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Relative strength of a blocked chain sinnet knot?

Original Post
Gregger Man · · Broomfield, CO · Joined Aug 2004 · Points: 1,769

Knot gurus-
What is the relative strength of a blocked chain sinnet knot used to create a shelf in a situation where you have two strands with free ends to pass through the slip knot loop?
The first bend looks about as gentle a curve as an overhand, but I can't find any strength ratings for it on the interwebz. Mostly the knot is cited as a method for rope storage.
I ask because there are several common situations where it would be nice to load that puppy hard and still be able to untie it without a nut tool.
Thoughts? Real world test results? Third-hand anecdotes? Random rude criticism? Discuss:





Wiled Horse · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2002 · Points: 3,669

never seen it. but your input is also needed in the other thread the hex+cam one...

Auto-X Fil · · NEPA and Upper Jay, NY · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 50
Gregger Man wrote: Random rude criticism?
You'll always find that here.

I agree it looks strong, and it even appears to be non-jamming (or close) when loaded that way. Why are you concerned about strength? It rarely seems to matter, given how well kernmantle responds to knots, and how very overkill our cords are in terms of breaking strength.

I've never tried to use anything like that, though. I always just tie a figure-8 or overhand on a loop, which has the advantage of not needing the ends of the ropes.
Gregger Man · · Broomfield, CO · Joined Aug 2004 · Points: 1,769
Auto-X Fil wrote:...Why are you concerned about strength? ...
Here's one situation where I'm thinking of using it. The knot will be repeatedly loaded by the foot loop, and I'd like for it to be high strength since it is my backup.
GonnaBe · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2010 · Points: 135

Maybe a set of stupid questions but I'm genuinely curious:
You're using this on a cordalette at an anchor to avoid having to tie the fisherman's and thereby making it quicker to swap over your cordalette to a "webolette" type configuration?

What diameter cordalette are you using? What's it rated to? I thought the reason we got away with skinny cordalettes was that we use so many "legs."

Or am I missing the point altogether?!

NEVERMIND
you just answered my questions.

Kilroywashere! London · · Harrisonburg, Virginia · Joined Oct 2009 · Points: 280

i set up soemthing kinda similar to this the other day, only instead of having the foot go to the top prussik, i put another autoblock on the strand running through the pulley setup, instead of just pulling down on the rope itself, i was able to ascend the lines via just kicking my foot down, i was actually able to ascend this way much faster, and with less fatigue

Allen Corneau · · Houston, TX · Joined May 2008 · Points: 80

I can't speak to the knot in the OP, but if I needed something like that I'd just go for the good ol' alpine butterfly. It's a strong knot, easy to untie, can be loaded on the eye or end-to-end.

Runner-up would be a directional Figure-8.

Joseph Bianco · · Pittsburgh, PA · Joined Aug 2021 · Points: 106

Tie a butterfly instead and clip your biner in the butterfly loop 

Ben Crowell · · Fullerton · Joined Jan 2013 · Points: 331

When you ask about "relative strength," that's basically a misconception.  There are two things you might mean by this. If you mean strength against slipping apart, then basically that isn't a failure mode for knots. If you mean strength against the cord breaking, then in theory it's true that some knots can be stronger against this mode of failure than others, but it's irrelevant because in climbing we never load ropes or slings to the point where they'll break.

Ian Lauer · · Yakima, WA · Joined Jan 2014 · Points: 15
Joseph Bianco wrote:

Tie a butterfly instead and clip your biner in the butterfly loop 

Dude, pretty sure they figured this out or forgot about it 10 YEARS ago. You bored and trolling the archives, haha?

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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