> TEOTWAWKI Blog: Tip of the Week - Taut Line Hitch

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6/21/12

Tip of the Week - Taut Line Hitch


Another new series we're going to be kicking off this week is the tip of the week. Long time readers may remember our tip of the day series, which frankly was a bit too ambitious. This time around, we're going for one survival/preparedness-related tip per week. These will be skills based or low-cost projects, and should hopefully give you something to add to your repertoire.

This time up is a basic knot (actually a hitch), the taut line hitch. It's a very simple hitch to learn and useful from everything to securing a load to stringing up a tarp--anything where you need to add tension to a line. You can make adjustments to tension as needed, too - no need to re-tie the hitch!

On our recent move, I used the taut line a dozen or so times, mostly securing blankets to wood furniture. Despite being a simple knot, it is deceptively strong at keeping the line taut, while still allowing for adjustment in play if you need it.

If you don't know the taut line hitch, you'll be really surprised by the versatility. It's a "must know" in my book.

Resources for learning the taut line hitch after the jump.



This is the best YouTube tutorial I've found. ITS Tactical also has a good tutorial on tying the taut line, found here.