6 Simple Knots To Practice For Backpacking

[@todayslist37737]

I have seen multiple knot videos. This is truly the best. Just showing what is being done without constantly panning the camera to any and every thing else while telling a bunch of stories. The knot I've never been able to do, you made it look so simple and easy. Thank you for being you. Wish you all the best!

[@pilgrimbruce6475]

The highwayman's hitch and the trucker's hitch are the way I always put up a ridge line. The trucker's hitch makes the line taught and the highwayman's hitch makes it easy to take down in the morning. The six you showed are knots that everyone should know and have all sorts of uses.

[@Get_Some_Nature]

The Marline Spike hitch is easy and so useful! It makes hanging a hammock or securing a rope to a fixed object so easy. To undo, just remove the bar/stick/carabineer. Also use it for the stick midline on the PCT hang.

[@sturmykins]

Two I like: Truckers hitch for the second tree when setting up a ridgeline or clothesline. And prussic knot for tensioning tarps on a ridgeline. I learned the clove hitch, half hitch, and bowlin while I was doing theater. I definitely learned them differently than you showed how to make them, though.

[@MrKuken911]

I second your comment. Definitely 2 super useful knots that are missing. Great list and video nonetheless Dixie !

[@ashmaybe9634]

Truckers hitch is a very useful knot, I would include it here.

[@EricTheDane]

Former Scoutmaster, backpacker, and climber here. The taught line is very handy in backpacking - great as a cinch or for guy line.

[@sarahglover9585]

I've been following you for 8 years now. You're still my favourite. I just love how educational your videos are. Thank you for this last one and good luck with motherhood!

[@AngelSomera-q3e]

You really simplified how to tie knots. Thanx Dixie.

[@ronaldrose7593]

Hello 👋 Dixie, sincere thanks for sharing the essential knots to use in the back country. Stay safe. Good health to you. I know that your baby is due very soon. All the best to you. 😊

[@zlot4hire]

Great Info! First time I've seen the bowline taught without any mention of the rabbit coming out of the hole, going around the tree and going back in the hole. There's a fun way to tie a bowline around yourself as well

[@nomoore]

I'm guessing you are referring to tying a rope around you one handed using a bowline. It's handy in rescue situations where you might not have use of an arm for some reason.

[@Seamus3051]

Very clear and useful tutorial. Cheers❤

[@xaderalert]

Scoutmaster here. Great selection - taut line is a personal favorite. One more I would add would be the sheet bend. It's a great one for being able to secure the corners of tarps or rain flys that have had a grommet or guy line loop rip out.

[@budm9982]

This is a real good one, Dixie. Knot tying skills are important and important to keep up on. Tying knots is a diminishing skill if not used often. I try to make a habit of using the most common and necessary knots in everyday chores. Also, the best way to learn knots proficiently is to teach them to others as you are doing. As a retired firefighter, rescue specialist and rope and knot instructor, I teach them to my grandkids now. LOL Hope all is well with you and yours and that little one is born happy and healthy soon. Oh! and almost forgot. An overhand safety with the running end around the working end of each of those knots is advisable, especially if lifting a load.

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

Siberian hitch. Great to start a ridgeline. Can be tied whilst wearing gloves. Trucker’s hitch. Great for tension on the second end of the ridgeline. Prussik knot. You can ascend a rope with two loops tied with this knot. Sheet bend. Join two lines of different diameters. Figure of 8. Use as a stopper knot in abseiling. A double of figure of 8 gives you a non-slip loop.

[@nomoore]

For rigging guy lines to tarps I like to use a marlinspike hitch to tie to the stake. One practiced it can be tied in less than 5 seconds and it holds super tight when under tension. Then I tie to the tarp using an adjustable knot called the farrimond friction hitch (tautline hitch would work too). That way I can reach out from under the tarp to tension the line if it gets a little slack. It saves me from having to walk out in the rain to where the stake is to adjust/add tension. Both the marlinspike hitch (with a smooth toggle like the stake) and the farrimond friction hitch are super easy to untie too. Just slide the stake out of the marlinspike hitch and pull the slipped loop out of the farrimond friction hitch. Done!

