The clove hitch secures you at the stance and can be adjusted by hand. Where it shines, which mistakes happen and why you practise it only with a coach.
The clove hitch is the knot with which you secure yourself to a fixed point at the belay stance, using the rope that already hangs from your harness. The honest answer to "Why not just use a sling?": because you tie the clove hitch with one hand, adjust its length and can even use the free rope end to tension the anchor downwards.
The German Alpine Club calls it the all-purpose method for self-belay at the stance [1]. Anyone who can tie it one-handed is self-secured especially quickly. On arrival you clip one rope strand into the central point and complete the "laid" clove hitch with one hand [1].
The price: at the stance you are secured without redundancy. DAV safety research puts it plainly: the stance must be solid, and anyone who cannot judge when a stance is safe enough should learn that first [2]. That is why this guide is a skill for the course, not for self-study.
The knot is quickly learned. The hard part is knowing what it hangs on.
Entry criteria (practice standard):
The clove hitch grips the rope in the carabiner without locking it. It can be shifted as long as it is not loaded. You secure yourself with the rope that comes from your harness, directly at the central point [1].
Milestone: You explain to your coach which rope you use and why exactly this one.
In the course you practise the knot on the ground with both hands until the sequence sits without thinking. Your coach checks every time that it sits correctly in the carabiner and that the carabiner is closed.
Milestone: You tie it correctly ten times in a row without your coach stepping in.
At the stance you often have only one hand free, the other holds on. The DAV writes that you clip one rope strand into the central point and complete the "laid" clove hitch with one hand [1]. You practise that first on the ground, then on a protected anchor in the course.
Milestone: You tie the clove hitch one-handed in under 15 seconds without twisting it. (Rule of thumb from course practice, not a study finding.)
With a double rope you lay the second strand loosely into the same carabiner. Otherwise one strand runs on the wall side into the rope pile and the other directly away from the tie-in knot, and rope chaos threatens [1]. For seconds you prepare separate locking carabiners in the central point [1].
Milestone: In the course you organise a stance with two rope strands without anything twisting.
Before you release yourself from the belay you check that the system holds. For abseiling the DAV names exactly this as the standard: the load test, where you load the set-up and check before the self-belay is unclipped [2].
Milestone: You do the test in the course every time, not only when the coach watches.
At the stance you are not doubly secured, and your concentration drops when it gets tight or hectic. In two DAV course accidents when abseiling the analysis assumed a "blackout" each time: the set-up was wrong and the self-belay was unclipped without the system having been loaded first [2]. There it was not a knot that failed but the skipped check. It is the same pattern that lurks at the stance.
This guide explains and motivates, it does not replace supervised training. A coach shows you on the rope how the clove hitch is actually tied.
Learn the clove hitch not only as a hand movement but as a decision: every time you tie it, say out loud what you hang on. "Central point, locking carabiner, my rope from the harness." This sentence forces a look at fixed point and rope that is often missing in routine. That is course practice, not a study finding.
Mainly for self-belay at the stance. The DAV calls it the all-purpose method because it is quick to tie, can be completed one-handed and its length is flexible [1].
According to the DAV, an adjustable sling is mainly advantageous when abseiling or in alternate-rope systems. For multi-pitch stances the clove hitch is more flexible, for example when a second is to be parked further down [1].
Only on the ground without load, as a hand movement. Everything that carries load you practise in the course with a coach. A clove hitch on a fixed point that nobody has assessed is a gamble.
You set it with the clove hitch. Which length is right for which stance depends on the terrain and is practised in the course with a coach.
With a double rope yes: the second strand goes loosely into the same carabiner, otherwise rope chaos threatens [1].
Self-Belay at the Stance: Anchor, Central Point, Upward Pull