Asked what he loves about camping, his answer was short: “Getting outdoors, practising stuff.”
Gary’s four picks are marked on the Essential knots page. Between them they cover a fixed loop (bowline), a quick grip on a post (clove hitch), a simple tie-off (half hitches) and an adjustable grip on another line (Prusik). That’s a good place for anyone to start.
Rope words to know
Knot instructions use a few words over and over. Learn these first and every set of steps gets easier.
- Working end: the end you move to tie the knot.
- Standing part: the rest of the rope, which goes to the load or the anchor and stays still.
- Bight: a U-shaped fold in the rope that doesn’t cross itself.
- Loop: a circle made where the rope crosses over itself.
- Hitch: a knot that ties a rope to something else, such as a post, a ring or another rope.
- Bend: a knot that joins two rope ends together.
- Loop knot: a knot that makes a fixed loop in the rope.
- Dress and set: neaten the knot so no parts are twisted or crossed (dress), then pull every part snug (set). A badly dressed knot is weaker and harder to untie.
- Tail: the bit of working end left over. Leave a tail long enough that the knot can’t work itself loose.
A starter set of ten knots
These ten knots cover nearly every job around camp, the truck and the yard. Each one has numbered steps, a way to check it and a common mistake on the Essential knots page.
| Knot | Type | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Bowline (Gary’s pick) | Loop knot | A loop that won’t slip, around a tree or over a post. Unties easily after a load. |
| Clove hitch (Gary’s pick) | Hitch | A quick grip on a pole, post or stake; starting lashings. |
| Two half hitches (Gary’s pick: the half hitch) | Hitch | Tying off to a ring, post or tree; finishing other knots. |
| Taut-line hitch | Adjustable hitch | Tent and tarp guy lines you can slide to tighten. |
| Prusik (Gary’s pick) | Friction hitch | A loop that grips another rope and slides when you push it: tarp ridgelines and tie-outs. |
| Trucker’s hitch | Tensioning hitch | Pulling a line drum-tight over a load or along a ridgeline. |
| Sheet bend | Bend | Joining two ropes, even of different thickness. |
| Figure-eight on a bight | Loop knot | A strong, easy-to-inspect fixed loop at the end of a rope. |
| Square (reef) knot | Binding knot | Tying up bundles, bandages and bags. Not for joining ropes that hold a load. |
| Overhand loop | Loop knot | The quickest fixed loop, anywhere along a line. Hard to untie after a heavy pull. |
What it means for you: if you only learn three, learn the bowline, the clove hitch and the taut-line hitch. With those you can tie up almost any camp, and the others build on them.
How to practise
Knots are learned with your hands, not your eyes. Reading the steps once isn’t enough. These habits help a knot stick.
- Use two colours. Two lengths of soft rope or cord, each about 1 to 1.5 m long and in different colours, make it much easier to see which part goes where.
- Tie it on something real. A chair leg, a broom handle, a fence post or a tent peg in the lawn. Hitches only make sense tied around something.
- Tie it ten times, then put the cord away. Come back tomorrow and see if you can still do it without looking.
- Check every time. Each knot on the next page has a “check it” step. Make checking a habit, because a knot that looks right can still be wrong.
- Practise in the cold. Tie your guy-line knots wearing gloves, and in the dark with a headlamp. That’s when you’ll need them.
- Keep a piece of cord handy. In a coat pocket, in the truck or by the TV. A spare minute is a practice session.
- Teach someone. Explaining a knot to a child or a friend is the fastest way to find the step you’re unsure of.
Videos, printed guides and classes
Most knots on our Essential knots page have a short video from a reputable teaching source, such as Scouting America, a non-profit outdoor school, or well-known knot and rope-rescue instructors. Watching the hands move makes a knot click. To make it stick, practise with real rope.
A good printed guide and an in-person class are the best way to learn:
- A printed knot chart you can lay beside your rope. The International Guild of Knot Tyers, a registered charity, offers a free set of knot charts on its free publications page, with instructions for about 70 knots.
- A library book on knots, with clear drawings, is still hard to beat. The Lethbridge Public Library is a good place to start.
- In-person teaching. Scouts Canada and Girl Guides of Canada teach knots in their programs, and boating safety courses teach the knots used on the water. Someone watching your hands will catch mistakes that a page can’t.
- Climbing and rescue knots should only be learned from a qualified instructor. See Knots and safety.
Knots and safety
- A knot weakens a rope. The rope is weakest at the knot, where it bends tightly. A rope that is plenty strong in a straight line may break at the knot.
- Some knots aren’t for loads. The square (reef) knot can slip or spill when it’s pulled the wrong way. The International Guild of Knot Tyers warns it should never be used to join two ropes that will be under load. Use a sheet bend instead.
- Some knots loosen when they aren’t loaded. A bowline or a clove hitch can shake loose when a line flaps in the wind for hours. Leave a long tail, add a half hitch or a stopper knot, and check your lines morning and night.
- Don’t stand in line with a rope under tension. If a rope, knot or anchor fails, the rope and anything attached to it can snap back. Keep your face and body out of the line of pull when you tighten a trucker’s hitch or a ratchet strap.
- Climbing, rescue and anything that holds a person needs proper training, proper rope and proper gear. The knots on this site are for camp, the yard and the truck. Paracord and utility rope are not climbing or rescue rope; see Cordage and paracord.
- Never put a rope or cord around anyone’s neck, even as a joke, and keep cords and blind pulls away from babies and young children.
When in doubt, retie it. If a knot looks odd, twisted or different from the last time, untie it and tie it again. It takes a few seconds and costs nothing.
For children
Our Knots every kid should know page is written for children. It has seven knots with simple steps, a rope safety section and a printable checklist. It’s a good way for a grandparent and grandchild to learn together.
Why does a knot hold? Rope rubbing against rope makes friction, and friction stops the rope from sliding. The more turns and bends a knot has, the more places the rope rubs, and the better it grips.
Wonder: why does a knot in a slippery nylon cord come undone more easily than the same knot in a rough, hairy rope?
Try this: wrap a cord once around a broom handle and have a grown-up hold the long end while you pull gently on the other. Now try two wraps, then three. How many wraps until you can’t pull it free?
The whole guide
Essential knots
Ten knots with step-by-step instructions, how to check each one, and the common mistakes.
Cordage and paracord
Rope fibres and stretch, what “550” means, breaking strength versus working load, sealing ends, care and storage.
Bushcraft, fieldcraft and navigation
Tarps, pitching for prairie wind, fire and map and compass, including Gary’s guy-line method with a Prusik.
Sources
- Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020, Lethbridge Airport (about 116 days a year with gusts of 40 km/h or more).
- International Guild of Knot Tyers, Free publications: knot charts: igkt.net
- International Guild of Knot Tyers, Sea Cadet knots (reef knot warning): igkt.net
- Charity Commission for England and Wales, Register of Charities, The International Guild of Knot Tyers (charity 802153): charitycommission.gov.uk
- NSW Government, Dogging and rigging guide, Fibre rope: rope handling and maintenance (never stand in line with a rope under tension): nsw.gov.au
- Each page in this guide lists its own detailed sources.
This guide is general information for everyday knots and rope around camp, the yard and the vehicle. It is not training for climbing, rescue, lifting or any use where a person’s safety depends on the rope.