Round turn and two half hitches?

[Humblebee]

As shown in RYA Competent Crew and Day Skipper handbooks, Basil Mosenthal's Cockpit Companion and elsewhere, the knot looks like a round turn and a clove hitch, not two half hitches. Look at the knot formed by the working end around the standing part after the round turn has been made and it is a clove hitch, surely? Or am I missing something?

 

[Kwik Decision]

No, you're not missing anything, when tied correctly the 2 half hitches do form a clove hitch around the standing part.
When tied incorrectly, should you tie the second half hitch In the opposite direction to the first, you will end up with a cow hitch round the standing part.

 

[Shearwater]

I believe this is the only knot that can be undone under load......(yus??)

 

[prv]

a clove hitch, not two half hitches.

It's a clove hitch and it's two half hitches

Pete

 

[prv]

I believe this is the only knot that can be undone under load......(yus??)

Well, I can think of at least a tugboat hitch (aka lighterman's hitch, I think they're the same thing). And a tumble hitch can be instantly undone under the sort of moderate load that you'd trust the knot with, although its more common cousin the highwayman's hitch often cannot. There are probably quite a few others.

Pete

 

[Lon nan Gruagach]

Well flippin ek! Chalk me up as another thats had it wrong.

 

[Humblebee]

It's a clove hitch and it's two half hitches

Pete

So, as tied, two half hitches are the same as a clove hitch?
Light is beginning to dawn!

 

[prv]

So, as tied, two half hitches are the same as a clove hitch?
Light is beginning to dawn!

Yep. Although make sure you tie the clove hitch "away" from the round turn. If you tie it in towards the turn, you end up with a buntline hitch (albeit a buntline hitch doesn't normally include a full round turn). As the name implies, this is used for tying buntlines to the foot of a square sail, where some other knots might be shaken loose. It's so secure that after a bit of use and load, it often has to be cut off rather than untied.

Pete

 

[Hipchick]

It's my favourite knot. So sad.

 

[Kwik Decision]

It's my favourite knot. So sad.

Why sad, it's still the same knot?

If you look at a bowline and sheet bend, you'll see they are the same knot, but used for different purposes.

 

[Alpha22]

Why sad, it's still the same knot?

If you look at a bowline and sheet bend, you'll see they are the same knot, but used for different purposes.

As is the Sheep Shank and the Fireman's chair knot.... to all intents and purposes.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I believe this is the only knot that can be undone under load......(yus??)

They tell me the carrick bend can be undone under load.

 

[prv]

They tell me the carrick bend can be undone under load.

Really? I've never tried it, but that seems surprising.

It is relatively easy to undo after being subjected to heavy load, because you have two good places to "break its back". But that's once the load has been removed.

Pete

 

[nigelmercier]

I asked a similar question a few years ago...

Having recently read the article (in either PBO or YM) in which a Round Turn and Two Half-Hitches was voted the strongest knot for a mooring line ...

This thread linked to this image...

It turns out that pairs of these are mirror image duplicates, but 1 and 3 are correct, 2 and 4 are not. As I said in my OP linked above, I've seen both in various books.

Incidentally, I've started using a modified version for my fenders, it probably has a name. Clove hitch around the rail, then two half hitches, which it seems form a second clove hitch.

#RT2HH

 

[ghostlymoron]

Why sad, it's still the same knot?

If you look at a bowline and sheet bend, you'll see they are the same knot, but used for different purposes.

No they're not.

 

[Kwik Decision]

No they're not.

They are tied differently, and the sheet bend obviously uses two different pieces of rope while the bowline is formed from two sections of the same rope, but looking at the actual knots themselves they are (to my eyes at least) the same.

 

[Tintin]

No they're not.

#pantoseason

 

[prv]

It turns out that pairs of these are mirror image duplicates, but 1 and 3 are correct, 2 and 4 are not. As I said in my OP linked above, I've seen both in various books.

Really? 2 and 4 are unequivocally wrong.

Pete

 

[JumbleDuck]

They are tied differently, and the sheet bend obviously uses two different pieces of rope while the bowline is formed from two sections of the same rope, but looking at the actual knots themselves they are (to my eyes at least) the same.

Yup, exactly the same knot.

 

[Boo2]

So what happens if you tie a RTATHH in one of the wrong ways above ? Presumably it comes loose ?

Boo2