The One Man Diamond Hitch
[Fig. 89.] The one man Diamond Hitch is employed by one packer working alone and requires that he make two trips around the animal in tying it. The rope is braided into a ring on one end of the cinch. The other end of the cinch carries a hook. Standing on the near side of the animal at its shoulder he first lays the middle of the rope across the pack from forward to back with the free end of the rope forward. He then throws the cinch over the pack and catches the hook under the animal’s belly. A loop of the rope is then caught under the cinch hook and pulled tight. Some packers, in using the one man Diamond Hitch, find it helps to hold the hitch tight if they take a double turn around the hook in making the first tightening.
[Fig. 90.] Proceeding with the hitch, the two ropes over the pack crosswise are then twisted, lifting the forward strand up and back and pulling the rear strand forward and under. Two turns are made and then a loop of the rope lying forward and back over the top of the pack is drawn up between the two twisted ropes as shown. The loop formed on the off side between the part crosswise of the pack and the part of the rope crossing lengthwise of the pack, is formed over both corners of the off side of the pack. Then the loop drawn up between the two twisted ropes is lowered over the corners of the near side of the pack.
[Fig. 91.] The final strain is taken on the free end of the rope passing along the neck of the animal and tied at the forward point of the diamond with a packer’s knot. If the animal should fall on either side, the knot is easily reached and untied. The free end of the rope is tucked under some part of the hitch or looped over the pack or otherwise disposed of. In making the Diamond Hitch, at no time is the end of the rope pulled through anywhere. This makes it easy to take off without becoming snarled.
[Fig. 92.] The Diamond Hitch as mentioned above is frequently tied so that the knot occurs on the side of the animal opposite the cinch hook instead of on top. This hitch is tied so that the first loop is lowered over the rear corner only of the off side of the pack. In the two other hitches described above, the first loop included both corners of the pack, and finished with a knot on top. The Diamond Hitch shown is thrown by two packers.