Camp and Home

The knots from earlier chapters earn their keep in everyday jobs: a tarp over a campsite, a washing line across a garden, a load strapped to a roof rack or trailer. Most of these jobs need the same thing, a line that is tight, adjustable and easy to undo. This chapter adds one new knot, the trucker's hitch, and shows how the old ones combine.

What Everyday Jobs Need

• Tension. A sagging line or loose load is useless, and a loose load is dangerous on a road.
• Adjustment. Rope stretches, wood shrinks and weather changes, so the knot must tighten again without being retied.
• Release. You will untie it in the rain, with cold hands, after a load has pulled on it all day.
• A sound anchor. The tree, post or rail must be strong enough for the pull put on it.

Pitching a Tarp

A simple tarp shelter hangs from a ridgeline, a rope strung between two anchors, with the tarp draped over it and its edges pegged or tied out. (Many layouts exist; this is one common one.)

1. Tie one end of the ridgeline round a tree or post with a round turn and two half hitches.
2. Walk to the other anchor, pull the line taut and tie a taut-line hitch so it can be tightened later.
3. Drape the tarp over the ridgeline and tie each corner out to a peg or branch, using a bowline in the guy line or a clove hitch on a peg.
4. Pull the corners down and out until the tarp is firm, then adjust each guy with its taut-line hitch.
5. Set it so rain runs off: one side lower than the other, and no pockets where water can pool.

The Washing Line

A washing line is a tension job that stays up for months. Wet washing is heavy, so the line must be tight when empty and still hold when loaded. Use rope that does not rot or stretch much when wet. (Best material: check.)

1. Tie one end to a post or hook with a round turn and two half hitches, then add a stopper such as a figure-eight on the tail.
2. Pull the line across to the far post and wrap it once or twice round it.
3. Tie off with a trucker's hitch (below) or a taut-line hitch, and pull until the line is firm, then retie lightly if it sags later.
4. Check posts and hooks after a windy week; loose anchors are the usual failure.

The Trucker's Hitch

The trucker's hitch makes a pulley out of the rope itself, so one pull gives several times the force. It is the standard way to tension a line or tie down a load. The force gained is only approximate, because friction costs some of it. (Exact force gain: check.)

1. Tie the rope to the anchor or load at one end and run it across to the far anchor.
2. Near the middle, tie a loop in the rope that will not slip, such as a slipknot or an alpine butterfly pulled into a loop.
3. Pass the free end round the far anchor (a hook, rail or ring) and back up through the loop.
4. Pull down on the free end. The loop acts as a pulley and the line tightens.
5. Hold it tight, then lock it off with two half hitches round the standing line.

Not Yet Verified, and Sources

• Source. Written from general knowledge of common camp and household practice; no specific source was read, and nothing is quoted from a text.
• Marked (check). The best material for a washing line and the exact force gained by a trucker's hitch.
• Descriptions. The steps are in words, and the trucker's hitch in particular is easiest to learn with real rope in your hands. Adjust to what you see.

Exercises