Insecure on its own, it is a valuable component of a wide variety of useful and reliable hitches, bends, and knots.

The half hitch is tied with one end of a rope which is passed around an object and secured to its own standing part with a single hitch.Securing an additional single hitch to the rope's standing part produces the related knot two half-hitches.

[1]: 283 Alternatively, a half hitch may be made secure on its own by placing the final crossing opposite to the turn around the working end.

This locks the end in place, and holds fast as long as the hitch is loaded by a steady pull.

[1]: 290  A half hitch in this configuration is sometimes used to tie strings to the bridge of a classical guitar.