Cow Hitch
Bight over a post, both legs through. Slips if only one leg loads.
Beginner · Polyester / Nylon rope / Polypropylene / Natural fibre
Connection card
Cow Hitch
For loop dropped over a post.
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
Bight over a post, both legs through. Slips if only one leg loads.
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.
Before you start
- ·It can fail unless both legs take equal tension. If only one leg can carry the load, tie a round turn and two half hitches instead.
- ·It slips about as readily as a clove hitch. Do not make it the only tie for a critical load or for a boat left overnight; use a bowline or cleat hitch there.
- ·The girth hitch is the same knot tied with a closed loop, so the same cautions apply.
- ·On a post with an open top you can make it another way: form two loops, one the mirror of the other, place one on the post and fold the other on top.
Step 1 of 4 · move 1 of 1. Pass a bight of rope over the rail, so its closed end hangs down behind
swipe to step
01.1
Pass a bight of rope over the rail, so its closed end hangs down behind
- Hold:
- Left hand holds both legs in front of the rail
- Move:
- Right hand lays the bight over the rail and lets it hang down behind
You should now see: A bight over the rail, its closed end hanging behind and both legs hanging in front.
Fold the rope to form a bight and pass it through the ring from underneath, or around the back of the post, so the end of the bight comes out on your side.
A U-shaped bight on your side of the ring or post, with the two legs of the rope running back through or around it.
Passing a single strand through the ring instead of a folded bight. You will see one rope end hanging free on your side rather than a U-shaped bight with two legs behind it.
Fix: Pull the strand back out, fold the rope double, and pass the fold through so a bight comes out on your side.
Why: If the top of a post is open, the same hitch can be made another way: form two loops, one the mirror of the other, place one on the post and fold the other on top of it.
arrow keys work
Tying procedure — Cow Hitch
Step 01 / 4
Fold the rope to form a bight and pass it through the ring from underneath, or around the back of the post, so the end of the bight comes out on your side.
You should now see: A U-shaped bight on your side of the ring or post, with the two legs of the rope running back through or around it.
If it goes wrong: Passing a single strand through the ring instead of a folded bight. You will see one rope end hanging free on your side rather than a U-shaped bight with two legs behind it.
Fix: Pull the strand back out, fold the rope double, and pass the fold through so a bight comes out on your side.
Why: If the top of a post is open, the same hitch can be made another way: form two loops, one the mirror of the other, place one on the post and fold the other on top of it.
Step 1 of 4 · move 1 of 1
Pass a bight of rope over the rail, so its closed end hangs down behind
Hold: Left hand holds both legs in front of the rail. Move: Right hand lays the bight over the rail and lets it hang down behind.
You should now see: A bight over the rail, its closed end hanging behind and both legs hanging in front.
Step 02 / 4
Pull the end of the bight down toward you, reach through it, take hold of both legs together and draw them through the bight, feeding the ends through if the legs are long.
You should now see: Both legs now pass through the bight, which lies around them and around the ring or post as a loose collar.
If it goes wrong: Pulling only one leg through the bight. The hitch looks lopsided, with one leg running straight from the ring or post without passing through the bight.
Fix: Pull the lone leg back out of the bight, gather both legs together, and pass them through side by side.
Why: The finished cow hitch is two half hitches made in opposite directions around the ring or post. A leg left outside the bight leaves one of those half hitches unmade.
1Both legs through the bightStep 2 of 4 · move 1 of 1
Bring the bight under the rail toward you and pass both legs through it
Hold: Left hand holds the bight open in front of the rail. Move: Right hand feeds both legs through the bight together.
You should now see: Both legs coming out through the bight, which lies across them in front of the rail.
Step 03 / 4
Pull both legs together to snug the bight down onto the ring or post, and straighten the strands so they lie flat and parallel.
You should now see: A bar of rope across one side of the ring or post, two parallel strands around the other side, and both legs leaving together from under the bar.
If it goes wrong: Leaving the legs crossed, or one strand riding on top of the other. The hitch sits crooked and the two legs leave at different angles.
Fix: Slacken the bight, lay the strands flat and side by side, and pull both legs together again.
