Best knot to tie a boat to a piling
A round post takes the load around its whole face. The hitch has to grip without jamming, and let you adjust as the tide moves.
Ranks first
Round Turn & Two Half Hitches
Strong field fit · 78% · 27 ruled out first
Why it wins
- ·Close call against Pile Hitch (Strong vs Good) — read the tradeoff before committing
- ·Can be tied while the line is already loaded
- ·Unties after a soak
- ·Strong connection-job fit (96)
Watch for
- !The second half hitch runs the opposite way, so the pair are not a clove hitch and can creep apart as the load comes and goes
- !A gap is left below the hitches, so the turn and hitches shift as the boat surges and the tail works shorter
- !The tail is short and pulls back through a hitch as the load cycles
Also in the running
- 02Pile HitchFastest bight-over-pile stay73%
- 03Clove HitchFastest hitch on a rail72%
Pick Pile Hitch instead Round Turn & Two Half Hitches leads on load behavior (82 vs 62) and connection-job fit (96 vs 80). Pile Hitch still holds an edge on retie speed.
What changes the answer
The same question with one condition added. Each row is its own engine run.
- Cold, wet handsHolds
- Low lightHolds
- First time tying itHolds
How sure this is
Moderate confidence: the order is sound, but the top few are close enough that your own conditions can reorder them.
27 of 30 modelled connections were ruled out by hard constraints before anything was ranked. A knot that fails a constraint is never scored, however strong it is elsewhere.