<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" Every year at Thanksgiving, my family treks to a  Christmas tree farm in the North Carolina mountains. We choose a Fraser fir, call in the chainsaw man, and then watch nervously as some hired muscle hoists the tree onto the truck. Depending on the muscle\u2014weathered old mountain man or college kid making a few winter-break bucks\u2014the tree is tied down with either a true trucker&amp;#039;s hitch or a combination of granny and overhand knots I can only describe as a wad. If it&amp;#039;s the latter, I hop up and retie the ropes, cinching the tree with trucker&amp;#039;s hitches fore and aft\u2014good for a 4-hour drive at highway speeds. Stepping down, I am met with one of two expressions: total awe from the college boy or a knowing nod from the old-timer. A trucker&amp;#039;s hitch, also known as a power hitch, works year-round, but it probably gets used most in the summer. It&amp;#039;s how I secure canoes and kayaks to my truck, and on camping trips it&amp;#039;s crucial for tying down long spans of rope, such as clotheslines or tarp guy-lines. It&amp;#039;ll even hold stuff together while glue dries, secure packages, or pin a deer&amp;#039;s leg to a sapling while I field-dress it in the dark. Properly executed, this knot has a mechanical advantage\u2014the force you gain by using a tool or, in this case, a knot\u2014approaching 3:1.  There are a number of ways to tie a trucker&amp;#039;s hitch, with the primary difference being the method of forming the loop, or eye, that acts as a pulley for the cinching action of the knot. For this you can tie a figure eight, alpine butterfly, or bowline on a bight, if you know any of these. I just start with a slipknot because it&amp;#039;s simple and sturdy, and I can untie it quickly by hauling on the line&amp;#039;s running end if I need to fine-tune the position of the knot.  (Photos by Will Styer) Step 1. Create a slipknot by forming a loop in the rope and pushing a bight, or a bend in the rope, through the loop. This serves as an upper pulley. Step 2. Pass the running end of the line around a fixed point\u2014a canoe rack, a cleat, a cardboard box\u2014and bring the line up through the back of the loop in the slipknot and out. Grasp this running line and get ready for the superhero part: cinching the line taut and then tying some half-hitches. Step 3. Pull down to tighten the hitch. When you have enough tension to slightly crinkle a cardboard box or to whiten knuckles if you&amp;#039;re tying a canoe to a rooftop, hold the running line tight and use your other hand to pinch the U it forms as it passes through the slipknot loop. Finish with two half-hitches. I often add a third one, tied with a quick-release loop, to store my spare line while adding some security. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to/a10704/learn-to-tie-a-truckers-hitch-the-knot-youll-use-all-summer-16908244/>