15 Best Survival Knots Every Outdoorsman Must Know (2025 Guide)

Let’s be honest.

When you’re cold, wet, and daylight is fading fast, your survival does not need expensive gear; it depends on whether you can tie the right knots.

After 15 years of wilderness survival, I’ve learned that the difference between life and death often comes down to a single properly tied knot.

Navy SEALs, rescue teams, and survival instructors worldwide rely on these knots.

So here’s a list of the 15 best survival knots I trust with my gear, my shelter, and sometimes even my life.

Let’s get into it.

15 Best Survival Knots

Here’s a summary of the essential survival knots you need to know.

Bowline: The King of Knots

This is probably one of the knots that you’ll use more than you think.

It creates a fixed loop at the end of the rope that won’t tighten or slip.

I’ve used it as an anchor to tie around trees, make ridgelines, or even pull someone out of a river.

Remember that war movie Hacksaw Ridge? The guy who lowered over 75 injured soldiers down a cliff face. He used Bowlines to lower them down.

Pros & Cons

Best for: Creating a fixed loop for anchoring, tying around trees or posts, and rescue situations.

Square Knot: The First Aid Essential

This is the knot 101, but don’t dismiss it.

When someone’s bleeding and you need to secure a bandage quickly, this is the knot you’ll need.

I mostly use it for first aid or bundling gear together. It’s not that strong, but it works!

Pros & Cons

Best for: Securing bandages, bundling gear, and joining ropes of equal size in non-critical situations.

Clove Hitch: The Quick Temporary Fix

This one’s great when you need to tie something off in a hurry.

I use it for temporarily holding a ridge line to a tree, securing food and bags in a tree, and starting & finishing off the lashing.

Pros & Cons

Best for: Temporarily tying rope to posts, hanging gear, and starting/finishing lashings.

Two Half Hitches: The Reliable Anchor

If the Clove Hitch feels a bit insecure, then this one’s like a stronger Clove Hitch.

I use this for tying a tarp in windy conditions, hanging a food bag, or tying down a kayak.

It holds tight and doesn’t slip like a Clove Hitch.

Pros & Cons

Best for: Anchoring rope to a fixed object like a tree, poles, or tarp grommets.

Figure 8 Stopper: The Rope Brake

This is my go-to stopper knot.

It prevents rope from passing through pulleys, eyelets, grommets, or other openings.

It’s a foundation for other knots like the Figure 8 variants, like the Figure 8 follow through, the Figure 8 on a Bight, and the Double Figure 8 Knot.

Pros & Cons

Best for: Creating a stopper to prevent rope slippage through holes, pulleys, or devices.

Double Sheet Bend: The Size-difference Joiner

Need to join two ropes of different sizes securely? This is your knot.

You’ll use this knot to join all kinds of cords like guy lines, climbing ropes, or ridgeline when you run out of rope length.

It holds better than the regular Sheet Bend.

Pros & Cons

Best for: Joining ropes of different diameters, extending guy lines, and temporary field repairs.

Zeppelin Bend: The Unbreakable Connection

If I had to bet on one bend knot, it’s this one.

I trust it when I can’t afford a failure.

It’s super strong, won’t jam under load, it won’t slip, and can be untied easily even after it’s been loaded all day.

Pros & Cons

Best for: Permanently joining ropes under heavy load where reliability and easy untying matter.

Canadian Jam Knot: The Paracord Zip Tie

Think of this like a paracord zip tie?

It self-tightens around an object under tension and holds.

This is the knot I discovered lately, and since then, I have not found any binding knot that outperforms this one.

I use it for compressing sleeping bags into a tight roll and securing firewood bundles.

It’s quick and surprisingly effective.

Pros & Cons

Best for: Bundling gear, compressing bundles, secure lashing for any bushcraft task, or as a quick zip tie in camp.

Alpine Butterfly Knot: The Midline Master

If you need a strong midline loop knot that can take load from any direction, then this is the one.

I clip items like a lantern or a carabiner to it, isolate a damaged section in the rope, and just use it for extra attachment points.

Pros & Cons

Best for: Making secure midline loops, isolating damaged rope sections, and attaching gear.

