Trucker's Hitch across the Pond.

[PwH]

Mornin' All,
I have come to realise that the Truckers Hitch as tied in the States generally seems to  start with either a slipped overhand eye or a slipped figure 8 eye. Over here in England it is invariably tied as the first end of a short sheepshank, with a twist put in the eye to firm it up, then a bight of the W E pushed thru to secure to a hook or if securing to a spar or rail reeve it round that and back thru the eye. Haul tight and tie off.  I have never seen it tied any other way over here, nor have I ever known it to fail if tied well. When undoing, a shake of the rope drops the eye out in an instant, and when tying it's very easy to get the eye exactly where you want it, or adjust it's position if required. Photo to follow. Comments please? Now a separate thread, (first posted in Knots in the Wild).
Regards, Peter H

P.S. Found something similar in Ashleys but with an extra HH which seems superflous to me and may in fact weaken the arrangement as it takes some of the nip out of the first HH, shown as  #2126.(quote) " A quicker but less dependable lashing is based on BELL RINGER'SKNOT #1148." I've always found it very dependable with just the top HH myself. Perhaps a case of 'More is Less' in this instance. Or should that be 'Less is More'?

[Dan_Lehman]

You might post photos under Knots in the Wild so to keep
that *stocked* with fresh sightings, and variety; but good to take
some focus here in a separate thread, thanks.

I've just remarked there about finding apparent Trucker's H.s
tied with Overhand eyeknots (not slipped), and tied off with
who-knows-what, but one side looked as though it might've
been just a (single) Half-hitch with an Overhand stopper at
some remove!?  -- that was in the rope, but maybe there
was more to the involvement of that Overhand than what
remained for me to salvage.

I don't recall ever seeing the Sheepshank-like form, but only
Slipped-knot and Overhand-knot forms; I've not been paying
close attention all that much, or seeing all that many of any.

One could do both:  i.e., make the Slip-Knot form and then
tuck a bight to make a 2nd eye up into the Overhand
--gives one the surety of the first form, some of the ease
of untying of the 2nd (the extra material stuffed into the
Overhand should ease untying), as well as a two eyes through
which to haul the line -- making less wear on either and maybe
easier hauling.

--dl*
====

[Erickson]

The "trucker's" hitch is tied with a fixed loop (I like a slipped figure-8  ). The "Wagoner's" hitch is tied with the sheep shanky nipping thing. Both can be anchored any way you choose.

I've had a fair number of arguments with people who call them both truckers hitches. The wagoner's hitch is a good knot which releases easily, impresses friends, and is almost magical in the ability of that little sheep-shanky-nipping-thing to hold a load, but for shifting, springy or long duration stuff I feel better with the trucker's hitch.

Like you said ABOK 2126 is really a wagoner's hitch with an extra hitch thrown around it (like someone was tidying up?), but I disagree with you about it making it less secure. The main weakness in the s-s-n-t isn't the nip, it's the tendency of the hitch to unspin (despin?, spin open?). With the second hitch you can effectively lock the "pin" bite making it a little more difficult for the s-s-n-t to spill.

btw, The Knots Handbook by Randy Penn has em both.

K-

[Dan_Lehman]

(I like a slipped figure .

As you see, the smiley clan like your juxtaposition of numeral & paren!
-- toss a space in there.  => '8 )'

I've had a fair number of arguments with people who call them both truckers hitches.

And how does that argument go?  How is it to be resolved?
"You can call me 'Al'" comes to mind ... .

 

[PwH]

Well, over here Truckers drive wagons, and Wagoners- they're the old guys who used to shift hay and muck around the farm many years ago. I suppose you could argue which knot is which but they are pretty much interchangeable in use and name for me. 8-)

Btw you can turn smileys off in 'Addtnl Options'. 

Btw 2: Ashleys version looks just like a sheepshank with a long bottom ear to me!

Happy Knotting
PwH

[Erickson]

And how does that argument go?  How is it to be resolved?

I have a philosophy for these matters:

If they're simply interested dilettante knotters like me and are arguing the name because they learned it that way, I win (usually by reference (rarely by force )). If they're "truckers", "wagoners", or some such who use the damn thing daily, I figure if they want to call it what it's called in the "wild", then I should let the thing take it's course. Consider it anthropology.

K-

[Dan_Lehman]

And how does that argument go?  How is it to be resolved?

I have a philosophy for these matters:

If they're simply interested dilettante knotters like me and are arguing the name because they learned it that way, I win (usually by reference (rarely by force )). If they're "truckers", "wagoners", or some such who use the damn thing daily, I figure if they want to call it what it's called in the "wild", then I should let the thing take it's course. Consider it anthropology.

Then the begged question is What is the deciding/guiding reference ... ?!
(and how does it come to carry such authority?).

As for the anthropological vector, that should see some variety of answers,
and perhaps with a lack of real specificity to the point of the question --i.e.,
to the exact nature of the mid-line eye.  Just as some people will say "snow"
and others will have appreciation of a variety of snows -- the former
people not nominally recognizing such distinctions.

--dl*
====

[Knotman]

I've use the sheepshank end way for 20 years and never had a failure.  That is, not once has the tie down loosened in all the times I've used it.  If you need some extra certainty I think you ca do two round turns but I've never needed this.  If you can get this method to work it is then possible to tie down the load without using the end of the knot at all. 

Darren

[knot4u]

Related thread...

http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=1870.0