Clove Hitch Webbing

I was out climbing with a buddy and in my TR set up I usually use static line but this day I was using webbing. My set up of choice right now is to wrap the rope around the tree twice, tie an 8 on a bite on the end with plenty of tail, clip a biner to the bite, and then clove hitch it in place to the lenth of rope going to the anchor point. I like this set up because it is quick to set up, easy to adust the length of each leg of the achor by adjusting the clove hitch, and it prevents side loading the biner against the tree. I hope my set up is explained clearly.

Anyways I was seeting up my anchor point on a tree this same way when my buddy asked if it is ok to tie webbing in a clove hitch, which dawned on me that I do not know... I figured it should be ok and even if it slipped in this setup, nothing would fail aside from unequalizing the legs, but this question now bugs me. I know you can interchange cords for webbing/slings with other friction knots like the klemheist or prussic, but I have not heard anything about a clove hitch. I did a few personal tests (tugging on webbing clove hitched to a biner in all sorts of directions) and it seems to be nice and strong and did not slip at all, but still wanted more answers. A search of the interweb came up with nothing on tests performed on webbing for a clove hitch. Has anything heard of or witnessed any reason not to use a clove hitch with webbing, particularly with a DMM biner? Maybee a linky or two to further reading as I can't find anything.

Side question: A buddy of mine has a technique that makes me uneasy. He has been climbing for 20+ years and when he ties webbing to a tree (10" or more in diameter) he wraps the webbing around it about 3-5 times and then ties a couple quick overhand knots to the anchor rope, no clove hitch. It seems to work fine as there is a ton of friction from the wraps, but I ask him to at least tie a bite and clip it. The amount of friction from wrapping two times around a tree can be alot, so 3-5 times I could see the webbing breaking before slippage, but the few overhand knots still freaks me out and I have not read any sort of data or did any tests. Opinions anyone? Other quick ways to tie webbing off to a tree with only a biner? Thanks in advance. (I sometimes sling the tree, and then clip a bite to the sling, but I like to keep my slings for leading only, not slinging trees for afternoon TR sessions)

What? I'm not quite sure what you're describing - Clove hitching the end of webbing to a biner without tyingit off??? Anyway...

Water knot

I use a clove hitch all of the time with webbing for a slackline. Works great!!

an alternative to the clove hitch for webbing that is a little cleaner is the follow through girth hitch, with a back up.

I'll post pictures of what I do for tying webbing to a tree, with a couple of other options, and my buddies method that I don't like. My method is used for quick TR set-ups and this is the fastest method I have come up with that is also secure when using a static, and apears to be OK for webbing too but I am not sure. It seems like it should be but I wanted to hear some opinions. I have been using this method for years but was never taught it, it just made sense to me. I'll post the pics when I get home from work.

Yes, a clove hitch in webbing to a carabiner will function the same as one in rope.

It sounds like the only difference between what you are doing and your buddy is the way you attach the end of the rope to itself after wrapping it around the tree. I'm guessing your buddy is using some form of mule knot, not just a couple overhand knots.

A better system than either of your ways is, like you said, tie an overhand/8 on a bight in the working end and clip with a carabiner. This allows for more range of motion than a clove because the carabiner and run along the rope if the anchor angle gets changed a bit, and it is more secure than some funky overhand setup.

The tree wrap and clip back onto itself is a quick and effective way to attach a rope to a tree and is used commonly in swift-water rescue due to the massive forces put on the system. The advantages of wrapping the tree is that it causes less damage.

That said, my favorite way to attach a rope to a tree is a bowline with a fisherman's backup. With webbing, I prefer to basket hitch, which is like gioth hitching except that you simply clip both ends together with a carabiner rather than pull one end through the other. The advantage is that it doesn't tighten on the tree and avoids the pulley effect. Also, you can add another level of redundancy by taking the two ends of the webbing sling and tying them with an overhand like a master point.

Evan

Matt, I use chain links on my line. This works great; best part is, its adjustable.

T Seas wrote:I was out climbing with a buddy and in my TR set up I usually use static line but this day I was using webbing. My set up of choice right now is to wrap the rope around the tree twice, tie an 8 on a bite on the end with plenty of tail, clip a biner to the bite, and then clove hitch it in place to the lenth of rope going to the anchor point.

And erm yeah you can use your sling for a kleimheost whatever but if you do I'd recommend against using it for anything else... The friction does bad stuff to the sling and you don't want to be using it to hang your life off of. Just a thought from reading your post

Yes, you can tie a clove hitch in webbbing, I have pull tested to failure numerous clove hitched webbing samples. However, tying a clove hitch is one of the weaker ways to terminate the webbing. You can expect about 30% strength reduction offset of the webbing's rating. But whatever, that is strong enough for most climbing applications.