Figure 8 Loop: The Fail-proof Loop

If you need a strong and reliable loop in the rope, the Figure 8 loop is the knot you need.

You might say, “But Bowline does that too.” Yeah, it does. But this one is stronger. Climbers trust it with their lives. It rarely fails.

I use the follow through version when I need to tie into a harness or anchor, and the bight version when I need a reliable midline loop.

Pros & Cons

Best for: Forming a strong loop for climbing, rigging, and tying into harnesses or anchors.

Siberian Hitch: The Cold Weather Champion

This one is designed for cold climates.

If you ever need a fast one-handed hitch you can tie with the gloves on, then this is your go-to.

While camping, I hang my food bag on a tree branch or tie the tent guylines in cold alpine conditions.

It holds perfectly well and releases fast as well.

Pros & Cons

Best for: Fast one-handed tying in cold weather or while wearing gloves, especially for tying guylines or hanging gear.

Tautline Hitch: The Adjustable Anchor

You ever need to adjust a line tension without retying?

This is the one I use when I need to tension the tent guylines.

Why Tautline hitch?

Because once tied, you can slide to tighten and loosen the line, it stays put under tension, and it won’t slip until I want to reset it.

Pros & Cons

Best for: Anchoring rope to trees, poles, or tarp grommets in windy or high-tension conditions.

Trucker’s Hitch: The Mechanical Advantage Master

Need to crank a rope super tight? 

The Trucker’s Hitch acts like a makeshift pulley that provides about a 3:1 mechanical advantage.

I use it for securing heavy loads on my vehicle and when I need a tight tent ridgeline and clothes line.

Pros & Cons

Best for: Securing and tightening heavy loads, tarps, or ridgelines with mechanical advantage.

Prusik Knot: The Emergency Ascender

The Prusik Knot is a slide and grip knot that locks under load and releases when slack.

It’s so versatile, given how easy it is to tie.

If you’re doing a rescue, you can use it for emergencies like clipping a Prusik as a backup on a rappel or use two Prusiks to ascend a fixed line if stranded.

Pros & Cons

Best for: Climbing backups, rope ascending, and adjustable sliding loops on tarp or rescue lines.

Munter Hitch: The Emergency Belay

The Munter Hitch turns a carabiner into a belay tool, essentially a friction brake.

You’ll need this knot for an improvised belay when you’ve lost a belay device or for lowering heavy gear off the clip.

Pros & Cons

Best for: Emergency belaying, lowering gear, or rappelling when no belay device is available.

Bonus: Lashing Techniques for Survival Structures

When building shelters, frames, or tripods, knots alone aren’t enough. You need lashings to bind poles together.

I use lashing for making tent frames, securing tarp ridgeline, or making a raft by lashing logs side-by-side.

Here are the main ones I usually use:

• Square Lashing: Lash two poles, usually at right angles. Good for building frameworks for shelters, bridges, furniture, beds, or ladders.
• Diagonal Lashing: Lash two poles at an angle other than 90 degrees. Best for making the cross brace of a rectangular framework that doesn’t touch.
• Shear Lashing: Lash two poles at an angle (0-45 degrees). Good for making a pair of shear legs or an A-frame structure to reinforce a broken pole.

I’ve built tripods to cook on, ladders to cross ditches, and A-frames for makeshift shelters.

Once you learn them, you’ll find 100 ways to use them.

How to Master These Knots Fast

• Start with the big 5: Bowline, Double Sheet Bend, Clove Hitch, Square Knot, Tautline Hitch
• Practice daily: 10 minutes of daily knot practice builds muscle memory
• Learn in conditions: Try in rain, cold, and darkness
• Teach someone else: Teaching others helps you truly understand the knot

These 15 knots are not just wilderness skills; they’re life skills.

If you learn these 15 knots plus the lashings, you’ll be ready for just about anything and can easily survive in most situations.

Don’t wait until you’re in an emergency to learn.

Bookmark this guide. Share it with a friend. Or better, grab a rope and start practicing TODAY.

Your life may depend on it. Stay safe out there!

Pro Tip: Keep a practice rope in your car or office desk. Master one knot per week, and you’ll have all knots mastered in four months.