How to Tie the Long Release Hitch
Usage
The Long Release Hitch is for tying a rope off somewhere you can't easily walk back to, then letting it go from a distance. Ashley's classic example (in The Ashley Book of Knots) is a boat's painter looped through a wharf ringbolt on a falling tide: you moor the boat, and when the water drops you pull one long end from the deck and the whole hitch spills, freeing the rope without rowing back. The same idea covers a climber tying off to a clump of bushes and recovering the rope afterward.
What makes it work is a long working end left in your hand: pull it and the hitch collapses and slides free. It holds normal tension while tied, but is built to come apart the instant you want.
Why Learn the Long Release Hitch?
It solves one problem better than a plain tie-off: releasing an anchor you can't get back to. A fixed hitch means someone must return to the ring, post, or bush to undo it; this one hands you the undo button on the rope's end. It can also be tied in the bight, so you don't need a free rope end to start.
Be honest about the trade: this is a specialty knot with no modern teaching following and no measured strength data. For the fastest one-pull release on a rail or post, the Highwayman's Hitch is the easier answer. Learn the Long Release Hitch for the harder case: a springy anchor or a ring you truly cannot re-approach.
Common Uses
The Long Release Hitch earns its keep in one clear job:
- Boat painter to a tidal wharf ringbolt. Moor to a ring, and when the tide drops, pull the long end from the deck to free the whole painter without going back. This is the knot's original, best-fit use.
A few other jobs work with limits (low-stakes, non-life-safety use only):
- Anchoring to a springy bush or grass clump to spill and recover the rope after climbing down — only on a genuinely flexible anchor, and only tied loose.
- Lowering gear, then retrieving the rope by pulling the tag end — handy for light loads you want back.
Other Names
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Notable Features
- Releases from a distance: one pull on the long end spills the whole hitch — no return to the anchor.
- Ties in the bight: you can form it mid-rope without a free end.
- Comes apart clean: it never jams or binds, even after holding a load — and the bush form is left slack on purpose, since a tight hitch buys nothing on a flexible anchor.
How to Tie the Long Release Hitch
This is the boat-painter-to-ringbolt method, the knot's primary form.
Step 1
Pass a bight of the painter up through the ringbolt.
Step 2
Bring that bight back down toward the boat, to just above deck level where you can reach it.
Step 3
Take the standing part — the side of the rope running off to the load — and tie a single hitch around the down-hanging bight, exactly the way you'd begin a Sheepshank Knot.
Step 4
Reeve a second bight from the loose working end through that structure, leaving a long tag end you can reach from the deck. That trailing end is your release.
Step 5
To let go, pull the accessible end. The whole rig spills and the painter pulls free of the ring.
Pro Tip: leave the release end generously long — a good margin of slack loop is what makes the pull-to-release reliable from a distance.
Similar Knots
Highwayman's Hitch vs. Long Release Hitch
- The Highwayman's Hitch gives the same one-pull release from a simpler single-tuck build — the better pick for a rail or post, but not the springy bush or tidal ringbolt this hitch was built around.
Remote Release Hitch vs. Long Release Hitch
- The Remote Release Hitch (Bell Ringer's Knot) shares the same distance-release idea, built a different way; a good option when its shape fits your anchor, but no edge for a springy bush or ringbolt.
Mooring Hitch vs. Long Release Hitch
- The adjustable mooring loop is the everyday choice for routine mooring where you hold and later release at hand — but not a distance-release tool, so it doesn't solve the can't-get-back-to-the-anchor problem.
Security Level
Held as tied, it sits fine under normal, steady tension — a moored boat on a falling tide is exactly what it was made for. It is not a self-locking knot and isn't meant to be: the boat form holds by reeved bights, not a jamming lock. Its one real weakness is the flip side of its purpose — the same long end that releases it on command will release it by accident if snagged or tugged, so keep that end clear.
Downsides
- Accidental release: snag the wrong (tag) end and the whole hitch spills before you mean it to.
- No measured data: there's no tested strength or holding figure for this knot — it was never a load-rated knot.
- Essentially archival: no modern teaching following, so few people will recognise or trust it.
When NOT to Use the Long Release Hitch
- Never for rappelling or any life-safety descent. It has no measured security data and was designed for a solo climber long before dedicated rappel gear existed. Use a certified rappel or belay device and a proper anchor system instead.
- Not for routine modern mooring. For the everyday tidal tie-up, most sailors reach for the Round Turn and Two Half Hitches — simpler, and unties under load.
History
The Long Release Hitch comes from two separate entries in Clifford Ashley's 1944 knot encyclopedia — one for a mountain climber tying off to bushes, the other for a boatman freeing a painter from a wharf ring on a dropping tide. Ashley never linked them; grouping them under one name is a modern call, made because both lean on the same trick: leave a long end, pull it, and the whole thing lets go from a distance.
FAQ
Is the Long Release Hitch safe for rappelling?
No. It has no measured security data and was made for a solo climber before rappel devices existed. For descending, use a certified rappel or belay system.
What is the Long Release Hitch used for?
Tying off to something you can't easily get back to — a wharf ringbolt from a boat, or a springy bush — then spilling the whole hitch with one pull on a long end from a distance. It's also handy for lowering gear and pulling the rope back after.
Why is the bush form tied loose instead of pulled tight?
Because a flexible anchor like a bush can bend and let a tight rope ride up and off anyway. Cinching it down just gives a false sense of security, so leave it loose.
What's the biggest danger with the Long Release Hitch?
Pulling or snagging the wrong end by accident. The long tag end is the release, so if it gets tugged when you don't mean it to, the whole hitch spills at once.
Important Notes on Safety
Treat the trailing release end as a live trigger: keep it clear of feet, gear, and other lines so it can't be pulled by mistake, and never lean on this knot where an unexpected let-go would be dangerous. To see how the reeved bights sit before you trust it, the Knot IQ app shows the hitch in full 3D so you can follow the release path. And practice on real cord first — a length of 750 lb bushcraft paracord around a rail is all you need.
