Camel Hitch
hitch knot
Working with smooth-barked poles, tapered branches, or any anchor point that a standard hitch tends to slide along rather than grip, riggers sometimes reach for the camel hitch, though its documented purpose is narrower and more specific than that framing suggests. Ashley catalogued it as ABOK #215, the knot used for tying up a camel - the animal, not a load on it - and the virtues he records are that it holds when the rope is sopping wet, that it does not slip in either direction, and that it is never difficult to untie afterwards.
The construction wraps the anchor point twice before crossing the working end diagonally and tucking it back through the wraps - a pattern that bites down under a pull along the anchor's length rather than sliding toward one end, the exact failure mode a plain clove hitch or rolling hitch can suffer on a smooth or tapered surface.
Because it solves essentially the same problem as the icicle hitch, the two are frequently taught side by side as variations on a shared idea rather than as fundamentally distinct techniques - which one a given rigger reaches for often comes down to whichever specific tuck pattern they learned and practiced first.
Its use is genuinely situational: on an ordinary rough-surfaced, parallel-sided post or spar, a simpler rolling hitch does the job with less tying effort, and the camel hitch's extra complexity only pays for itself on the smooth or tapered surfaces it was specifically developed to grip.
The name reportedly comes from its documented use securing loads onto pack camels, where a load lashed to a smooth saddle frame or a camel's own tapering leg needed a hitch that wouldn't work loose from the animal's constant swaying gait - a genuinely different failure mode from a static load on a fixed post, since the anchor point itself was moving continuously rather than staying still.
Campers today mostly encounter the need this hitch solves when tying to a smooth aluminum tent pole or a similarly slick, uniformly round modern camping fixture, rather than the traditional rough wooden posts most hitches assume - a small but genuine reason it's worth knowing alongside the more commonly taught rolling hitch, even if it's reached for less often in practice.
How to tie the Camel Hitch
- 1Wrap the rope around the anchor point twice, keeping the wraps snug against each other.
- 2Bring the working end across the wraps diagonally toward the standing part.
- 3Tuck the working end under the diagonal crossing and back through the wraps.
- 4Pull the standing part to draw the wraps snug against the anchor point.
- 5Test by pulling along the anchor's length - the hitch should grip rather than slide.
- 6Adjust the tuck if the hitch slides rather than bites, tightening the diagonal crossing further.
Strength & security
Ashley records it as a hitch for tethering camels, and its virtues are the ones that job demands: it holds when the rope is soaked, it does not slip in either direction rather than gripping one way only, and it still comes undone easily afterwards. That combination - secure, non-directional, and non-jamming when wet - is what distinguishes it from a clove hitch as a starting hitch.
Cautions: It needs the diagonal tuck arranged correctly to bite rather than slide - a rushed tie can leave the hitch looking secure while providing little real grip advantage over a simpler hitch.
Alternatives
- Icicle Hitch
A genuinely different job - the icicle hitch grips a smooth or tapered object against a lengthwise pull, where the camel hitch is a tethering hitch that holds in either direction and unties easily when wet.
FAQ
How does the camel hitch differ from the icicle hitch?
They solve different problems. The icicle hitch is a directional knot built to grip a smooth or tapered object against a lengthwise pull. The camel hitch is a tethering hitch whose recorded virtue is that it does not slip in either direction, holds when soaked, and unties easily afterwards. We previously presented them as close variants, which was wrong.
Is a plain rolling hitch ever good enough on a smooth pole?
Often, yes - a rolling hitch is the standard directional grip hitch and works as intended on ordinary rope and timber. Note though that it will not hold at all in slippery modern fibres like Dyneema or polypropylene. The camel hitch is not really its competitor: it is a non-directional tethering hitch rather than a lengthwise-pull grip hitch.
Is the camel hitch reliable if tied quickly?
Only if the diagonal tuck is arranged correctly - a rushed tie can look secure while providing little real grip advantage, so it's worth testing before trusting it under load.
Where does the camel hitch's name come from?
Literally: Ashley records it as the knot used for tying up camels, and remarks that it is never difficult to untie even after the camel has slobbered all over it. Its usefulness on wet, slippery rope comes directly from that.
Can the camel hitch be untied easily after loading?
Yes, reasonably - unlike some jamming hitches, its grip comes from the wraps and diagonal tuck cinching against a smooth surface rather than biting deeply into rope fibers, so it releases without excessive effort once the load comes off.
Does rope thickness affect how well a camel hitch grips?
Somewhat - a rope that's noticeably thinner relative to the anchor point's diameter tends to grip less reliably, since there's less surface contact area for the diagonal tuck to bite against, so a slightly thicker cord generally performs better on this hitch than an overly thin one.