Here's a twist on the Bull hitch. In the first post, I demo'd how the Bull hitch could be used to add a carabiner or snap to a loop. Here's the same knot, but this time I'm hitching a loop to a post, rail, or branch. Again, the nice feature here is that this knot sort of 'locks' in place and doesn't loosen up as easily as the more straightforward Cow hitch. Keep in mind, the Bull hitch is NOT a permanent knot and can be untied fairly easily. Here I've got my loop and a dowel I want to tie onto:(Image removed from quote.)The loop just goes over the dowel, and the working ends of my line go through the loop. We now have a Cow hitch:(Image removed from quote.)To form the Bull hitch, the loop is now twisted to form an extra loop:(Image removed from quote.)Lastly, the working ends of my line get fed through this second loop to form the Bull hitch:(Image removed from quote.)Here cinched tight:(Image removed from quote.)So, just an alternative way to use the Bull hitch. I don't use the Bull hitch this way a lot. Every once in a while I'll use a loop and Bull hitch tied onto a guy line to hang things from. The Bull hitch tends not to slide around the way a Cow hitch might. A Prusik knot might do this even better, but the Bull hitch is a bit easier and quicker to tie. I've also used the Bull hitch to add small loops to tent stakes, another instance where a loose Cow hitch could cause a small issue in the middle of a rainy night. (sorry about the dog fur in the photos... ..our little guy is shedding and we've got hair everywhere!)
Al, I like the way the same knot can be used in different ways, for different purposes and different users.....a bit like SAKs, I suppose....
"If you can't tie a knot, tie a lot"