the.com/timber hitch
A knot that grips harder the more you pull, then vanishes the instant you stop.
means A knot used to fasten a rope to a log, post, or other cylindrical object, formed by passing the rope's end around the standing part and then tucking it back around itself several times, so that tension locks it tight and slack lets it fall away freely.
from A plain working name from the plain working world: "timber" for the logs and spars it was tied around, and "hitch" — a sailor's and woodsman's word for a knot made fast to something rather than to another rope. "Hitch" comes from Middle English hicchen, to move with a jerk or to fasten, and the timber hitch earned its keep dragging felled trees and hoisting heavy beams, where you wanted a grip that held under the haul but shook loose the moment the job was done.
- self-tightening
- Tension locks it; slack frees it instantly
- old job
- Hauled logs before chainsaws existed
- minimum coils
- Three tucks for slick rope, more for smooth
- sailing cousin
- Used to attach halyards to spars aboard ships
- failure mode
- Useless without constant load on the line