Cow hitch

Cow hitch

Names	Cow hitch, Lark's head, Lark's foot, Girth hitch, Ring hitch, Lanyard hitch, Bale Sling hitch, Baggage Tag Loop, Tag Knot, Deadeye hitch, Running eye
Category	Hitch
Origin	Ancient
Related	Clove hitch, Cat's paw, Bale sling hitch, Prusik, Halter hitch
Releasing	Non-jamming
Typical use	Tying a rope to a ring or pole
Caveat	Can fail unless equal tension is applied to both of the standing parts of the rope.
ABoK	#5, #56, #59, #244, #1184, #1673, #1694, #1698, #1700, #1802, #2163, #2164, #2168, #2175, #3317

The cow hitch is a hitch knot used to attach a rope to an object. The cow hitch comprises a pair of half-hitches tied in opposing directions, as compared to the clove hitch in which the half-hitches are tied in the same direction. It has several variations and is known under a variety of names. It can be tied either with the end of the rope or with a bight.

History

A simple and useful knotted structure, the cow hitch has been known since at least the first century when described by Greek physician Heraklas in a monograph on surgical knots and slings.^[1] Known under a variety of names, this knot has been used both on land and at sea.^[2] The common alternate name lark's head is attributed to Tom Bowling (pseudonym) in the 1866 work The Book of Knots which is presumed to have been adapted from a French manuscript; lark's head is a literal translation of the French name for the knot, tête d'alouette.^[3]

Variations

The underlying cow hitch structure can be formed and used in a variety of ways. These variations are differentiated by method used to form the knot and the way in which it is loaded.^[4] In particular, the knot can be formed with an end of the rope, in a closed loop or strap, or a combination of these two in which it is tied with the end and then formed into a loop by securing the free end to the standing part. Although certain names tend to be historically associated with a particular variations, real-world naming is not necessarily consistent between various users and applications.

With the end

When tied using the end of a rope, such as when securing an animal's lead to a vertical post or stake, this knot was said to be more resistant to loosening than the clove hitch as the animal wanders around the post.^[5] In general, however, this single-ended form of the cow hitch is less stable compared to the variations in which both ends are loaded.^[6]^[7]

In a closed loop or strap

This form is commonly known as a strap hitch or girth hitch. The latter term being common among climbers. It is the method commonly used to attach luggage tags which have a pre-tied loop of string or elastic. This form is also often used to connect loop-ended lanyards to handheld electronic equipment, since it can be tied without access to the ends of the fastening loop.

With the end, then secured into a loop

When tied by threading the end and then the end is secured to the standing part, the knot is known as a bale sling hitch.

Made with a closed loop
Shown being used to hoist a barrel, and (left) for tying a lead to a sounding line
Made with an eye splice around a ring
Made with end and then secured to standing part

Applications

Tatting

The craft of tatting is composed primarily of lark's head knots over carrier threads. A lark's head is called a double stitch in tatting.

Friendship Bracelets

In the context of friendship bracelets, the lark's head is called the reverse knot or the forward backward knot or the backward forward knot if the author is being directionally specific for instructional purposes.

Cableman's Hitch

Another application for the cow hitch is in the handling of large electric power cable in surface mines. Known colloquially as a "Cableman's hitch", it is also used to attach loops of cable to the back of a pick-up truck during a shovel move. As the cable can weigh upwards of 22 pounds per foot and 3–4 loops of cable can be attached to one length of rope, a clove hitch's shearing force would damage the cable jacket. The Cableman's hitch puts the strain onto the hitch crossing over the two running ends of the rope.

Products that use Cow Hitch knots

The Nintendo Wiimote, for securing the strap to the Wiimote
Some Mobile phones accessory use this knot to secure themselves to the phones
Textile/Rubber Bands attached to the Zip Pullers is usually tied with Cow Hitch, usually to reduce the size of the Puller.

References

↑ Hage, J. Joris (April 2008), "Heraklas on Knots: Sixteen Surgical Nooses and Knots from the First Century A.D.", World Journal of Surgery, 32 (4), p. 650, doi:10.1007/s00268-007-9359-x, PMID 18224483, retrieved 2009-07-15
↑ Ashley, Clifford W. (1944), The Ashley Book of Knots, New York: Doubleday, p. 305
↑ Ahsley, p. 11.
↑ Ashley, p. 290.
↑ Ashley, p. 44.
↑ Cyrus Lawrence Day (1986), The Art of Knotting and Splicing (4th ed.), Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, pp. 94–95
↑ Soles, Clyde (2004). The Outdoor Knot Book. Seattle: The Mountaineers Books. pp. 96–97. ISBN 978-0-89886-962-0.

Knots

By type

Bends	Adjustable Albright special Ashley's Alpine butterfly Basket weave Beer Blood Carrick Double fisherman's Fisherman's Flemish Grief Halyard Harness Heaving line Hunter's Nail One-sided overhand Racking Sheet Shoelace Shroud Simple Simon under Single carrick Surgeon's Surgeon's loop Triple fisherman's True lover's Water Zeppelin

Binding	Boa Bottle sling Constrictor Corned beef Granny Ground-line hitch Jamming Miller's Packer's Reef Strangle Thief Transom

Climbing	Autoblock Bachmann Beer Bowline on a bight Alpine butterfly Directional figure eight Double bowline Farmer's loop Figure-eight Figure-eight loop Figure-of-nine loop Friction hitch Klemheist Munter hitch Overhand loop Prusik Trident loop Yosemite bowline

Coils & Shanks	Alpine coil Butterfly coil Over/under cable coiling Chain sinnet Sheepshank

Decorative	Carrick mat Chinese button Celtic button Diamond Fiador Friendship Ghiordes Matthew Walker Turk's head Wall and crown

Fishing (angling)	Angler's loop Arbor Bimini twist Blood Fisherman's Half blood Improved clinch Knotless Nail Palomar Snell Trilene Triple fisherman's Turle Uni

Hitches	Adjustable grip Anchor bend Axle Bachmann Bale sling Barrel Becket Blackwall Blake's Boom Buntline Cat's paw Clove Cow Distel Double overhand noose Falconer's Farrimond friction Friction hitch Garda Ground-line Half Halter Highpoint Highwayman's Hitching tie Icicle Improved clinch knot Killick Knute Lobster buoy Marlinespike Munter Ossel Pile Pipe Sailor's Snuggle Swing Taut-line Timber

Loop	Angler's Artillery loop Bale sling hitch Bowline Bumper Carrick bend loop Cossack Cowboy bowline Diamond Double bowline Dropper loop Eskimo bowline Fiador Fireman's chair Friendship knot Halter hitch Handcuff Honda Jury mast Overhand Portuguese bowline Rigid double splayed loop in the bight Slippery eight Span Spanish bowline Tom fool's Trident Triple bowline Triple crown Water bowline Yosemite bowline Zeppelin

Running (slip)	Hangman's Running bowline Running highwayman's hitch Tarbuck

Splices & splicing	Eye Fid Marlinspike Rat-tail T Western Union

Stopper	Ashley's stopper Button Double overhand Monkey's fist Overhand Stevedore

Whipping	Common Overhand knot with draw-loop Portuguese Sailmaker's West Country

Lists of knots
Related topics

Lists of knots	Bends Bindings Decorative knots Hitches (friction) Mathematical

Related topics	Chinese knotting Density History International Guild of Knot Tyers Macramé Mizuhiki Norigae Ropework Lashing Splicing Seizing Sennit

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