The Clove Hitch

I think of the clove hitch as two identical loops.  The second is placed behind the first.  The clove hitch is important for attaching to the middle of a rope.  Don't attach to the end of a rope, because it can crawl off the rope and cause injury.  Did you know that there's a rappel device that uses a clove hitch.  Unfortunately, there are multiple combinations of loops that fail to make the secure clove hitch.  Thus learn it well.

Here's a skill drill for you.  Which image forms the clove hitch?  Which two images would hold you?

Here are the answers. Number 4 forms the clove hitch.  Number 5 forms a girth hitch.  Thus 4 and 5 will hold you.  The others are potential mistakes, so please be careful in your adventures.

Did you know that the clove hitch makes good one handed knot tying practice?  Here's a sample of that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-4RMnULYIM