Clove hitching climber in the middle of the rope

On multi-pitch climbs with 3 climbers, is it safe to tie in the middle climber with a clove hitch?

Yes, clove hitch would work but why not do an 8 on a bight?

Alpine girth hitch

This is called a cow's tail and a figure eight or clove hitch aren't the best options here.

A an alpine butterfly or overhand on a bight are better. I prefer an overhand because most climbers are familiar with this, most are not familiar with the butterfly. You can use a clove hitch or slip knot after you've tied the overhand to keep the tie-in caribiner from flipping.

If you are cragging and will not have need to untie from the rope, girth hitching with an overhand on a bight is also good option and better than the alpine girth hitch as it is hard knot, not a hitch. Tie an overhand on a long bight. Pass it through the 2 tie in points on the harness, over the head, under the feet. Slide the knot up to shorten the bight. One key benefit here is the elimination of the tie-in caribiner.

Another vote for the alpine butterfly.

I say get familiar with the alpine butterfly as well.

Chris Owen wrote:Alpine girth hitch

This. Easily adjusted, easy escape, fool proof (well....) and safe.

Bring a second rope, it get's pretty "busy" with three at a belay. Chopping a route up into such small bites is a pain too. Assuming there's good stances and room for three every 70' or so.

With two lines you can move three climbers up the wall and can double your rappel length if that's how you are getting back down. JB

Chris Owen wrote:Alpine girth hitch

I use this when shortening the rope for simul climbing, fast and foolproof in that application.

If you're going to tie in with a knot on a bite and use a biner to attach to the belay loop don't think that a screwgate is foolproof. I've seen gates spin open on glaciers more than once.

Butterfly knot

I'm a big fan of the clove hitch as an anchoring knot, but I wouldn't use it to tie in a climber. The reason is that the clove hitch might not behave well under the many varied rope motions that would be typical of a tie-in situation. The climber would have to continually check it to make sure it was fully tightened, because if it loosened at all, it could ride over the gate of the attaching carabiner, and even if that carabiner is a locker there would be a potential for failure.

Stick to the usual methods, either an alpine butterfly with one or two lockers or the step-through girth hitch.

Thanks guys, I like both of those options. The alpine girth is a neat trick if you are out of lockers.

Thanks!

Has anyone on here fallen on the Alpine girth hitch? Does it slid?

An inline figure 8 is a good knot to know for various anchor and or hauling scenarios.

However, its use as a mid line tie in is not a good choice.

It takes a load in only one direction; if it is loaded in the opposite direction the knot reverts to a slip knot. Not something you would want as a tie in knot.

Matt C - if you have any concerns that the alpine girth hitch might slip, you can use a bowline on a bight instead.

It is tied in a similar fashion to the alpine girth hitch in that the last step in tying the knot, you need to pass the bight over your body to complete the knot.

Tie the bowline with a double strand through your harness tie in points and after "the rabbit comes up out of the hole" pass the bight over your head to complete the knot.

Marty C wrote:An inline figure 8 is a good knot to know for various anchor and or hauling scenarios. However, its use as a mid line tie in is not a good choice. It takes a load in only one direction; if it is loaded in the opposite direction the knot reverts to a slip knot. Not something you would want as a tie in knot.

Are you confusing a figure 8 on a bight for the inline figure 8 (which is directional, as you pointed out)? I didn't see anyone mention the inline figure 8 before your post.

Brain - there was a post and video suggesting that you could use an inline 8 to tie into the middle of the rope.

After I pointed out that this was a less than ideal solution, the post/video was deleted by its author.

Ah, thanks. I was trying to figure out where that came from.

Thread ninja strikes again!

I personally usually use the alpine butterfly knot in situations like this, because I think it's neat, but is there any reason that it is preferable over a figure eight on a bight, which is more familiar to more climbers?

AaronJ wrote:I personally usually use the alpine butterfly knot in situations like this, because I think it's neat, but is there any reason that it is preferable over a figure eight on a bight, which is more familiar to more climbers?

Alpine butterfly is more resistant to loading along the rope (ie if the bottom climber falls)

Fig 8 could flip like when used as a rappel knot. Not that much bad would happen, it'd get caught up on the tie in.

Bowline on a bight.
Works well, looks great, no locker involved, people ask you "how did you tie that":

people.bath.ac.uk/dac33/hig…