Clove Hitch

The clove hitch is also an incredibly useful boating knot for tying up something temporarily. Be it a boat or your pet dog, the knot will work seamlessly and will hold for short amount of time.

First make sure what you are tying your rope to is cylindrical or like a pole of some sort (won't work on much else). Then take the rope and make a half turn so that the rope ends are facing opposite directions as shown in the photo:

Next take the rope end that is facing up and wrap it round the cylinder the other way round so that the two ends are facing the same direction again, as shown in the photo:

Next take the working end of the rope and put it under the turn you made in the previous step so that it looks like the photo:

Finally tighten the knot by pulling the two ends together and pushing the two loops close together, like the photo below:

The knot works by wrapping the knot around a pole or stick. Unlike the bowline, this knot will break relatively quickly.

However the point of the knot is to create a temporary alternative to the bowline, which can be heavy and more complicated with larger or smaller knots.

It is also used to temporarily attach boats to a pontoon or jetty.