Firefighting Knots: Trucker's Hitch

Video Transcript

"What we are going to demonstrate and talk about now is the proper method to secure a tarpaulin or some other type of covering or to secure a rope between two objects called the trucker's hitch. The trucker's hitch is basically coming off a substantial object with a piece of rope. The rope would then go around whatever anchor point we are going to use and we would come back to the end of the rope and form a figure of eight on a bite around the other end of that rope. Once the figure of eight on the bite is formed it gives us a place to run our rope through by placing the rope either through that eye or taking the end of the rope through that eye and pulling it tight. This stretches our rope between our two anchor points, we then take our piece of rope after we get the rope secured and stretched tight and we wrap it around and secure with a clove hitch to finish off the knot. It's a self tightening knot, it can be slid along, stretched tight and then secured with a clove hitch at the end. Simple trucker's hitch to secure a rope between two objects or stretch a tarpaulin tight."