Best knots for a tarp shelter: 6 to learn

These six cover almost every tarp pitch, from a simple lean-to to a full A-frame. Practise them at home on a chair leg until you can tie each one without thinking.

Which knot goes where

A few words you will see in the steps. The working end is the free end you tie with. The standing part is the rest of the cord. A bight is a fold of cord, like a hairpin.

1. Bowline

A bowline makes a fixed loop that will not slip or tighten. Use it round a tree, or to tie a cord to a tarp loop.

1. Pass the working end round the tree, leaving plenty spare.
2. In the standing part, make a small loop by twisting the cord so the side leading to the working end lies on top.
3. Bring the working end up through the small loop from underneath.
4. Take it round behind the standing part.
5. Bring it back down through the small loop the same way it came up.
6. Hold the working end against the big loop and pull the standing part to tighten.
7. Check that the tail sits inside the big loop and is at least 10 cm long.

A bowline can shake loose when it is not under load. Tie a half hitch with the tail round the loop to keep it safe.

2. Siberian hitch

A fast alternative to the bowline for the first end of a ridgeline. It holds well under load and comes undone with one pull.

1. Pass the working end round the tree and bring it back towards you, alongside the standing part.
2. Hold the working end in one hand. Lay your other hand palm down on top of the standing part.
3. Rotate that hand so your palm faces up. The standing part is now wrapped once round your hand in a loop.
4. Reach your fingers past the working end and hook it from the far side.
5. Pull a bight of the working end back through the loop on your hand as you slide your hand out.
6. Pull the bight and the standing part to tighten, and slide the knot up to the tree.
7. To release it, pull the tail.

Go slowly the first few times and check it holds when you pull hard on the standing part.

3. Trucker's hitch

The trucker's hitch works like a simple pulley. It lets you pull a ridgeline far tighter than you could by hand.

1. With the first end tied to tree A, walk the line to tree B.
2. About an arm's length before tree B, make a twist loop in the line.
3. Reach through the loop and pull a bight of the line from the tree B side through it. This makes a small fixed loop in the middle of the line.
4. Test it. Hold the line to tree A and pull the small loop hard towards tree B. If it shrinks or pulls out, you used the wrong side. Untie it and try again.
5. Pass the working end round tree B.
6. Bring it back and through the small loop.
7. Pull the working end back towards tree B. The line tightens with much less effort.
8. Pinch the cord where it passes through the loop so it does not slip back.
9. Lock it with two half hitches round both lines just beside the loop, making the last one a slipped half hitch.

4. Slipped half hitch

This is the quick-release finish for almost any knot here, and handy for tying a line to a peg.

1. Pass the working end round the peg, tree or line.
2. Take it over and round the standing part.
3. Instead of pulling the end right through, fold it into a bight.
4. Push the bight through the turn you just made.
5. Pull the bight and the standing part to snug it down.
6. To release, pull the tail.

For extra security, tie one plain half hitch first, then the slipped one.

5. Prusik

A prusik is a loop of thin cord wrapped round your ridgeline. It slides when loose and grips when pulled. Put one each end, clip or tie the tarp's corner loops to them, and you can slide the tarp into place and pull it tight along the line.

1. Make a loop from about 40 cm of cord thinner than your ridgeline. Join the ends with a double fisherman's knot, or buy ready-made loops.
2. Hold the loop behind the ridgeline.
3. Pass one end of the loop round the ridgeline and through the other end.
4. Repeat, wrapping round the ridgeline and through the middle again, so you have two or three neat turns.
5. Keep the turns side by side, not crossed, with the joining knot out of the way.
6. Pull the loop to tighten.
7. Test it. Pull along the line: it should grip. Push the knot itself: it should slide.

The thinner the loop compared to your ridgeline, the better it grips. Make them before you go, as fiddly cord work is hard with numb fingers.

6. Taut-line hitch

The taut-line hitch is an adjustable loop for guy lines. Slide it to tighten or loosen the line without retying.

1. Tie the line to the tarp's tie-out loop.
2. Pass the working end round the peg and bring it back up alongside the standing part.
3. Wrap the working end round the standing part twice, working down towards the peg, inside the loop.
4. Bring the working end up past those two turns.
5. Wrap it once more round the standing part, outside the loop, and tuck it under itself.
6. Pull it snug.
7. Slide the knot up the line to tighten the guy, or down to loosen it.

Putting it together

1. Tie the ridgeline to tree A with a bowline or Siberian hitch at about chest height.
2. Tension it to tree B with a trucker's hitch.
3. Put a prusik loop on each end of the ridgeline.
4. Drape the tarp over the line and attach its corners to the prusiks.
5. Slide the prusiks outwards to stretch the tarp tight.
6. Peg out the corners and sides with taut-line hitches.

In winter, pitch the tarp lower and steeper so rain and sleet run off fast, and point the lowest edge into the wind. Wet nylon cord stretches, so check and re-tighten your lines after rain.

Protect the trees. Use a strap or a few wraps of spare cord round the trunk so the line does not rub through the bark. Never tie to dead trees, and look up before you pitch: dead branches can fall in the wind. Take every peg and scrap of cord home, and only camp where you have permission.

Common mistakes

• A saggy ridgeline. A loose line means a flapping, dripping tarp. Use the trucker's hitch and re-tension often.
• Tying the trucker's loop the wrong way. If it pulls out under load, you used the wrong side of the line. Always test it.
• Prusik loops too thick. If the loop is the same thickness as the ridgeline, it will slip.
• Short tails. Leave at least 10 cm of tail on every knot so it cannot work loose.
• Knots you cannot untie. Finish with a slipped half hitch so you can pack up quickly in the cold.
• Learning in the woods. Practise at home first, then outside on a dry day, then in the rain.