Survival Skills Tying Knots, Hitches, Bends, Loops

Knots are intertwined loops of rope, cord, string or other flexible material used to fasten two such ropes to one another, or to another object. Knowing how to tie knots is a useful skill. Different knots are used for different purposes. Everyone should learn how to tie a few basic knots.

This section gives an A to Z selection of some of the most common (and not so common) knots and their uses.

Adjustable Bend	Englishman's Knot	Running Bowline
Adjustable Hitch	Eskimo Bowline	Sack Knot
Adjustable Grip Hitch	European Death Knot	Sailor's Gripping Hitch
Adjustable Loop	Falconer's Knot	Sailor's Knife Lanyard Knot
Albright Knot	Farmer's Loop	Sailor's Knot
Alpine Butterfly	Farrimond Friction Hitch	Savoy Knot
Alpine Butterfly Bend	Fiador Knot	Scaffold Knot
Alpine Coil	Figure of Eight Follow Through	Sheepshank
Alternate Ring Hitching	Figure of Eight Loop	Sheet Bend
Anchor Bend	Fireman's Chair Knot	Shell Knot
Angler's Knot	Flemish Bend	Shroud Knot
Angler's Loop	French Bowline	Simple Noose
Arbor Knot	Full Carrick Bend	Single Hitch
Artillery Loop	Gallows Knot	Sliding Sheet Bend
Ashley's Bend	Girth Hitch	Slippery Hitch
Ashley's Stopper Knot	Golden Hoop Knot	Snake Knot
Axle Hitch	Granny Knot	Snare Knot
Bachmann Knot	Grass Knot	Snell Knot
Back Hand Hitch	Gray's Loop	Spanish Bowline
Bag Knot	Guyline Hitch	Spider Hitch
Bait Loop	Half Hitch	Spiral Stopper
Bale Sling Hitch	Halyard Knot	Splice
Barrel Hitch	Hangman's Knot	Square Knot
Barrel Knot	Hangman's Noose	Squaw Hitch
Barrel Sling	Harness Loop	Strangle Knot
Becket Hitch	Heaving Line Knot	Stevedore's Knot
Beer Knot	Highwayman's Hitch	Studding Sail
Bimini Twist	Hitch Knot	Swivel Knot
Birmingham Bowline	Hitching Tie	Surgeon's End Loop
Blackwall Hitch	Homer Rhode's Loop	Surgeon's Knot
Blake's Hitch	Hunter's Bend	Tape Knot
Blood Bight Dropper	Jansik Special	Tarbuck Knot
Blood Knot	Josephine Knot	Tautline Hitch
Blood Loop Knot	Killick Hitch	Tensionless Hitch
Boa Knot	Klemheist knot	Thief Knot
Boom Hitch	Lark's Head	Three Part Crown Knot
Bottle Sling	Lineman's Loop	Thumb Knot
Bowen Knot	Lobster Buoy Hitch	Timber Hitch
Bow Hitch	Loop Knot	Trilene Knot
Bowline	Loop to Loop	Triple Bowline
Bowline on a bight	Lorry Knot	Triple Crown Knot
Bowstring Knot	Magner's Hitch	Triple Double Dragon
Bumper Knot	Magnus Hitch	Triple Figure Eight Loop
Buntline Hitch	Manharness Knot	Triple Fisherman's Knot
Butterfly Knot	Manrope Knot	Truckers Hitch
Carrick Bend	Mariner's Hitch	True Lover's Knot
Carrick Mat	Marline Hitch	Tucked Sheet Bend
Cairns Quickie	Marlinespike Hitch	Tucked Double Overhand
Catshank	Matthew Walker Knot	Tug Boat Hitch
Cat's Paw	Midshipmans Hitch	Turk's Head
Chain Sinnet	Miller's Knot	Turtle Knot
Chain Splice	Multifold Overhand Knot	Twined Turk's Head
Cinch Knot	Nail Knot	Two Half Hitches
Cleat Hitch	Needle Knot	Two Round Turns and a Half Hitch
Clinch Knot	Noose	Two Strand Diamond Knot
Clove Hitch	Off-Shore Swivel	Two Strand Overhand Knot
Common Wipping	Overhand Follow-Through	Uni-Knot
Constrictor Hitch	Overhand Knot	Utility Loop
Cow Hitch	Palomar Knot	Versatackle Knot
Cowboy Bowline	Pendant Hitch	Vibration-Proof Hitch
Double Alpine Butterfly	Perfection Loop	Wagoner's Hitch
Double Bowline	Pile Hitch	Water Bowline
Double Dragon	Rapala Knot	Water Knot
Double Knot	Reef Knot	Waterman's Knot
Double Knotted Bowline	Reeving Line Bend	Weavers Eight
Double Marline Hitch	Reverse Eight Noose	West Country Whipping
Double Overhand Knot	Ring Bend	Whistle Knot
Double Sheet Bend	Rolling Hitch	Wind knot
Double Surgeon's	Rolling Magnus	Yosemite Bowline
Double Turtle Knot	Round Turn and Two Half Hitches	Zeppelin Bend
Egg Loop	Round Turn Bowline	Zeppelin Loop