Useful Knots For Hammocks

When out and about in a remote environment, it’s important to know about knots. Knowing how to tie them and which one to use, can mean the difference between life and….  

I remember being 13 years old and my uncle teaching me how the Snell Knot which is used to secure a hook to a fishing line. Being so young, I frequently got my line caught on things so I had to tie a lot of those knots, and sadly lost a lot of his fishing equipment in the process. But, practice makes perfect and learning that knot has proven one of the most valuable lessons from my childhood. I have used it so many times, to secure boats to docks, tie down my garden furniture in strong winds, tow a broken down car and even to secure hammocks to trees during our hammock takeovers in Manchester and Richmond.

So, here are a few valuable knots that we recommend practicing and using to hang your hammock. 

Reef Knot

The Reef Knot is one of the most basic knots that you can learn, reason being, there are very few steps to tie it. It is most commonly used to tie two pieces of rope together to extend the length of the rope, so you have more to work with when doing things such as giving lashings. To tie this knot, you hold one end of the rope in one hand and the other end of the rope in the other. Then tie the left end over the right end and now you may have seen the end that was in you left hand is now in your right. To finish the knot do exactly the same but the end that is now in your right hand tie over the end in your left hand and then pull tight.

Clove Hitch

The Clove Hitch is considered one of the most important knots two know how to tie. It is used to attach a rope to an object. It offers a secure way to start things such as square lashing which are nearly always used in raft building to create the square base for the passengers to sit on. There are two ways two tie a clove hitch one which is considered the cheat way where you form two loops and put the second loop on top of the first one, then slide them both on to the end of an object and tighten by pulling both ends away from each other. Often enough there is not an end of an object to slide the rope on to and you must tie it the longer way. First pass the loose end all around the object below the secure end being held in place with your other hand, the loose end then goes above the secure end and round the object again forming a cross shape with the rope on top of the object, and finally the loose end is passed underneath the overlapping rope and then pull each end to tighten.

Figure of 8

The figure of eight knot is called a figure of eight due to the shape it has when tied. It is most commonly used in sailing and climbing as a method of stopping ropes from running out of retaining devices. In order to tie this knot, you create a loop, and the loose end of the rope will pass round the back of the loop and through the it from the back. 

In most cases when it comes to hammocks you need to know some basic knot skills in order to make sure that you hang your hammock securely, otherwise you may end up flat on your back. However, here at Simply Hammocks, we provide our customers with our very own Smart Ropes which eliminate all the hassle of long ropes that you must mess around with, and they make it 10x easier to set up your hammock. The Smart Rope is a weatherproof, adjustable rope with carabiner hooks for easy hanging.