Diagram

Buntline Hitch

Buntline

Making a line fast to a ring or shackle where flapping or jerking would shake a knot loose. It can jam after a heavy load, so it suits a line that does not need to come free easily.

Hitch · Beginner · Polyester / Nylon rope / Polypropylene / Natural fibre · 4 steps

Applications How to tie it

Diagram in reviewA drawing of the Buntline Hitch itself is being made. Until then, follow the written steps.

Finished structure

No drawing of this exact knot yet. The written steps are the reference.

Diagram in reviewA drawing of the Buntline Hitch itself is being made. Until then, follow the written steps.
Step 01
Take the strain off the line, then pass the working end through the ring or around the spar and pull through a tail long enough to take two turns around the standing part.
No drawing of this exact knot yet. The written steps are the reference.
You should now see
The rope running through the ring with the standing part on one side and a free tail on the other, the tail reaching well past where the knot will sit.
If it goes wrong
Pulling through too short a tail. You run out of rope partway through the second turn, and the tuck ends with too little end left to trap.
Fix: Feed more rope through the ring before you start the turns. A long tail can be trimmed or tucked away later; a short one cannot finish the knot.
Why: This hitch cannot be tied under load, so the line needs to be slack while you work.
Diagram in reviewA drawing of the Buntline Hitch itself is being made. Until then, follow the written steps.
Step 02
Take one full turn with the end around the standing part a little way out from the ring. Bring the end back toward the ring and tie a half hitch around the standing part between that turn and the ring.
No drawing of this exact knot yet. The written steps are the reference.
You should now see
A clove hitch on the standing part with its second turn nearer the ring, and the end tucked under that turn pointing back toward the ring.
If it goes wrong
Tying the half hitch on the far side of the first turn, away from the ring. That makes two half hitches, and you can spot it because the end points away from the ring instead of toward it.
Fix: Draw the end back out of the half hitch and tie it again in the gap between the first turn and the ring.
Why: With the turns working toward the ring, the end finishes inside the knot, pressed between the knot and the ring. Jerking and slatting on the line then tighten the knot instead of shaking it loose.
Diagram in reviewA drawing of the Buntline Hitch itself is being made. Until then, follow the written steps.
Step 03
Pull the end snug, slide the knot along the standing part until it sits against the ring, then pull the standing part hard to bed the turns down.
No drawing of this exact knot yet. The written steps are the reference.
You should now see
A compact knot pressed up to the ring with no gap, its turns lying side by side and the end trapped between the knot and the ring.
If it goes wrong
Leaving the knot out along the standing part with a gap to the ring, or with one turn riding over another. Shock loads will tighten it in whatever shape it is in.
Fix: Loosen the turns, lay them side by side, and slide the knot up to the ring before any load goes on.
Why: This hitch tightens itself when the line jerks. Dressing it now decides the shape it tightens into, and a neat knot is easier to check and to free later.
Diagram in reviewA drawing of the Buntline Hitch itself is being made. Until then, follow the written steps.
Step 04
Put the load on the standing part, then check that the knot stays against the ring with the end still trapped inside it.
No drawing of this exact knot yet. The written steps are the reference.
You should now see
The knot holds its place at the ring under load and stays tight when the line is shaken or jerked.
If it goes wrong
Choosing this hitch for a line you expect to cast off quickly after heavy strain. Once heavily loaded it can jam so tight it will not untie without a marlinspike.
Fix: Where the line has to come free easily, tie two half hitches or a round turn and two half hitches instead, or make the last tuck with a bight so the buntline can be slipped.
Why: It is more secure than two half hitches and resists shaking loose, which is why it was used to secure the buntlines to the foot of square sails. The cost is that it is harder to release.

Failure modes

When this family fails, it fails as these. The recovered end still outranks the name.

Jam-to-hardware family

A hitch that cinches to the ring or shackle and is not meant to break by hand.

!Second turn tied outside — two half hitches, not a jam
!Expected to untie after a snatch
!HMPE without a splice — the hitch strips the cover

Fails when

!The half hitch sits on the far side of the first turn, so the end points away from the ring and it is only two half hitches.
!It has taken a heavy load or shock and now has to come undone; it can jam too tight to untie without a marlinspike.
!It was loaded with a gap to the ring or crossed turns, and shock loads jam it in that shape, which is harder to check and to free.

Geometry

Second turn tied outside
This is two half hitches, not a buntline, and can walk
The second clove turn must sit toward the ring · step 02
Floating clove never dressed to the ring
Walks, then jams in the wrong place
Dress the clove up to the ring before load · step 03
Expected to untie after a snatch
Knife job on a painter you needed to cast off
The jam is the hitch — pick round turn and two half hitches for a release · step 04

If you saw this

Cannot undo after load, or walks if the clove is reversed
Check
- ?Second clove turn toward the ring
- ?Clove dressed to the ring
Then
- →Leave it if it is a standing job
- →Cut and switch hitch if you needed a release
Second turn tied outside
Check
- ?This is two half hitches, not a buntline, and can walk
- ?Inspect step 02
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
Floating clove never dressed to the ring
Check
- ?Walks, then jams in the wrong place
- ?Inspect step 03
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
Expected to untie after a snatch
Check
- ?Knife job on a painter you needed to cast off
- ?Inspect step 04
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.

Same family

Same failure class, different geometry. Open the plates — Diagnose still starts from the symptom.

This failed — start Diagnose

Not ideal for

×A job you must undo by hand after load (it jams)
×HMPE without a splice

Buntline Hitch

Not ideal for

Related knots