---
title: "Tie a clove hitch and two half hitches"
published: "2026-10-15"
updated: "2026-10-15"
author: "Dad Field Manual editors (drafted with AI help)"
time: "30 min"
cost: "$0"
ages: "6 and up"
where: "A kitchen, a porch or a yard with two chair backs or posts."
topics: ["classic-skills","indoor"]
print: "https://dadfieldmanual.com/print?p=clove-hitch-and-two-half-hitches"
url: "https://dadfieldmanual.com/plans/clove-hitch-and-two-half-hitches/"
---

# Tie a clove hitch and two half hitches

> Thirty minutes, one rope and two chairs. Learn the two knots that tie a rope to a pole or post, then hang a dish towel clothesline between them.


## What you need

- A soft rope or cord about 6 feet long (have / $5)
- Two chairs, or a chair leg and a broom handle, to tie to (have)
- A dish towel or two to hang (have)

## Rope safety: read this first

- **Nothing around necks,** ever, not even as a joke. Rope stays on chair legs and broomsticks.
- **These are practice knots.** Nothing in this plan holds a person, climbs or lifts anything heavy.
- **Keep the clothesline low** and in view, so no one trips on it or runs into it.

## Steps

1. **Wrap the rope around the pole** (Dad shows, Kid copies) Hold the long part of the rope in your left hand. Take the end around a chair leg or broom handle and bring it back across the long part.
2. **Wrap a second time** (Dad shows, Kid copies) Cross over the long part and go around the pole a second time. You now have two turns that cross each other.
3. **Tuck the end and pull** (Kid) Pass the end under the last turn and pull both ends. That's a clove hitch. Pull the long part and feel how snugly it grips the pole.
4. **Two half hitches on the second chair** (Dad shows, Kid copies) Take the rope around the second chair leg. Bring the end around the long part and through the loop it makes, then do it once more. Slide the two hitches snug against the chair.
5. **Hang the clothesline** (Kid) Drape the dish towels over the rope between the chairs. Say what each knot is good for: the clove hitch is quick to put on a pole, the two half hitches are quick to tie to a post.
6. **Untie and race** (Together) Untie both knots, then each tie both knots again. Time each other. When they can tie both without help, sign their field card.

## If it stalls

- If the clove hitch slips off, the second turn probably went the wrong way. Untie it and make the two turns cross over each other.
- If the two half hitches slide, check that each one goes around the long part and through its own loop.
- Thick, soft rope is easier on small hands than thin slippery cord.


## Variations

- **Ages 3–5:** Skip the knots and just wrap the rope around a broom handle twice. Dad finishes the hitch.
- **Ages 6–9:** The full plan, with Dad shadowing the first clove hitch.
- **Ages 10+:** Tie the clove hitch with the rope in one hand, then with eyes closed.
- **Rain:** This is a kitchen-table plan. Use two chairs.
- **Hot:** Do it in the shade and hang a wet washcloth on the line.

## Sources

- **1911 scouting handbook, p. 51.** The 1911 book says the clove hitch holds snugly on a pole without sliding sideways, and describes tying it with two turns and the end tucked under the last turn. It calls two half hitches easy to make. <https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29558> (checked 2026-10-15)