How to Tie the Slipped Becket Hitch
Usage
The slipped becket hitch is the hardware-free way to hang a hammock. It ties your suspension line onto the hammock's fixed loop, adjusts to any tree spacing, and drops open with one pull on the tail — no carabiners, toggles or buckles.
It is a hitch, not a bend, and that is the whole knot. A bend joins two ropes. This uses the same lacing as a sheet bend but ties it to a becket: a fixed, closed eye — a hammock's continuous loop, an eye splice, a metal ring. The target decides the name. A hand-formed bight in a second rope makes a slipped sheet bend, a fixed eye makes this hitch. The slipped finish leaves the last tuck as a doubled loop instead of a flat tail, so it spills the instant you yank it. That fixed eye earns its keep: it cannot spread open, which deletes one of the sheet bend's failure modes and leaves the knot held by friction alone.
Common Uses
Camping
- Hanging a hammock from a webbing strap or continuous loop, with no hardware.
- Tying a rope to a folded-over tarp loop when a grommet has torn out.
Boating and Marine
- Holding a tiller steady at anchor, released the moment you sail again.
- Attaching and adjusting a fender line on a rail.
Fishing
- Bending a reel line onto a leader loop, sometimes with an overhand stopper behind it.
Other Names
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Notable Features
- One-pull release: a tug on the slipped tail collapses the knot, even in thin loaded line.
- Hardware-free adjustment: release, reposition and retie in seconds, no toggles needed.
- Does not jam: three seasons of hammock use has been reported without a single bind.
Similar Knots
Sheet Bend (Slipped) vs. Slipped Becket Hitch
- Advantage: the slipped sheet bend joins two rope ends, which this hitch cannot do.
- Disadvantage: the hand-formed bight it grips can spread open under load.
Sheet Bend vs. Slipped Becket Hitch
- Advantage: the plain sheet bend seats its tail fully home, leaving nothing loose.
- Disadvantage: no quick release, and still a rope-to-rope join.
Double Sheet Bend vs. Slipped Becket Hitch
- Advantage: the double sheet bend adds a second wrap for grip on slick line.
- Disadvantage: it joins two ropes, so it is the wrong tool at a fixed eye.
Security Level
It is secure once dressed and set, and unproven until then. Tie it over the continuous loop rather than the webbing strap, set it before loading, and check both tails leave on the same side. On grippy webbing or sheathed rope it has carried 200–250 lb (90–115 kg) of body weight over multiple seasons without slipping. Keep it off cordage-to-cordage UHMWPE, Spectra, Dyneema and stiff polypropylene, and never use it as a life-safety tie-in.
Downsides
- Slips on slick line: new or lubricated webbing and UHMWPE cordage give it nothing to bite; one report had the slip melting the loop under load.
- Doubling is not a guarantee: an extra wrap is the standard fix for slick cordage, but on stiff polypropylene even the doubled form has sprung loose.
- Dressing-sensitive: tails on opposite sides, tied on the strap, or loaded before it is set — each one makes it slide.
History
The sheet bend lacing was named by 1794; the becket version is that lacing taken to a fixed eye. Clifford Ashley says so in The Ashley Book of Knots — a becket here is an eye splice, and the resulting knot is a hitch, called the becket hitch at sea. The name is credited to Admiral George Nares, who carried it in the Royal Navy manual Seamanship. The hammock connection runs older still: Derek Hansen of The Ultimate Hang notes it has been used with hammocks since pre-Columbian days and is still near-universal in South America, where it is simply the "hammock knot."
How to Tie the Slipped Becket Hitch
Step 1
Start at the fixed loop — the becket: an eye splice, a webbing loop, or a metal eye.
Step 2
Because the becket is already closed, it is the base you work into — no bight to form.
Step 3
Take the working rope and pass its end up through the becket.
Step 4
Bring the working end around behind the becket.
Step 5
Tuck the working end under its own standing part — the length running off toward the load. That tuck holds the knot.
Step 6
Dress it so both tails lie on the same side. That is the reliable form; opposite sides is the less reliable one, and the two look near-identical unless you check.
Step 7
For the slipped finish, push a bight through that last tuck instead of pulling the end home, then set it before loading. If the move is not clicking, the Knot IQ app carries it in full 3D, and the companion kits give you cord to practise on.
FAQ
What is the difference between a becket hitch and a sheet bend?
Same lacing — the target decides. Into a fixed, closed eye it is a becket hitch; into a hand-formed bight in a second rope it is a sheet bend.
Does slipping it make it a different knot?
No. As Derek Hansen puts it, the slippery termination just allows the knot to be easily untied; it has nothing to do with changing it from a sheet bend to a becket hitch. It is a way of finishing, not a new structure.
Why does my becket hitch slip on Amsteel, Dyneema or brand-new webbing?
Material, not technique. Slick UHMWPE or new lubricated webbing gives the knot nothing to bite. Every fix adds grip: tie over the thicker continuous loop, add a wrap, pick coarser webbing, or block the bight with a toggle.
Do I use the same knot at the tree end?
No — this is only half of a hammock suspension. It belongs at the hammock's fixed loop. The tree end has no fixed eye, so the usual answers there are a girth hitch or a marlinspike and toggle.
Will it be stuck after a season of hanging in it?
It should not be. One sharp pull on the slipped tail is the whole design, and it has been reported popping open even in thin 2 mm (0.08 in) line under load.
Important Notes on Safety
Do not use the slipped becket hitch for life-safety loads — climbing, rescue rigging, or any tie-in. Like the rest of the sheet bend family, it is not built for that. Hammock hanging sits close enough to say it plainly: tie it over the continuous loop, set it before you get in, and check your tails.
