Marine Knots -- The Number One Most Important Hitch and How to Tie It Fast!

Can you name the number one hitch for reliability out of all the marine knots? Learn how to use, tie and apply the reliable rolling hitch on your small cruising sailboat today!

Americas top rigging guru Brion Toss says in his book 'The Complete Rigger's Apprentice' that the rolling hitch "has the widest range of usefulness" and is "ridiculously underused."

Four Ways to Use a Rolling Hitch

1. Keep your fenders in place along slippery lifelines.
2. Bend this hitch around a dew moistened mast to hold you aloft.
3. Remove stubborn, jammed turns from a Genoa sheet winch.
4. Make a secure chain-snubber to relieve the strain on all-chain anchor rode.

Like many rigging knots, you can find variations of the original rolling hitch online or in nautical books. One of these-- the rigger's hitch--is often described as a superior knot. But don't believe it! Not only is the rigger's hitch more difficult to tie, it's a chore to get it to slide along a rail, line or spar.

The true rolling hitch shines above other marine knots when you need to adjust it in a hurry--with one hand! It will slide with ease up or down a rough rail, bulky line or lumpy chain without binding.

How to Tie the Rolling Hitch with "R-O-L-L"

R - Roll
Roll two full round turns in the direction of the load. Roll these turns to the right with a load to starboard or to the left when the load lies to port.

O - Overlap
Overlap those two rolls. Pass the bitter end over the two turns and over the rail, spar, line or chain.

L - Lock
Lock the hitch down. Loop the bitter end under itself the same way you would finish a clove hitch. Remove all of the slack and slide the hitch up next to the rolls. Remove any excess slack.

L - Lower
Lower the weight slow and easy. You want to load up a rolling hitch without a jerky motion. That way, it doesn't slip along the rail, mast, boom, line, or chain.

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Be sure to add the super secure rolling hitch to your "best-of" list of marine knots. As sailors throughout the world have discovered, you can bet your life on this easy-to-tie, reliable hitch.