[@Flashahol]

Excellent basic selection for knots, definitely the ones I memorized first. For anyone who wants to take it to the next level with camping/hiking in mind I would recommend these 2 more knots: the trucker's hitch, or the variant called the trucker's improvised hitch, and the prusik knot. These 2 are great for hanging a tarp... If you want to go full-out, you also want to learn the lark's head (first step of the prusik, really), the constrictor knot, the timber hitch and the alpine butterfly,

[@melonydodson8725]

Super super helpful and useful! Thank you!

[@asmith7876]

Excellent, spreading important knowledge to the people who don't watch all the bushcraft/survival channels!

[@jtr109]

Alpine Butterfly, Prussik, Slip Knot/Marline Spike Hitch and Trucker’s Hitch are also very useful. You can get a tarp as tight as a banjo string with a trucker’s hitch and some prussiks.

[@iviewthetube]

This is Dixie's first knotty video.

[@fairoaks42]

😂😂😂

[@OzdenGuney]

😂😂😂❤

[@garagebrewer]

Clove hitch for the PCT bear hang, genius! I've been using slip knots and they always tighten up on my finger. Never again. Cheers!

[@LinkusMaximus]

This is a very useful video, Dixie. Thanks for sharing.

[@DanielBelliveau-y5x]

If you learn how to set-up a rapid-ridge-line you can use your Bowline to secure your line to the tree with a stick for a toggle as a quick-release . Knots are definitely good to know , thanks for what you do Dixie .

[@confusedlemming]

Some fun things about learning knots are how they are related or similar (and variations in them and ways to tie them quickly). The taut line has two common variations: the way that Dixie demonstrates here where the last loop of the running/working end goes around the standing end in the opposite direction as the first two loops, and where the last loop goes in the same direction as the first two. I've been told the first is how it is taught in Girl Scouts and the second is definitely how it is taught in Boy Scouts. The clove hitch is commonly used to start and end a lashing that holds two sticks together (or holding those 4x4s you just bought at the hardware store on your car's roof rack for the trip home). The usual way I see two half hitches being tied is like the Boy Scouts' version of a taut line, where all loops of the running end go around the standing end in the same direction. When done this way, what you end up with is a clove hitch tied around the standing end of the rope. The fisherman's knot is tying overhand knots on each end around the other rope. The square knot is also known as the reef knot. It is great for tying around something like bunched up cloth (like a ship's sail). It holds well in that situation, but can be untied quickly and easily by "capsizing" the knot - pulling on an end to change the shape of the knot so that it will slip. That is also the danger of using a square knot in a life-critical situation: if the knot is pulled over/past something hard like a tree or rock, it may capsize the knot such that the ropes slip apart. So learn a few knots along with their uses (and limitations) and have fun!

[@pithon3d477]

Some I'd like to add are the alpine butterfly, prusic hitch, and perfection loop

[@muskadobbit]

Tying knots is also a great fidget object for my ADHD. Definitely going to save this one to my Hiking/Camping list. It’s a keeper.

[@penultimateh766]

Now THIS is prime useful content.

[@RodMurray]

Super! All wilderness travellers, hikers, paddlers, climbers, sailors, fishers, etc need to know proper knots. In the 60s, my Wolf Cub Pack specialized in learning knots and I was the fastest bowline tyer in my pack! Great demos and slomos! Sharing widely!

[@zzlee14]

The figure 8 is a relay good knot fore a knot you can untie after its been used and is sponger than the bowline . :)

[@ecornely]

The first time I've been backpacking with a tarp I prepared myselft by learning and practicing those ones: * Siberian hitch (to start a ridge line around a tree but really easy to undo) * Trucker's hitch (to add tension to my ridge line on the other side) * Tautline hitch to stake out the tarp * Bowline (but I prefer the Hanson knot nowadays) to make simple loops to attach the guy lines (used as a cow hitch or lark's head) * The prusik knot to add tension on my tarp in the middle of the ridge line There are a few other that I find useful from time to time like the double fisherman's knot to join multiple length, the sheet bent used a corner of a broken tarp or a hangman's noose around a pebble. Of course as you said with practice you can remember them more easily and I made myself a document in my phone with their names and try to tie them from time to time so that I don't forget them. I find it nice to know the name of the knots and I'm still struggling knowing how to do and recognize the clove hitch, constrictor knot, boa knot or rolling hitch. Thanks to invite more people to the fun of knowing knots with their names !

