List of Household Knots
How to Tie Household Knots | Household Knots
Barrel Hitch The Barrel Hitch provides a secure method of lifting of barrels, buckets and other containers.
Sheet Bend (Becket Bend): The Sheet Bend joins two ropes of unequal size but also works well if the ropes are of the same size. It has to be tied with both ends loose in your hands with no load on the ropes.
The Bottle Sling: The Bottle Sling (Jug Sling, or Jar Sling) makes a convenient handle for carrying a bottle, jug, or jar.
Bow Necktie: The Bow Tie, a striking necktie, gives the wearer a formal and elegant appearance. Usually black or white for formal wear, brighter colors are used on other occasions
The Bowline: The Bowline makes a secure loop in the end of a piece of rope. It can be used to secure a line to a ring or post. When there is no strain it can easily be undone.
Butcher's Knot: The Butcher's Knot provides a rapid way to tie meat for roasting or salting.
Child's Swing: How to hang a swing using a wood plank and secure knots including sliding bowlines and multiple Half Hitches.
Clove Hitch (End): The Clove Hitch can be made by passing the end round a bar. Made this way it is useful for attaching boat fenders or adjusting stage scenery. It is tied off after adjustment.
Constrictor: The Constrictor Knot consists of a simple Half Hitch which is gripped by an overlying turn of the rope. This is what binds the knot and makes it hard to undo. This page also links to two other pages which demonstrate alternative ways tie this knot.
Drapery (Curtain) Tie back: The Drapery Tie back provides a neat way to pull curtains together.
Double Overhand Knot: The Double Overhand Knot makes a reliable stopper knot. It forms the basis for other knots such as the Double Fisherman's Bend.
Square Knot (Reef): The Square, or Reef, Knot joins equal sized ropes, e.g., sail covers or a parcel. Never use it for human or other critical loads - it may spill into two Half Hitches and then slip. It is frequently tied wrongly as a "Granny Knot."
Underwriter's Knot: The Underwriters Knot provides strain relief in an an electircal cable to reduce the risk of fires and shocks.
Shoelace (Fieggen): The Fieggen Shoelace Bow creates a conventional bow by an ingenious and simple method. After the first Half Hitch, two loops are formed and passed into each other in one quick movement.
Figure 8: The Figure 8 is a stopper knot - it prevents the end of a rope sliding through a pulley or it can be used to add security to another knot. It is relatively easy to undo, is preferred to the Overhand Knot, but is not as secure as the Double Overhand.
Four-in-Hand Necktie: The Four-in-Hand is the most common Necktie Knot. Although it is tied quickly and conveniently, it makes a slightly asymmetrical knot.
Half Windsor Necktie: The Half Windsor is a neat, symmetrical Necktie Knot. It is tied fairly quickly and conveniently and makes a moderately bulky knot.
Trucker's Hitch (Lorry, Haymaker's, Harvester's): The Trucker's Hitch is used to secure a load or a tarpaulin down to a hook or other fixed point. It provides a three to one purchase which makes it easier to tighten the rope and reduces the strain on the final knot.
Shoelace: The Standard Shoelace Bow is the method used most commonly to secure shoes with laces. It is based on the Square (Reef) knot but the second Half Hitch is tied using two loops to form the bow.
Pratt or Shelby Necktie: One of the simpler ties but starts with tie inside out. It makes an excellent symmetrical knot.
Windsor Necktie: The Windsor is a bulky, symmetrical Necktie Knot. Although it is tied less quickly and conveniently than the Half-Windsor or the Four-in-Hand, it does produce a pleasing, fuller appearance.
Parcel Knots: How to tie a Parcel using a Noose Knot, followed by a Crossing Knot, and finished with a Square (Reef) Knot.
Round Turn and Two Half Hitches: An excellent knot for securing a rope to a post or ring. The initial turns take the load, e.g., of a mooring line during docking. While one hand holds the strain, the knot is then tied with the other.
Surgeon's Shoelace: The Surgeon's Shoelace Bow is based on the standard bow but is more secure due to an additional wrap for both parts of the bow.
Houshold Knots
SelectionThese animated knots are primarily for use around the home, the yard, the garden, and on the road.
Requests
The most requests we received were for animations on how to tie neckties - which explains their prominence in this section. In January 2012 we finally added the Pratt (Shelby) method for tying a necktie. Simple to tie, it produces a pleasingly symmetrical knot.
Emphasis
The emphasis for household knots is on reliability combined with the ability to tie and untie each knot fairly easily. Around the home there are few critical loads and, therefore, not the same concern about safety which applies in Climbing and Search and Rescue. An exception is the Child's Swing. However, the height is only a few feet - and damage from any fall correspondingly limited.
Make a selection from the images above.