Buntline Hitch
Clove on the standing part with the second turn inside. Jams after load — that is the hitch.
Beginner · Polyester / Nylon rope / Polypropylene / Natural fibre
Connection card
Buntline Hitch
For rope → ring or shackle.
Round turn, then a clove that slides to the object and cinches. Not two half hitches on the standing part.
This card does not say how strong the knot is. A retention figure comes from a bench, in one material, at one diameter, tied by somebody who ties it all day — and the line in your hand is none of those. What it does tell you is whether the thing you have just tied is the thing the record describes.
What this plate is telling you
Clove on the standing part with the second turn inside. Jams after load — that is the hitch.
Save this as a picture and it works with a dead signal and a nearly dead battery, which is when a joint is most often tied badly. The rest of this page — the steps, the seating sequence, the failure modes and the bench — is for the evening before.
Why this knot
What it earns its place with, what it costs, and what to reach for instead.
- A job you must undo by hand after load (it jams)
- HMPE without a splice
- Tying the half hitch on the far side of the first turn, away from the ring, which makes two half hitches instead.
- Pulling through a tail too short to finish the second turn and leave the end trapped.
- Leaving a gap between the knot and the ring, or letting one turn ride over another.
- Choosing it for a line you expect to cast off quickly after heavy strain.
- Round Turn & Two Half HitchesBeginner
Makes a rope fast to a post or ring
- Anchor BendIntermediate
Rope to a ring or shackle when the hitch must stay after a soak
Before you start
- ·It cannot be tied under load, so take the strain off the line first.
- ·Pull through a tail long enough to take two turns around the standing part.
- ·After a heavy pull it can jam so tight it will not untie without a marlinspike. Where the line has to come free easily, tie two half hitches instead.
- ·It is more secure than two half hitches and resists shaking loose, and jerking on the line tightens it further.
Step 1 of 3 · move 1 of 1. Pass the working end around the attachment and bring it beside the standing part
Space plays or pauses. Keys 1, 2, 3 and 4 set the speed. Arrow keys change the move.
swipe to step
01.1
Pass the working end around the attachment and bring it beside the standing part
- Hold:
- Left hand holds the standing part below the attachment
- Move:
- Right hand takes the end around the attachment and back down
You should now see: One complete turn around the attachment with the working end beside the standing part.
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.
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.
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.
arrow keys work
Tying procedure — Buntline Hitch
Step 01 / 3
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.
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.
Step 1 of 3 · move 1 of 1
Pass the working end around the attachment and bring it beside the standing part
Hold: Left hand holds the standing part below the attachment
Move: Right hand takes the end around the attachment and back down
You should now see: One complete turn around the attachment with the working end beside the standing part.
Step 02 / 3
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.
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.
Step 2 of 3 · move 1 of 1
Make the first turn around the standing part below the attachment
Hold: Left hand keeps the attachment turn snug
Move: Right hand circles the standing part once, leaving room above the turn
You should now see: One full turn sits below the attachment with room above it for the inside turn.
Step 03 / 3
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.
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.
1Inside turn toward attachmentStep 3 of 3 · move 1 of 1
Cross upward and make the second turn on the inside, toward the attachment
Hold: Left hand keeps the lower turn from rolling
Move: Right hand crosses upward and makes the second turn nearer the attachment
You should now see: The second clove turn is nearest the attachment; an outside second turn is two half hitches.
What this is based onReference review, not yet tied
- Record
- Reviewed 2026-08-14. 2 sources are cited for this record.
- Drawing
- Checked against published references and found to be this knot. Not yet tied from the drawing. Recorded 2026-09-21.
- Known limits
- None that stop a reader following it were confirmed in the plate audit of 2026-09-24; smaller findings were not all re-checked.
- Strength
- Not established. No credible, comparable strength data exists for this knot, so no figure is shown.
Watch the tie
Learn How To Tie A Buntline Hitch KnotWhyKnot · Opens on YouTubeExternal video from a creator we follow — not produced by us. Nothing on this page loads from YouTube until you follow the link.
Seating sequence — where failures are born
The step list compresses the finish. Run these phases in order, one at a time.
01 Form
Build the structure loose enough to see every turn.
None. Shape first.
02 Dress
Nest every turn. Crossed parts will walk or jam.
Light — hold the shape.
03 Set
Load the standing part so the intended turns take the strain.
Working load, not a snatch.
04 Check
Confirm the lock still breaks or inspects as the job requires.
None extra.
05 Commit
Only load it after the structure reads correct. Wrong means remake.
Working load, not a snatch.
Finished structure — what correct looks like
Drawn from a rope model of this knot: which strand passes over which comes from where the rope actually lies.
- Structure
- Working end through the ring; clove hitch on the standing part with the second turn inside, toward the ring
- Standing line
- Clove dressed up to the ring; the ring carries, the clove locks
- Tag end
- Second clove turn sits toward the ring — that inside turn is the jam
- Wraps
- Two clove turns, second one inside — an outside second turn is the other hitch
- Seating
- Slide the clove hard against the ring before load
Verify before you load it
Every line is pass or fail. One fail means retie — do not load a knot you argued with.
- 01Working end through the ring; clove hitch on the standing part with the second turn inside, toward the ring
- 02Slide the clove hard against the ring before load
- 03Second clove turn sits toward the ring — that inside turn is the jam
- 04Two clove turns, second one inside — an outside second turn is the other hitch
- 05Outside second turn is two half hitches and will not jam as intended
- 06Standing attachment you do not expect to break by hand
Field notes — dark, cold, gloves
- ·Dress is the lock. A pretty knot that is not dressed is not finished.
- ·HMPE usually wants a splice, not a hitch you learned in polyester.
- ·If you cannot break or inspect it under the load you expect, it is the wrong job.
When this family fails, it fails as these. The recovered end still outranks the name.
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
- !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.
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
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 failure class, different geometry. Open the plates — Diagnose still starts from the symptom.
Get it right with everything in your favour0/5 clean
Nothing logged on this knot yet, so it starts on the bottom rung.
Good light, dry hands, a table. Until the sequence is automatic here there is nothing for the harder rungs to test — you would only be learning that difficult conditions are difficult, which you already knew.
How · Tie it, check it against the list, log it. Five clean and the ladder opens.
Nothing marked. Log it clean, or mark what happened first.
Strength, and where the number comes from
Not established
The '60–75%' it used to carry was attributed to Animated Knots, which publishes no percentages; no other published figure was found.
Percentages come from published tests on their own line, their own knot-tyer and their own pull rate. Yours is a different system. Treat a figure as a reason to test, not as a result you already have.
- Animated Knots — Buntline Hitch
- WhyKnot — Learn How To Tie A Buntline Hitch Knot
Cited tying video already attached to this record.
Record reviewed 2026-08-14
Vetted references
- Animated Knots — Buntline Hitch
Animated Knots by Grog
- Learn How To Tie A Buntline Hitch Knot
WhyKnot
Check the finished knot against what correct looks like before you load it.