Axle hitch

{{Short description|Knot}}

{{Knot-details

| name=

| image= Axle Hitch knot.png

| names=

| type= hitch

| strength=

| origin=

| related= Bowline

| releasing=

| uses= attaching a line to a relatively inaccessible object, such as a vehicle axle

| caveat=

| abok_number= #162, #1850

}}

The axle hitch is used to tie a hitch in a hard-to-reach place, or for extra security by having a double hold on an object. When the initial bight is passed around the object, the rest of the knot can be completed out away from the cramped location.{{Cite book|author=Brion Toss|title=The Complete Rigger's Apprentice|location=Camden|publisher=International Marine|year=1998|page=56}} The knot is finished with a bowline knot or other reliable knot that connects the working end to the standing part.{{citation |last=Ashley |first=Clifford W. |title=The Ashley Book of Knots |year= 1944 |publisher=Doubleday |location=New York |page=33 }}

It provides distributed strength and is useful when a shock load needs to be spread along an anchor point, since it provides four lines distributed across two points, in which case a double bowline or water bowline should be used as the security knot.{{citation needed|date=November 2010}}