Skill drill

How to Tie a Trucker's Hitch

A loop in the line that works like a pulley, so you can pull a rope tight over a boat on a roof rack and lock it off with half hitches.

5 steps, about 3 minutes

Tie it in 3D one decision at a time. Choose wrong and you will watch the line let go.

When to use it

Tying a canoe or kayak down to a roof rack, or bow and stern lines to the car, when you are using rope instead of cam straps. Scouting America's Kayaking pamphlet anchors the far end with a bowline and tensions this end with a trucker's hitch, because it does not slip.

The steps

Make the loop
Round the bar
Up through the loop
Pull it tight
Lock it off

A drill is practice. Tie each knot a few times in the driveway before you trust it on the highway.

The written guide

Step by step

1
Make the loop
Make a turn in the line, then pull a bight of the line below it through the turn, so a loop hangs down toward the bar.^{[2, 3, 4, 5]}
That loop becomes the pulley. The Appalachian Mountain Club forms it as a slip knot, a bight pulled through a loop, and Scouting magazine warns to make it exactly as shown: it won't work if you do it backward. Scouting's Pioneering pamphlet uses a fixed butterfly loop instead.
2
Round the bar
Take the end down and round the crossbar, inside the rack tower so it cannot slide off the end.^{[1, 4]}
The bar is the anchor the pulley pulls against. The Kayaking pamphlet says to make sure the rope catches the inside of the rack support so it doesn't fall off the end.
3
Up through the loop
Bring the end back up, pass it through the loop, and lead it back down toward the bar.^{[3, 4, 6]}
This is the pulley: pulling the end down now pulls the line tight with more force than your hands alone. Scouting magazine has you run the working end through the loop and pull to form the pulley.
4
Pull it tight
Pull the end down until the line is snug and the boat cannot shift, then pinch the lines together so it does not slip back.^{[1, 2, 8]}
The pulley multiplies your pull. The Kayaking pamphlet warns it is possible to tighten hard enough to damage the hull, and Scouting's Pioneering pamphlet has you pinch the lines to hold the tension while you tie off.
5
Lock it off
Tie two half hitches round both lines, and slide them up snug under the loop.^{[2, 3, 5, 7]}
Frostburg State's rescue course finishes the trucker's hitch with two half hitches, three if in doubt, snug against the loop or they slide down the line. The Coast Guard's crew handbook warns a single half hitch may slip easily.

Avoid these

Common mistakes

Tying the loop backward
Scouting magazine's warning: make the loop exactly as shown, or it won't work.^[3]
Cranking it down
The pulley makes it easy to pull hard enough to dent or crack a hull. Snug is enough.^{[1, 8]}
Half hitches left loose
Slide them up snug against the loop, or they slip down the line until they tighten there.^[5]

Watch & learn

Trucker's hitch on video

Picked from our video library. These are other creators' videos, so where one differs from the drill, the drill's sourced steps are the ones to follow.

YouTube
How to Tie a Trucker's Hitch
REI
0
YouTube
How To: Tying Bow & Stern Lines - Truckers Hitch
Rutabaga Paddlesports
0
YouTube
How to Tie a Canoe to the Top of Your Car
Ely Outfitting Company
0