[@patriciaheflin4518]

This is so practical! Thanks for including applications for the different kinds of knots. Tfs!

[@nahf4m]

I like to fish and the fisherman knot was a new one for me 😂 most folks I know use the double uni, alberto knot or blood knot. Double uni is the only one that stuck in my brain. The best knot is the one you can remember 😅

[@Jaxx221]

I will be referencing this video during gardening season next year. Haven’t been able to do many overnights on the trail recently but knots have endless uses. Thanks for the slow motion!

[@annerenta6950]

Good demonstration of some useful knots! P.S. I am a nurse, so can't help but to notice what great veins you have! I have veins that that as well :)

[@Lv4_o2]

Out of all the backpacking videos I’ve watched, I think this might be a first from a popular backpacker regarding knots. I have watched other videos for learning how to tie knots. Thanks. And I’m sharing with my daughter. 😊

[@CaoimheJRuigrok]

Prusik knot for tarp lines. Allows for adjustments.

[@Gambeli02]

I use three knots for a bear hang: Clovis, trucker's hitch, and half hitch. In the Rockies, it's difficult to find a tree with branches long and straight enough to hang away from the trunk. So I hang between trees and use the trucker's hitch as a pulley to raise the bag and tighten the rope. A Clovis on the stop-stick and two or more half hitches to secure the working end. Tho' it can use a lot of rope if the trees are far apart.

[@ciarankeast2858]

I accidentally did something like the taut-line hitch during a camping trip a few months ago. It worked brilliantly, but I had no idea what I did and haven't been able to replicate it since 😅 Thank you for this tutorial, now I know what I need to do!

[@annelawson1966]

I love this video. I have not seen a bowline started in such a way. Too cool!

[@floorticket]

A fun one we learned in sea scouts was tying a bowline around your waist with one hand. You could use both hands if necessary. Doing it in under five seconds was OK ... a fast time was under two seconds starting with it around your waist. And by extension a "boatswain's chair" wrapping the rope between and around your legs before securing with a bowline. Then you get hoisted up a pole/mast and ring a bell while being timed.

[@stephanygates6491]

I prefer the Farrimond hitch to taut line, even though it's fiddly to tighten. It's really simple and quick release.

[@EatCarbs]

Thanks for the video

[@PeterSmith-is8cj]

Thanks for this useful instruction, Dixie. However -- I have always tied the Tautline Hitch and Two Half Hitches in a different way than you do. As I learned in Boy Scouts many years ago, for both knots I wrap the last loop around the standing part of the rope in the SAME direction as the first loop(s), while you wrap it in the OPPOSITE direction. I am guessing that my method is more secure because it exposes the rope surfaces to more friction; but if the knots you tie using the opposite-direction variation hold for you, go for it!

[@chriscook3120]

I would say the marlin spike hitch is pretty handy to know and easy to tie. I can always find uses for the prussic knot. Finally the venerable larks head a million uses.

[@baothiletran-ef8zn]

thank you!

[@jmfu]

Now all the bears that watch KZbin know how to untie your knots! 🐨🐻🐻‍❄️

[@rodgerankarenhowell2952]

Learning new knots is very helpful! Thank you

[@ChrisSunHwa]

Thank you, Dixie! 💙💙💙

[@TowkayCC]

Love your vids!!!! I find the taught line hitch truckers hitch and prusik loops very useful

[@ddttrrb72]

My first backpacking trip, I had to use a diamond hitch. This ties the pack to a frame.

[@sirguy104]

This takes me back to my Boy scout days.

[@DougKuelz]

Nice not only how to tie different knots also their application.

