THE REEF KNOT A flat and easily untied knot.How to tie it: Say to yourself, "Right over left andunder. Left over right and under." Then take apiece of rope or thick string and practise.

SHEEPSHANKNot really a knot. Tied in the bight of a rope for shortening a rope ortaking up the slack or to pass the strain over a weakened or frayedpart of the rope.

BOWLINEThis is the king of knots. The most useful and one of the simplestways of putting a fixed loop into a rope. The basic purpose is toput a nonslip knot into a rope, and thus form an eye or loop orbight. It is easy to tie and untie and it never slips or jams. Thebowline has a large number of variations but the one shown isthe basic jack-of-all-trades

As the bowline is aknot that makes aloop that does notslip, it is used forrescues and lifelines

SHEETBENDThis knot, like most bends, is used fortying two ropes together. Note that to becorrect the two ends should be on thesame side of the knot. If the two ropesdiffer in thickness a double sheetbendshould be used. All this is to take anextra turn around the thicker ropebefore finishing

CLOVE HITCHThe clove hitch is easy to tie in a number of different waysand is also easy to untie. It is possibly the nearest there isto a general utility hitch. Care must be taken not to use itwhen a rolling hitch would serve better. It is used to startand end lashings.

ROUND TURN-AND-TWO HALF HITCHESThis is a very secure hitch in almost allcircumstances. It is a good haulage hitch, or forsecuring guy lines. Also useful for tying up a boat oran animal to a pole as it can stand a lot of strain.

Make sure you can tie the Clove Hitch and RoundTurn-and-Two Half Hitches quickly and securely asyou will need these to start and finish lashings, whichform a large part of Scout Pioneering Projects.

THE SIX BASIC SCOUT KNOTS AND HITCHES