Boat Docking Options Compared - OXO V Cleat Hitch
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 มิ.ย. 2024
- When docking your boat there are two schools of thought on the best way to secure your boat. In todays video we look at both the OXO and cleat hitch method comparing six key factors when considering which option to use.
As with many things sailors usually have a preference and will get passionate about it, calling out anyone who goes with the other option. While the team at bottom up boats has a preference for the OXO method we will recommend using using the cleat hitch when specific situations arise.
In this comparison we walk you through the two options calling up which one we prefer and why. After watching the video we will leave it up to you to decide which knot works best for you. Regardless of your preference we would like to think that every sailor should know both knots leaving your options to tie either depending on the situations you find yourself in. No matter how big or small you yacht or boat is these two methods will always give peace of mind when docking.
Thanks for stopping by and supporting the team at Bottom up Boats we would love to hear of your preference in the comments section or why not stop by our community page and vote in our pole. - กีฬา
I prefer the cleat hitch with a full turn around the cleat to secure a boat for a longer time. The OXO seems to come off too easily so that I would only use it if I tie of only for a short time and stay with the boat during that short time.
Both great options, OXO for short term and the hitch for long secure stays with the extra turn will do a great job for both use cases.
just add another loop around the cleat and never have any trouble. left the boat for weeks with no hitches at all, never failed.
Thanks for sharing. These are some other points I’d like to share.
1) ease of execution for the inexperience
When I have guests on board, or inexperience crew, I show them OXO because it’s easy. But as soon as the boat is secure I’d always finally redo all of them into hitches.
2) increased versatility
The clear advantage of using the cleat hitch is that it needs less line.
Sometimes…
- the same cleat is used for 2 lines (fore/aft + spring).
- the the cleat is too small for lines to go around many times or the lines just happen to a bit too thick for the cleat.
- the lines used up to the last bits. Imagine you have only the last meter to cleat off.
In those situations, a hitch allows to apply in the most variety of situation being consistent in using one method.
3) quicker to make
The hitch requires 4 touches on each side of the horn:
1. First contact
2. Around
3. Across
4. Across with the hitch
The OXO requires 7 touches:
1. First contact
2. Around
3. Around
4. Across
5. Across
6. Around
7. Around
@lars_Sp three excellent additions to consider when choosing what to use and when...... I especially like the 4 V 7 touch comparison !!!!
During the era of natural fibre rope, a hitch on the horn of a cleat was certain to jam when the rope got wet.
When slippery synthetic ropes were invented, winch drums had to be roughed up or made with ribs, and braided rope became popular. That’s when people started putting hitches on the horns of cleats instead of more figure eights, and a huge variety of cleats became available.
I’ve watched deck hands on small freighters. They belay with figure eights, only. If a line slips, it’s because there isn’t enough figure eights on the cleat.
Thanks for share this perspective, I had not factored in the rope types before. As you said there has been a massive change in this space which needs to be factored in and adjusted for. Love it !!!!
In all of the OXO examples, the final O didn't seem to add anything to the end result. The O was loose and I noted that each time, the demonstration included some tidying operation to it. I was not convinced that it would stay.
On the other hand, the cleat hitch, despite the claim that it's difficult to remove, assures that the last bit of line is an integral part of the security. Where assurance that the line will stay put is vital (and what else is important when tying off?) I'll stay with the cleat.
You are right that the final O is taking very little load when compared to the first O or the X. While the load on the last turn is lower it does increase the friction which equals less slippage. Speaking from experience there is significantly more load on both options when you are trying up a boat with even moderate to small displacement. In these cases the final loop will add value and be less prone to ending up loose as per the demo.
Useful thanks!
Thanks for stopping by. Glad you got some value out of one of our older videos 🫶
If you tie the cleat hitch properly whether it be half or full, load doesn't matter because it will still come untied just as easily. I've tested it pretty extensively.
Thanks for the info, I tend to agree when the rope size is matched to the cleat if you have a smaller diameter of rope on a large cleat it can lock. With that said you need quite a bit of load for this to happen (that is a really big boat which I can only dream of).
Which belaying method do you recommend?
Excellent and thorough video. Thanks
Thanks for stopping by and for the feedback. Glad you found the content useful 👍
OXO seems like it can slide off if done incorrectly or not pulled tight enough, cleat hitch won't. I don't find it difficult to undo either...
Most of the OXO only club have worked on really larger commercial boats were the weigh on of the boat can cause the hitch to lock tight. It is not an issue for the majority of smaller boat owners (talking less than 20 tones in weight)
Excellent presentation!
Thanks for stopping by and for the feedback. Glad you enjoyed the review of the options 👍
@@BottomUPBoats I was hoping that you would have tested more options. OXXO ... XXXX ... OXOXO ... etc. Did you know that some boating schools and marina managers will delete comments that question the methods they teach. “The Maryland school of sailing” welcomes debate. They have almost two and a half million views, probably because the comments are more interesting than the demonstration.
Cheers.
