John Smith of Surrey, England, first demonstrated the Icicle Hitch by using it to suspend his weight from a tapered wooden fid that was hanging point-down from the ceiling. Like finger cuffs, this hitch will shrink to grab strongly, then loosen easily when the strain is taken off.

1 Start with a good length of running end and make a crossing shown here.

2 Cross the running end to the left and behind the pole.

3 Bring the running end around the pole, tucking it under the crossing. Complete four turns, tucking the end each time.

4 After the fourth turn, also tuck the running end under the first loop so that both ends exit together.

After you are finished, use the running end as the end that will take strain. This will allow the hitch to have its tenacious grip. Do this either by leaving a large excess of running end or by extending it by making a bend to another rope.

You can also tie the Icicle Hitch near the end of a pole, in a manner similar to the Pile Hitch. To see this, first tie it near a pole end with the method shown previously, then pull the bight over the end as if you were untying the Pile Hitch, and you will see the setup for this method. When checking to see if you have tied it correctly, keep in mind that this hitch is basically an extended Pile Hitch.