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AhaBulb: Stuff Everyone Should Know · ahabulb.com/scout-diagonal-lashing

Two cross-brace poles have a gap between them and must be pulled together. Which lashing?

A diagonal lashing.

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  1. Square lashing
  2. Tripod lashing
  3. Diagonal lashing ✔

Why: A diagonal lashing starts with a timber hitch around both poles. Pulling it closes the gap so the wraps go on with the poles touching. A square lashing is for poles already in contact.

Huh, didn't know that: The tightening turns wrapped around the middle of a lashing are called frapping turns.

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References

Answer: Diagonal lashing. A diagonal lashing starts with a timber hitch around both poles. Pulling it closes the gap so the wraps go on with the poles touching. A square lashing is for poles already in contact.

  1. Animated Knots: Diagonal Lashing www.animatedknots.com/diagonal-lashing-knot
    Pulling on the Timber Hitch closes the gap and allows the lashing to proceed with poles touching.
    Checked 2026-10-08.
  2. Scout Life (Scouting America): How to Tie the 7 Basic Scout Knots scoutlife.org/outdoors/176401/how-to-tie-the-7-basic-scout-knots
    The timber hitch is also the knot that starts a diagonal lashing.
    Checked 2026-10-08.
  3. Bryan on Scouting (Scouting America): How to complete a square lashing in half the time blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2019/10/10/how-to-complete-a-square-lashing-in-half-the-time
    Square lashings bind poles that are in contact and cross each other at any angle from 45-degrees to 90-degrees.
    Checked 2026-10-08.

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Outdoors & CampingWhat is a square lashing used for?Outdoors & CampingWhich lashing joins two parallel poles so they open like scissors into an A-frame?Outdoors & CampingWhen finishing a lashing, what are the turns wrapped between the poles, around the wraps, called?

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