[@jonmoore4050]

great vid Dixie

[@vagabondwildernesswanderings]

This is SO SO SO HELPFUL!!!!! THANK YOU DIXIE!!!

[@micah6-8]

As a son of a 40 year merchant seaman, the times that he was home, our evenings would include knot tying sessions. Fun fact: My father joined the Merchant Marines during WWll, as at 17 years old, he could join without a parent’s signature. Thanks Dixie, Roll Tide 😉

[@pixelpoppyproductions]

“Tie a knot, or tie a lot!”

[@carrdoug99]

When I was a kid, one of my instructors told us that square knots were good for two things, tying up packages and tying first-aid dressing. Square knots have a nasty habit of turning into two half hitches if one of the tales gets hung up. Resulting in the knot sliding apart. Both the square knot and the fisherman's knot can become very tight under heavy use (turning them potentially into hatchet knots). I highly recommend the double sheet-bend as a substitute for these two knots.

[@rungavagairun]

Hooray! Knots! Sorry in advance... HALF HITCH/SLIPPERY HALF HITCH: Half hitches are important because they are the foundation for so many knots, but to start and also to finish, but learning how to finish a half hitch with a slippery half hitch will change your world when you're trying to undo your knots. To tie the slippery half hitch, you just push a bite through, rather than the whole working end, then cinch it down. When you're ready to undo it, you just pull the end. Another great use for the slippery half hitch is cord management. If you have a long end of cord that is in the way, you can use a series of slippery half hitches, one after another, to greatly decrease the dangling cordage. Example, my quilts have a footbox that can be opened or closed. When they are closed, there is a cinch cord at the bottom that has two long strands that annoy me. With a daisy chain of slippery half hitches, that cordage goes from more than two feet down to a few inches. I also use this method for extra length on my kayak straps when strapping my kayak to the roof of my car. BOWLINE: The aesthetics of the bowline knot are displeasing to me. It's that the tail on the working end is on the inside of the loop. I like the dutch bowline, which puts the tail on the outside of the loop. When I'm thinking about it, I also like to finish it with a slippery half hitch because that makes it super easy to undo the knot, even when it's had tension on it. LARKS HEAD: I use the bowline mostly to have a loop for making larks head hitches. I secure my guy lines to my tarp using bowline loop larks heads. I also do some kayaking, and when I tie a tether line to the bow of my boat, it's a bowline loop larks head. A larks head hitch is super easy and it can be done without a secure loop, just using a bite on the end of your line, but I worry it will work itself loose and pop off like that. A larks head made from a loop will never loosen on its own, but it's super easy to undo when you want to take it off. Oh! Anther application for larks head knots is for zipper pulls. A lot of gear comes with a larks head knot on their zipper pulls anyway, but if you have a zipper and you want to give yourself something more to grab onto, cut a small length of cord and larks head it onto the zipper. FISHERMANS KNOT: Speaking of zipper pulls, the fishermans knot is my favorite way to tie off the ends of my pull strings, on zippers and also on my stakes. Because the ends of the fishermans knots point outward, it opens the loop and gives your fingers a bigger target to grip. A lot of pull strings come from the manufacturer with a half hitch finish. While that works, it makes a very narrow extension to grab. MARLIN SPIKE HITCH (instead of the clove hitch): If you can tie a slippery half hitch, you can tie this knot. I prefer this to the clove hitch, especially for a bear bag hang because when you're rigging your peg, there is tension in the line and it can be hard to keep a pair of loops open to make the clove hitch. You're pulling against the weight of your food bag, trying to form loops and insert your stick or peg. If you happen to have three hands, fine. Otherwise, it's easier for me to just make a slippery half hitch using both hands, then hold it with one hand while inserting the peg or stick with the other. It's still tricky because of the tension, but for me, this works better. And to undo it, you just pull out your peg. With the clove, you have to create slack in the line, loosen the clove hitch, then pull out your stick/peg. Someone else mentioned truckers hitch and prussek knots. I use those for my tarp ridgeline for hammock camping. And anyone who has learned and appreciates the truckers hitch should seek out David Canterbury's "best all around ridgeline" video here on YT. It's a game changer. Blew my mind when I first saw it.

