Half-hitch

A half-hitch is the simplest hitch: a single turn of the working end around an object and back through its own bight, forming a loop that grips when loaded. Alone it is insecure and used only as a temporary or backing turn; two stacked the same way make two half-hitches, a reliable hitch for mooring lines and lashings. It is the building block of the clove hitch, the rolling hitch, the timber hitch, and the buntline hitch, so most compound hitches are described as combinations of half-hitches.