@@nevillecottee7629 the comments are a great way to learn and to understand other people’s perspectives. They are always welcome at Bottom up Boats, based on the feedback on this video there may be a future up date on this process so stay tuned, our recent video on ten second soft shackles was based on user comments and is proving to be very watchable. No where near 2.5 million views, with that said the 12,000 views it has racked up in a little over 100 days makes it our most popular video so far. Thanks for the engagement, as you said it adds value to any update 👍
The OXO is good but OXXO is the best method. Adding a hitch does nothing when you use this method except to tidy the end of the line. If you use the three quarter wrap then the force is not on the base but the horns and there is force on the hitch. I have never seen a hitch user add full wraps when tying up and I have see a few boats go adrift as they get use to one way and don't know or forget to make a more secure cleat. Fun fact is that all American knot books were written a very long time ago and considered the bible. They did not use modern double braided line then which performs very differently. André in Sydney
Thanks for the interesting feedback on the the American boat bibles and the shout about the change in rope type. Something to consider for the boats still using traditional rope
Not a 0/1 problem. Tie the one that fits the situation. Sometimes variations are more suitable. Worried about the unlikely scenario with hitch jamming but still want the reassurance? Start with full O before doing the hitch which will unload the jam prone spot. Honestly I have never seen a hitch jam with modern lines. If you need speed and hand safety - go with OXO (I only do that when stopping for a short time - single or short handed). My boat is 36ft.
Good advice.
I prefer the OXO every time. The last turn can be 'jammed' in under the previous turn, preventing it undoing itself. The biggest advantage of OXO v Hitch is that OXO can be tied and untied while keeping fingers 0.5m away from the action every time, thus preventing finger injuries.
Great points, thanks for sharing.
OXO seems prone to untie-ing under variable load. Is it?
Both options should hold firm, even under variable load if the rope size is correctly matched to the cleat. If you are experiencing slippage the cleat hitch will hold tighter than the OXO.
Trying to add something to this (presently and hopefully) calm debate... OXO works very well for me. I am also used to use cleat hitch method in someone's else boat as they prefer this, it is nice and works very well. OXO - and this is VERY important for single-handed sailors as I usually am - can be fastened with just one hand while the other one is busy somewhere else. Very, very useful. The final O of OXO usually nicely tightens up between the cleat itself and the underlying rope with absolutely no risk of a real jam, adding security to the knot. Last but not least, OXO can be easily taught to a newcomer fellow sailor with no risk of the "upside down final loop" that can happen trying to unproperly tie the cleat hitch, causing it to become insicure. Should I tie to a cleat for longer times with no people onto the boat, I would just add an additional half hitch to the OXO.
Thanks for sharing. Great points on the benefits of OXO for single handed sailors. I had not thought of that angle when reviewing the pro's and con's !!!
I can do a cleat hitch with one hand...
@@gfimadcat that's great from you, but I suspect this is a rare dexterity as I
never met someone doing it. I am not able to fasten a cleat hitch with just one hand.
I prefer the OXO as it is easier to teach. If the cleat is shared then a round turn and two half hitches means you leave the cleat largely free and you don’t get trapped under a wrap.
Great points thanks for stopping by and sharing.
Poor test. Your "load test" did not test the cleat hitch. You tested the cleat hitch without it's locking turn. The OXO method has a habit of coming undone .. the cleat hitch does not when actually tied.
We took a lot of footage when making this video, too much to include in the final edit. In both test with the light 3 mm rope it took 3 full O's around the cleat to lock both methods. While it is rare that you would cleat with such a bit cleat with really small rope, testing at the extreme like this is the best way to highlight the variation in the methods.
When we tested with the correct rope - cleat size at the start of the video we only do a 1/2 turn at the start of the cleat, this is down to avoid the rope locking on itself under the cleat after the hitch is applied and tension is added. This can happen if you do a fully O around the cleat like the start of the OXO. This is another differentiating factor to consider when choosing which one you will go for.
Hopefully this added some clarity to the demo which was not included in the final cut.
@@BottomUPBoats Nope, sorry ... it does not explain why you failed to test the standard cleat hitch. Your test of holding strength was of the modified cleat hitch without it's locking turn. You should have tested the actual knot, not a modified version.
Motor boat operators love polished chrome. Grab rails and cleats should not be slippery. I presume you selected those particular cleats solely for the demonstration.
The very shinny cleats were acquired in lieu of cash payment for some work which one of our team completely. They came from a chandlery which went out of business and could not pay in cash. We got a tone of stuff which could not be used on our boats. This cleat is stuck to a green slab of MDF, I used it he help me better under stand how to use green screens to try and create crisper videos !!! So, yes looks nice but not practical for every day use on real boats :)
A friend always secured his three strand nylon anchor rode with a locking hitch. One day a storm hit and he was unable to lay out more scope because the hitch had jammed. So he ran his engine until the storm passed. It took him hours to pry the knot free with a marlin spike. Now he belays with an overkill of figure eights. He roughed up the cleat with a file and is considering changing his twisted nylon cable to braided polypropylene or something similar that’s less slippery and with more surface area than laid rope.
You're doing the cleat hitch wrong. The way you do it is actually not safe. Unless you do a full loop around the cleat this wont hold the load.
The a full turn at the start will make the cleat hitch more secure.
With that said it is not needed if the width of you rope is perfectly matched to the cleat. See one of our early video's for more information on how to tie the perfect cleat hitch every time (which can be with 1/2 a round turn at the start).
th-cam.com/video/5tnpsmPpL9k/w-d-xo.html
Lubber apologetics. Could learn to tie a proper clear hitch in the time it takes to rationalize the "OXO."
I have listened to the debate between the two for years. Always wondering why many prefer the hitch while bodies like the RYA only teach on option in their yacht master certification. We put this out their to create a debate that may help me understand the rational behind something which I find confusing. There is nothing wrong with a good hitch !
@@BottomUPBoats . When I was studying for the yacht master license, we were taught that the figure eight underneath the hitch will reduce the possibility of a jam up, more figure eights underneath the knot will further reduce that risk. Figure eights above the knot are useless because if the knot is needed (if stressed) it will jam beyond your ability to undo it.
@@nevillecottee7629 spot on Neville. Thanks for all you engagement, you comments add a lot of value to the video content !!