[@timclark1324]

This is awesome! Thanks for sharing!

[@SubTerraAlly]

As Steve Wallis say, if you can't tie knots, tie lots! I usually just use a square knot for everything.

[@LionessHiker]

Excellent! Thanks.

[@kidd8200]

Thank you!!

[@grumpyoldman6767]

Concerning the half hitch knot. A much better knot for this application is the siberian hitch. It’s faster to tie and comes undone withe the pull of the string. There are lots of videos showing it.

[@curly__3]

Awesome dixie!

[@slighwentwalking2025]

well done...thanks

[@WoefulPie]

Think you were around 60k subs when I signed on, holy moly! You go girl haha

[@chrissaunders8284]

Another way to explain the bowline is to take your line and make a loop so the short end is on the top. Now go around the object you are tying to or just bring your line back to the loop. (Now the long line is called the tree and the short the rabbit. The rabbit comes out the hole (from under the loop and through it.) It goes around the tree, gets scared, and jumps back down the hole.

[@Natefirethemagnets]

I see Hurricane Helene is expected to dump lots of rain in the already saturated Appalachian region. Could you talk about if you had experience with heavy rainfall in that area?

[@MojoUX]

Awesome and useful! But the bowline-no “rabbit comes out of the hole, around the tree, and back in the hole”?

[@oldgettingolderhopefully6997]

For extra credit: There are at least three variations of the taut line hitch. They all are similar in appearance, and they all work well, so it doesn't matter that much which one you use. But usually someone will want to argue the issue. Ignore them. Hitch your own hitch! (If you must know, they are also known as the Midshipman's hitch, Rolling hitch, and Magnus hitch. Ref. Ashley's Book of Knots)

[@olddad67]

Dixie, I really appreciate your show. I’ve been watching you for several years. I’ve got leukemia and I’m not able to get out as much as I would like to and experience the things that I would like to so it helps to be able to watch your work show fill that gap in my heartjust so you know I really appreciate your show and you for that matter. Congratulations on your marriage and your new coming baby wish you the best of luck to you and your family all my best. Your big fan old dad.

[@HomemadeWanderlust]

I’m so sorry to hear that! Happy to know the videos are bringing you a little brightness 🔅 Sending you love!

[@GotChrist60]

Would love to see a mens gear list for the pct

[@stewartellis353]

I have used all these knots my whole adult life. The bowline knot I learned by making a loop in the line where you want your knot . the end of your line is the rabbit. The rabbit comes out of the hole, around the tree and back in the hole. tighten

[@drewblanche]

Mommy ❤

[@nomadmarauder-dw9re]

Paracord zip tie.

[@ricker76er]

If you want to get good at tying knots you need to practice. Get a length of rope and keep tying them while you watch tv/youtube or whatever. Then you can try to learn to do them without looking at the knot. This may be very important if setting camp in the dark.

[@HomemadeWanderlust]

Yes! Definitely hard to remember from just doing it once or twice

[@traveller9625]

@@HomemadeWanderlust I was in the Navy and they made us make up knots, mostly the bowline blind folded. That was in bootcamp, it paid off I still mess with knots I find it fun

[@AkinaLOL]

Learning knots and nagivation with a map and compass and all those skills weigh nothing, so pack your brain full of them 🙂

[@niner8tangojuliet149]

You forgot Garlic Knot.

[@januarysdaughter6664]

Cheddar knot!

[@flysubcompact]

Glowing, preggered Dixie is cute. Sorry for getting off track, but I've always had a soft spot for the half of our species that keeps the species going.

[@dfreak01]

Were you affected by the storm???

[@justjonoutdoors]

when you do a half hitch back the opposite way, it’s called a lock hitch

[@darkkrow69]

That is not the easiest way to make a bowline. However, the method you are using is how you fasten a bowline around yourself.

[@just-jeff-watching]

The PCT bear hang method is to hang on to it as a pillow while you sleep