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What Knots does Ray Mears use to Pitch his Tarp?

We’re often asked by customers about the Tarp Taut Hitch and other quick-release knots that Ray Mears and the Woodlore team use when pitching our tarps/hootchies; hopefully this post will help.

The knots which Ray uses to pitch his tarp are demonstrated in the following video clip:

The pitching of tarps using these knots is taught on a number of our Bushcraft Courses, including:

This entry was posted on Monday, January 10th, 2011 at 9:32 am and is filed under Bushcraft Tips, Ray Mears.

10 Responses to “What Knots does Ray Mears use to Pitch his Tarp?” - most recent displayed first

  1. February 17th, 2013 at 6:13 pm

    Eric says:

    The tarp taut hitch (Ray’s knot opposite the evenk hitch on the ridge line) looks just like a backhanded hitch (#1852 in Ashley Book of Knots) except the tarp taut hitch is tied off with a slipped half hitch rather than the backhanded hitch’s 2 half-hitches.

  2. January 27th, 2013 at 5:09 pm

    Eric says:

    I don’t understand how the 2nd knot on the ridge line, opposite the evenk hitch, provides tension. It’s not an adjustable knot, eg, a taut-line hitch. It looks like a slipped half hitch that Ray locks with a bight. When I try Ray’s 2nd knot, my ridge line slackens when the turn around the 2nd post post shifts as weight is added to the ridge line.

  3. January 22nd, 2013 at 4:47 pm

    The Woodlore Team says:

    Hi there Ekdog. You could do a lot worse than join one of our Bushcraft courses!

  4. January 22nd, 2013 at 2:19 pm

    Ekdog says:

    Mears works much too quickly for me. Where can I learn to tie these knots?

  5. February 28th, 2012 at 11:45 am

    Justin says:

    They obviously want you to buy the book or go on the course to learn the knot

  6. January 21st, 2011 at 3:07 pm

    Jeff Alward says:

    Thanks Martin, I suspected it may be something like that.. I’ll have to practice it.

    And yes, Tim, it’s tough to learn those knots through the video. I learned them from one of Ray’s books and only after carefully looking at the illustrations.

  7. January 20th, 2011 at 4:57 pm

    Tim says:

    Virtually usless – of the three knots, only one is mentioned by name and none are clearly described by the video.

    Overall, utterly useless if you need to learn how to tie these knots.

  8. January 13th, 2011 at 12:19 pm

    Martin Dryden says:

    In response to Jeff’s comment. The knot at the end is a prussic knot on the main line and tied to the tarp. As you say to hold the ridge line of the tarp taught.

  9. January 11th, 2011 at 3:07 pm

    Jeff Alward says:

    Looks as if there’s an adjustment made at the very end of the video. Some sort of adjustable knot to keep the tarp from slipping down the ridge-line?

  10. January 11th, 2011 at 1:30 pm

    Ciaran Rooney says:

    Fantastic, Well appreciated!

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