learning

On Learning the Trucker's Hitch Knot

It's the one I use all the time.

Joshua Callandret

Joshua Callandret

— 5 min read
On Learning the Trucker's Hitch Knot
ropes

One of the things I find fascinating about rope is that it's limp and useless until it's looped in just the right way to form a knot that's fit for purpose. And one of my favorite knots is the Trucker's Hitch. I first learned to tie this knot for a cross country move in 2019, and it's become my go-to tool for securing just about anything.

I learned the Trucker's Hitch at a time when I was starting to gain more confidence in my ability to solve problems through intuition and not just through a manual. I had been building decks in Colorado, I had learned to change my own oil and do some basic automotive repair, and it seemed like a logical step to learn some knots. After all, my dad knew a set of basic, functional knots that he used all the time. And for my upcoming move, everything needed to fit just right, which meant I was going to have to tie some things down, and ratchet straps weren't really practical for the job.

Although I can't remember the exact reason that compelled me to learn this knot, I think it was probably sparked by a question like, "How did people tie things down before there were ratchet straps?" It turns out that questions in that formula: "How did people do ABC before XYZ was invented?" tend to open up the world in interesting ways.

Somehow I learned that the answer was the Trucker's Hitch, and I spent several hours practicing and perfecting the knot by working through guides on tying it. The small investment in time has paid off handsomely over the years.

The point of this post isn't to teach you how to tie a trucker's hitch—there are great videos and tutorials for that, but more to reflect on how something really simple can become really powerful with just a little bit of know-how.

A Trucker's Hitch is sort of like the rope equivalent of a ratchet strap, but it's far more nimble and versatile. Where the ratchet strap is superior in brute force, mechanical advantage, and tightness, the Trucker's Hitch excels at fitting into more nooks and crannies without having to find suitable places for a big metal hook. It's extremely useful when you need to secure something to the rails in a U-Haul truck, because ratchet straps can't always shimmy into the right spot, plus they're often overkill.

The key difference between a ratchet strap and a Trucker's Hitch is this: A ratchet strap basically tells you what to do by it's construction (hook here, hook this other place, use the ratcheting doohickey to make it tight), whereas a Trucker's Hitch requires you to know some things and tie some knots by feel. The rope isn't going to suggest anything to you—you need to know how to tie the knot and you need to be able to trust that your work will hold.

Components of a Trucker's Hitch

The Trucker's Hitch is really three simple knots that work together to transform an ordinary piece of rope into a tool that gives you a 2:1 mechanical advantage for lashing down virtually anything. The components are:

  1. An anchor knot. This is the starting point. You can use a bowline or any other knot that provides a secure hold. I favor the round turn and two half-hitches for this application.
  2. A loop. You can use any loop, but most folks recommend a slipknot.
  3. A knot to lock the loop in place. Half-hitches work well for this application.

Just three knots. If you learn a bowline, a slipknot, and a half-hitch, you can tie a Trucker's Hitch. And once you've used it once, it's utility becomes apparent and you'll start seeing all kinds of applications for this knot.

So why does this matter?

One of the early mentions of the Trucker's Hitch comes from The Ashley Book of Knots by Clifford W. Ashley, first published in 1944, which contains a whopping 3800+ entries on knots. In his dedication, Mr. Ashley writes:

To my wife, Sarah Rodman Ashley, who has lived with this book for eleven years without losing her patience, her good humor, or her faith in its culmination.

That's a long time to write a book on knots, and you'd need a whole lot of rope to get through it. This is just three knots, working as one, so we're talking about 0.0007% of those entries. It's like the 80/20 rule on steroids.

With that said, here are some lessons I take away from the Trucker's Hitch:

  1. You don't need to know everything to be effective. This is true of any domain/subject including command line stuff, web dev, design, gardening, sewing, cooking, etc. I know just a handful of knots, and that's enough for me. You can always build on the little bit you do know.
  2. Things that work together well are a force multiplier. The three knots in a trucker's hitch enable you to double your force with very minimal effort in setup. The same is true of all other tools that integrate well with others.
  3. Simple tools get the job done. Rope does what you want it to do and nothing more. It's as simple or as complex as you want it to be.
  4. Not every tool has to be kept forever. One of the best characteristics of the Trucker's Hitch is that it's easy to untie, so I can usually save the rope when I'm done. But if a knot is really stuck, it's easy to cut it and move on. It's not that expensive.
  5. Single-purpose tools force one way of getting the job done. Ratchet straps can be aggravating and temperamental—even if you're particular about rolling them back up after use. You have to use them the way they want to be used: with clear anchor points, distances that fit the length of the strap, etc.
  6. Multi-purpose tools give flexibility and require creativity. Rope opens up options that a ratchet strap doesn't. You can anchor to more places and weave the rope through tight spaces. You can make the rope as long or short as you need. But this flexibility requires you to see the options available to you. It requires creativity to implement the tool.

I spent a few hours learning the Trucker's Hitch five years ago, and it's paid off in ways I couldn't have envisioned at the time. Small learnings turn into big gains down the line.

Resources

Read more