Knots

I can tie the following with proficiency and they've served me well on my adventures:

Bowline
Figure 8
Clove hitch
Square knot
prusik
taut line
Mangus hitch

I know a few others but these are what I use 99% of the time (not including my shoes.)

I discovered recently that what I thought was the taut line hitch is actually the Mangus Hitch. Pretty close to the same thing except the finish. I've always just used a prusik knot on my tarp system but seems that many people on BPL prefer the taut line for some reason. I'll have to switch to it to see if I can perceive a difference in performance.

Edited to improve the general awesomeness of my response.

"taught line hitch"

Surely you mean a taut line hitch.

–B.G.–

..

Edit: whatever do you mean I don't know what you are talking about.

"Edit: whatever do you mean I don't know what you are talking about."

Ian, this is a lie and you know it. Why do you try to pull the wool over the eyes of the forum readers? Perhaps you want to retract your statement.

–B.G.–

Holy cow Bob it was a joke! The Facepalm title to my response I thought was an overly obvious admission to my idiotic error. Relax.

"Holy cow Bob it was a joke!"

Next time you make a comment like that, use (just joking) or something, since Facepalm has no obvious meaning.

–B.G.–

Bob… my humor is very dry and I don't use emoticons all that often. I also freely admit that my ability to self edit is somewhat slower than my ability it hit "Post Message." It's an area of weakness that I'm well aware of and I don't mind taking my lumps when I screw something like that up.

In the future I will try to be a little more obvious when I'm trying to be funny and I'll throttle it back when I'm interacting with you.

"Surely you mean a taut line hitch."

Whatever, spelling Nazi, and don't call me Shirley.

"Next time you make a comment like that, use (just joking) or something, since Facepalm has no obvious meaning."

It actually does.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facepalm

"In the future I will try to be a little more obvious when I'm trying to be funny"

I'd appreciate it if you'd be a little less obvious, dude. I mean, it's not necessary to hit us over the head with it and all…..

As luck would have it, I'm a rookie in the SAR academy and last night was our second knot class. The Mangus hitch is something different altogether and doesn't appear to be similar to the taut line hitch; it is more similar to a clove hitch. I also learned that there are a couple variations of the taut line but they only vary in how the knot is finished. Doesn't seem to make a difference either way. The way I tie it looks like 3/4 of a Prusik and that works for me.

We did learn the Alpine Butterfly and I think I'll have use for it in the future. When using a trucker’s hitch, it seems to be easier to untie than a figure 8 loop.

"I once knew a guy who did not know how to tie his shoes. And he's dead now. Knots are serious business, I dont care what Nick says."

I am so glad I learned how to properly tie my shoes at the early age of 62. I wonder how I made it through all these years and am alive to talk about it :)

I'll stick to Shakespearian English from now on to keep things less dramatic… at least until I have a BPL journeyman's understanding of the facepalm and all its mysteries.

"I seeith that I spelleth thine knotworks in a poopeth fashion."

(This is a joke and no thespians were harmed in its creation)

>I'll stick to Shakespearian English from now on to keep things less dramatic… at least until I have a BPL journeyman's understanding of the facepalm and all its mysteries.

>(This is a joke and no thespians were harmed in its creation)

A pity.

Now I get it. I thought you folks were talking about that Facebook thingy.

Problems with the Clove Hitch

The clove hitch, however, does have some problems. These include:
•The clove hitch is not as strong as a figure-8-on-a-bight knot or a self-equalizing figure-8 knot for tying into anchors.
•The clove hitch loses strength if it’s not tightened down after being tied.
•The clove hitch can slip when it’s loaded with either the weight of the belayer or a climber below, especially if it is not tightened.
•The clove hitch can slip if it’s tied with a stiff, wet, or….

and yet the clove hitch is the standard taught and used by ACMG guides for tying into the anchor

there a lot of urban legends going around vs those who actually climb every day

even for climbing you dont need to know a lot of knots … but you DO have to know those few so well that you can tie them in the dark with cold shaking hands in the middle of a rain storm when tire and hungry, and tie em quickly …

for hiking and other bear bagging … well you arent taking a factor 2 off the belay so i wouldnt overly worry ;)

"for hiking and other bear bagging … well you arent taking a factor 2 off the belay so i wouldnt overly worry ;) "

My point in the beginning — most of us only backpack ;)

+1 Eric.

This has always been a standard climbing knot in my book. The advantage of the clove hitch on a bite is how quickly it can be tied and clipped into a carabiner…Flip two loops into a rope, pass the second behind the first, and clip. It could *almost* be done one handed.

You can tie it one handed with the rope already on the biner …

Also if you know how to clove, youll remember very easily how to munter … Which is a critical skill on multipitch

Haven't tried a clove one-handed. Will have to now though.

Every so often the Munter debate arises on here; someone comes along and proclaims that you can save the weight of a belay/rappel device. Why you'd willingliy fuzz and twist your rope when you could simply carry an ATC or something small is beyond me. Munter as a back-up, part of a haul/lowering system, or emergency tool, I get it. But as a primary belay in this day and age…Why?

think winter when frozen (we all know dry treatment wears off) ropes cant get through some of the belay devices

the other reason is that it works perfectly fine …. if you dont lower or rap on the munter (dont weight it continuously) it really doesnt twist the rope

but the best reason is to keep in practice because when you do need it, or the munter mule for a tie off … you wont spend 20 min fiddling and remembering how to tie it

a few years ago we were on something like the 8th pitch up the chief … and i hear this CLANG CLANG CLANG down the rock from my partner at the anchor above… seems like he dropped his belay device … he couldnt remember how to tie a munter … good thing i dont fall on easy ground … i lent him my atc and used the munter …

a few times every year i go out and do some "old school" climbing to keep in practice with the basic skills …. no belay devices, nuts and hexes (no cams), carabiner brakes, rope anchors, etc … like anything else, i can read and post on the intrawebs all i want about it, but without PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE its all for nothing

heres a good article on the munter by one of the top female american guides

http://www.climbing.com/skill/munter-magic/

I came across this video awhile back that shows a nice way to do a one-handed clove or munter hitch (the good stuff starts at 1:33).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=os_tQdhLI9Y

Be safe out there :)

-David

Permit me to disagree.
The Munter hitch is a wonderful way to wreck a rope. Huge nylon against nylon abrasion, lots of heat, very sharp kinks in the rope, and just horrible.

Can't people do a classic over-the-shoulder abseil any more? If you haven't got a spare carabiner, you can even do a classic 'under the leg and over the shoulder' abseil. They work just fine, and we still use them.

mutter … mumble…

Cheers

Roger,

I don't think anyone here has advocated using a Munter to abseil, but it is a useful knot to know for situations like Eric outlined–when somebody drops their belay device, and in a few other cases. Rappelling off a Munter for more than very short stretches is not something I care to do to my ropes…

-David