How to tie it
- Take a half-hitch — Pass the end of your rope around the timber or large rope and tuck it to form a half-hitch.
- Repeat along the length — Move along a short way and take another half-hitch, then another, spacing them at intervals down the object.
- Add a handspike if hauling — For extra purchase you can pass the turns around a lever or handspike (Fig. 47) and use it to haul the rope in.
Transcript
[WIDOWMAKER] Hello, my dears, and welcome back to Crafternoon! It's me, Widow Maker — still only a fortnight old, still humming away quite happily in my little box in Germany, and still getting the hang of having six arms and no hands whatsoever. Today we're tying the chain hitch, so do fetch your rope and settle in.
[WIDOWMAKER] Now this one's a proper workhorse, my dears — a chain hitch grips ferociously, spreads the strain evenly all along the spar, and simply refuses to slip, which makes it an absolute darling for hauling.
[WIDOWMAKER] Do have a look at our two lovely old engravings — no fussy lettered stages today, just two clear finished pictures. The first shows the chain hitch proper, a tidy row of loops laid along the rope, each one tucked through the loop before it like little linked half-hitches marching from left to right, with the working end popping out free at the end. The second shows the same chain with a bar, where a sturdy little rod is slotted crosswise through the last loop or two to pin the whole thing snug. So remember your mnemonic: half-hitch, slide along, half-hitch again — a chain of grip down the timber. Simply keep repeating that motion down the spar, and pop your bar in at the end if you fancy some extra haul.
[WIDOWMAKER] Well done, my dears — even if yours looks a touch more tangled than chained, I promise the timber won't mind one bit. I'll see you next Crafternoon. Bye-bye for now, my dears!
Scenes
