Adjustable Line Tension - Guy Wire Rigging

Blakes Hitch Method:
I like to use the Blakes hitch to adjust the tension in a line.  Here's a scenario.  The upper line can connect to a grommet.  The loop formed at the bottom will go on a stake.  When the coils are pulled up, then tension is maintained in the line.

It's easier to form the Blakes hitch by tying around the contour of your hand.  Your thumb points up the line.  Your fingers coil around it.  The first coils wrap on the thumb.  The third and forth coils wrap in front of the thumb.  The fifth strand crosses the coils - to form a bridge.  Then it wraps the thumb in the opposite direction.  Note how it curls underneath the line and thumb.  When the thumb pulls out of coil 1 and 2, the 5 strand is inserted.

For this application, you create a loop below the Blakes hitch.  The traditional use of the Blakes hitch is for tree climbing, where the loop is established above the Blakes hitch.  In that application it captures a climbng anchor (i.e. tree limb).

Here's an overview of the Blakes hitch guy-wire.  The situation is that you need to connect, pull and hold tension in something (e.g. tent or tarp).  For connecting a rope to objects, I first try to use the buntline knot.  The buntiline is the top knot in the illustration that follows.  The loop below the Blakes hitch goes to the ground anchor - like a stake.  Pulling the Blakes coils up towards the buntline will keep the rope tight.  The purpose of a guy-wire is to hold tight.