The sheepshank knot is commonly used to secure loads to trucks or trailers. It’s also used by sailors and is one of the most essential knots because it’s a knot that you can easily tie, and it is so powerful. The sheepshank knot is a trucker’s hitch on steroids. You use the mechanics of the rope to actually become a pulley and give you more torque to tie off stuff, kind of like a ratchet strap.
How to Tie a Sheepshank Knot
When making this knot, you’re going to want to set yourself up for success. You do that by holding the rope with your two hands, like below.
Notice how I’m holding the rope with my two hands.
Next, you’re going to pull the rope in as below to create a tail.
Creating the tail
Here is the tail.
With the tail, cross over the other piece of rope. Then loop the tail up into the hole.
Crossing over the other piece of rope with the tail
Looping the tail from under, up into the hole
Do that twice, so your sheepshank knot looks like this:
The knot after looping through the hole twice
Now you can pull here to increase tension on your rope.
Pull where indicated by the red to tighten the rope like a ratchet strap
To lock the rope in, make a half hitch for safety. To do that, cross the rope over and pull it up through the hole.
Crossing the rope over the other piece to make the half hitch
Pulling the rope up through the whole to complete the half hitch
For extra safety, make a double half hitch in the rope.
Cross the rope over the other piece
Pull the rope up through the hole
Cinch the double half hitch to secure it.
Once you’ve made your double half hitch, you have your completed sheepshank knot.
Completed sheepshank knot
Taking the Rope Apart
To take the sheepshank rope apart, pull the rope loose where indicated in the image below.
Undo the first half hitch
Then pull the rope so that the loop comes undone.
Pull where indicated on the image above.
Repeat the same last two steps for the other knot on the rope to completely take apart the sheepshank knot.
All videos were edited on HP Z840 workstations using HP Z24x DreamColor monitors.
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By Shane Hurlbut, ASC
Director of photography Shane Hurlbut, ASC works at the forefront of cinema as a storyteller, innovator and discerning collaborator, who brings more than three decades of experience to his art. He is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers, the International Cinematographers Guild/Local 600, and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
