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Comment by algas | Hacker News Reader

I love this resource. So many useful knots. Particularly I like the lanyard / friendship knot [1] and the midshipman's hitch (adjustable slip hitch) [2], the latter of which is probably about 90% of the knots that I tie. Honorable mention to the constrictor knot for attaching to large cylinders [3].

[1] https://www.animatedknots.com/lanyard-knot

[2] https://www.animatedknots.com/midshipmans-hitch-knot

[3] https://www.animatedknots.com/constrictor-knot-twisting-meth...

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Midshipman hitch is great, I used it to reinforce my tomato cages with some tension members.

Well, you used it incorrectly. It's clearly for a very specific set of circumstances:

> The Midshipman’s Hitch Knot is promoted by Ashley (ABOK # 1993, p 325) as the only knot to tie in the following unlikely but critical circumstance: you fall overboard and catch hold of the line which you have prudently left trailing astern and find yourself hanging on with difficulty. Before you tire, you manage to bring the bitter end of the rope around your back. You then have to tie a suitable knot to make a loop around you. A bowline cannot be tied under load. Two Half Hitches will slide and constrict you. The Rolling Hitch is the answer. Even as the second turn is tucked “up” into the correct place, the major strain is taken and the final Half Hitch can be tied with less urgency.

Nope, that knot is useful surprisingly often! It's the only applicable knot in that contrived single-handed-sailing-overboard situation, but it's also an effective knot when pitching a tent or tarp, or when hanging a clothesline, or when securing e.g. a canopy against the wind.

I learned it as the "Taut Line Hitch."

Yes, it's a great default adjustable knot! The other one I think is worth knowing is the "adjustable grip hitch", which is like the midshipman's but the half-hitch goes on the other side of the turns. This latter one seems to hold a lot tighter once dressed, even in relatively slippy rope, but unlike the midshipman's it can't easily be tied under load.

https://www.animatedknots.com/adjustable-grip-hitch-knot

The adjustable grip hitch is great but the Blake’s hitch is almost magic and my favorite knot right now.

https://www.animatedknots.com/blakes-hitch-knot

Taut Line Hitch is a little different from Midshipman's Hitch. Midshipman's grips a little better and is recommended. However, Like the other reply to your answer, for me the best of them is the Adjustable Grip Hitch. I teach knots to boy scouts, and know lots of them. After using the Adjustable, I don't use the Taut Line or Midshipman's anymore.

Your quote only states what the knot is suitable for, not what it isn't suitable for.

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