Highwayman's hitch

Highwayman's hitch

Names	Highwayman's hitch, Highwayman's cutaway
Category	Hitch
Releasing	Non-jamming
Typical use	Quick-release, draw loop hitch
Caveat	potentially unstable
Instructions

The highwayman's hitch (a.k.a. Bank Robbers Knot, Getaway hitch or Quick-release knot) is a quick-release draw loop knot used for temporarily securing a rope that will need to be released easily and cleanly.^[1] The hitch can be untied with a tug of the working end. The line does not need to be pulled from around the object.^[2]

History

The hitch was called the highwayman's cutaway in 1947 by Cyrus L. Day. He related that, according to Hal McKail, the knot was attributable to the notorious 18th century English highwayman Dick Turpin. Day's book, however, suggested it for use as a quick-release mooring hitch for solo sailing.^[2]

While the knot is alleged to have actually been used by highwaymen,^[3] this claim is rejected by knot expert Geoffrey Budworth who stated, "there is no evidence to substantiate the reputation of the highwayman's hitch as a quick-getaway-knot for robbers on horseback."^[1]

Tying

The knot is three bights that successively lock the previous one:

the first one, in the middle of the rope, wraps around the pole,
the second one is a bight of the standing part locking the first one so the pole is held tight, and
the third one is a bight of the working part (end not needed) locking the second bight.

The locking actions are achieved by reaching through the each bight to pull the next.

The knot has to be finished by pulling the standing part tight to ensure that it holds.

Weakness

Until the knot is tightened and properly dressed the highwayman's hitch has little holding power. The treacherous problem with this knot is that the bight that nips the slip-tuck (last-formed bight, which is pulled for release) presses it against the rope and the hitched object, and does so with great force, as it is the bight in the (fully loaded) standing part; especially with relatively larger diameter objects vis-a-vis rope diameter, the rope pulls away from the object such that it is possible --all too easily, in some circumstances-- for the nipping bight to collapse the toggle bight and pull it the "frame" against which it should be pressed. Therefore, alternatives to this dangerous hitch were devised such that this problem was avoided (or much mitigated); see below.

Alternatives

One simple improvement is to repeat the second and third bights i.e. one more bight of the standing part and then one more bight of the working part, each successively locking the previous bight; this has the disadvantage of requiring longer rope from both parts.

Another technique is to twist each bight before reaching through it for the next locking byte; the disadvantage here is the difficulty of tightening afterwards.

In his 2004 book, Outdoor Knots (pub. Mountaineers), Clyde Soles presents one of Dan Lehman's revisions to this treacherous knot that is simple and effective, naming it the "slip-free hitch". One simply rearranges the trio of bights so that the heavily loaded bight in the standing part will surround, rather than go through, the next-made bight; the finishing slipped-tuck bight will thus go through the 2nd-made bight, and so be less severely loaded. As the frame against which this rope toggle is nipped is entirely parts of the knot (and not depending upon proximity to the hitched object), this revision avoids the capsizing vulnerability of the highwayman's hitch.

The Notable Knot Index recommends the tumble hitch as a more stable hitch. It's a similar hitch, but less prone to capsizing because the main part remains passive and the locking is done by two successive bights of the working part (no end needed) wrapping around both the standing part and the post/pole before locking the previous bight.^[4]

Tumble hitch 1: First bight of the end held against pole
Tumble hitch 2: Second bight of the end in front of the main part, then behind the pole and up through the first bight
Tumble hitch 3: Third bight of the end in front of the main part, then behind the pole and up through the second bight
Tumble hitch 4: Tightened

References

1 2 Budworth, Geoffrey (1997), The Complete Book of Knots, London: Octopus, p. 73
1 2 Day, Cyrus Lawrence (1947), The Art of Knotting and Splicing (1st ed.), New York: Dodd, Mead &Co., pp. 114–115
↑ Meier, Joel F.; Viola, Mitchell A. (1993), Camp Counseling: Leadership and Programming For the Organized Camp, Brown & Benchmark
↑ "The Tumble Hitch". Notable Knot Index. Retrieved 2012-02-25.

Knots

By type

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

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

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

Coils	Alpine coil Butterfly coil

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

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

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

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

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

Shanks	Catshank Dogshank Sheepshank

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

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

Lists of knots
Related topics

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

Related topics	Chinese knotting International Guild of Knot Tyers Lashing Rope splicing Seizing

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