Why: The hitch can fail unless both legs take equal tension. A crooked hitch starts with the legs unequal before any load comes on.
Step 3 of 4 · move 1 of 1
Pull both legs down together to snug the bight round the rail
Hold: Left hand steadies the rail. Move: Right hand pulls both legs down together until the bight sits square.
You should now see: The bight lying square across both legs in front of the rail, with both legs leaving together.
Step 04 / 4
Put the load on both legs at once, so they pull equally and in the same direction.
You should now see: Both legs tight and sharing the pull, and the hitch staying in place on the ring or post as the load comes on.
If it goes wrong: Loading just one leg, or leaving the hitch as the only tie on a boat left unattended. With one leg pulling, the hitch can slide or roll around the ring or post.
Fix: If only one leg can take the load, tie a round turn and two half hitches instead. For a mooring line left overnight, use a bowline or a cleat hitch.
Why: It slips about as readily as a clove hitch and should not be the only attachment for a critical load. It is less likely than a clove hitch to bind, so it stays easy to untie.
Step 4 of 4 · move 1 of 1
Load both legs together, never just one
Hold: Left hand holds one leg. Move: Right hand holds the other so both take the load evenly.
You should now see: Both legs sharing the load. If only one leg will take the strain, use a different hitch.
Watch the tie
Learn How To Tie The Lark's Head Knot Mid LineWhyKnot · 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.
- ·Bight around the post or through the ring; both legs through the bight; hitch square
- ·Dress square and load both legs before you walk away
- ·Both legs leave together — there is no single tail lock
- ·Square hitch, not a twist that is already walking
Verify before you load it
Every line is pass or fail. One fail means retie — do not load a knot you argued with.
- 01Bight around the post or through the ring; both legs through the bight; hitch square
- 02Dress square and load both legs before you walk away
- 03Both legs leave together — there is no single tail lock
- 04Square hitch, not a twist that is already walking
- 05One leg through the bight is a girth that will walk
- 06Both legs loaded. Temporary. Tide means a different hitch
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 finished eye dropped over a post — both legs share. Temporary, not overnight.
- !Only one leg loaded — the hitch walks as a girth
- !Bight never taken over the top of the pile
- !Left as overnight mooring on a tide
- !Only one leg takes the load, so the hitch slides or rolls around the ring or post.
- !The two legs pull with unequal tension, for example when they were left crossed.
- !One leg runs outside the bight, leaving one of the two half hitches unmade.
- !It is the only attachment for a critical load, where it can slip about as readily as a clove hitch.
Only one leg loaded
Hitch walks off the post
Animated Knots: holds when both legs load; slips on a single-leg load · step 04
One leg through the bight
Girth that walks under the first snatch
Both legs must pass through the bight · step 02
Twisted or used as overnight mooring
Walks off through a tide cycle
A cow hitch is a short stay, not a mooring plan · step 04
Hitch walks off the post
Check
- ?Both legs sharing the load
- ?Hitch square
Then
- →Load both legs or switch to a round turn and two half hitches
Only one leg loaded
Check
- ?Hitch walks off the post
- ?Inspect step 04
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
One leg through the bight
Check
- ?Girth that walks under the first snatch
- ?Inspect step 02
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
Twisted or used as overnight mooring
Check
- ?Walks off through a tide cycle
- ?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
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.
Not ideal for
- ×Load on one leg only
- ×A standing mooring (use round turn and two half hitches)
- ×Cyclic snatch on a single strap
Strength, and where the number comes from
Not established
Broken on a tensile machine in a peer-reviewed arborist study that then declined to publish an efficiency figure, because the unknotted rope was never tested — so real test data exists and no retention percentage does.
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 — Cow Hitch (Loops Method)
- WhyKnot — Learn How To Tie The Lark's Head Knot Mid Line
Cited tying video already attached to this record.
Record reviewed 2026-08-14
Vetted references
- Animated Knots — Cow Hitch (Loops Method)
Animated Knots by Grog
- Learn How To Tie The Lark's Head Knot Mid Line
WhyKnot
Related knots
Check the finished knot against what correct looks like before you load it.