Throw a Cleat Hitch
Throwing each turn of a cleat hitch over the horns instead of passing it by hand, with the locking turn aimed to land with a twist in it.
Tie an End Loop in Three Seconds With the Perfection Loop
Two wraps over your thumb, pull the bottom loop through the top one, and you've got a strong fixed end loop — and pulling the two loops apart unties it just as fast.
fishing loop knot, easy knot to untie, attach a carabiner to rope
The Problem
A fixed loop at the end of a rope is one of the most-needed results in all of knot work — for clipping, hitching, or anchoring — and the usual answers cost either time (a carefully dressed bowline) or the rope itself (a figure-eight loop that welds shut after loading).
The Technique
The perfection loop, as this creator ties it, is about as fast as a loop can be made:
- Pinch the tag end of the rope under your thumb.
- Make one wrap over the top of your thumb.
- Make a second wrap just in front of the first.
- Reach through the top loop, grab the bottom loop that's around your thumb, and pull it through.
- Tighten by pulling the loop and the standing end apart. The result is a compact, secure fixed loop.
Undoing it is the surprise: pull the two loops of the knot in opposite directions and the whole thing falls open — no picking at a welded knot after a day of load.
Pro tip: The thumb method builds the loop in the rope's end, so it's for loops you make first and clip or drop over something after — it can't be tied around a closed ring or a standing tree the way a rethreaded knot can. For that, use a bowline; for everything else, this is the faster habit. Anglers know the same knot for standing leader loops — it holds in slick line, not only rope.
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