tying in to the sharp end

I've been climbing for many years now. And have seen many knots that you can tie in with. What is everyone knot of choice? Is it different on top rope sport,trad. top rope ice lead ice? The best knot out there is the trusted figure eight follow through. but my knot of choice is the bowline on a bight with the Yosemite finish and a tuck. but I've seen some crazy knots out there. Like the trident. thoughts?

The fancier the knot, the more likely somebody is to fuck it up (dark, tired, blizzard etc.).

Just stick to the old figure 8 please, it is by far the easiest knot for your partner to visually inspect before you start on up.

Usually if I see some fancy tie in knot I'm not too thrilled as it can be a sign that the particular climber has a thing for doing things differently for no other reason than to be different and not just to be as safe as possible.

The ONLY place for a bowline as a tie in knot is when one is tying in without a harness, i.e. directly to the rope. It works VERY well for that.

charlie c wrote:I've been climbing for many years now. And have seen many knots that you can tie in with. What is everyone knot of choice? Is it different on top rope sport,trad. top rope ice lead ice? The best knot out there is the trusted figure eight follow through. but my knot of choice is the bowline on a bight with the Yosemite finish and a tuck. but I've seen some crazy knots out there. Like the trident. thoughts?

coldfinger wrote:...Usually if I see some fancy tie in knot I'm not too thrilled as it can be a sign that the particular climber has a thing for doing things differently for no other reason than to be different and not just to be as safe as possible. The ONLY place for a bowline as a tie in knot is when one is tying in without a harness, i.e. directly to the rope. It works VERY well for that.

Sport routes where I'm likely to take some falls: Yosemite Bowline.

All other cases: Retraced Figure 8.

bowline on a bight? really? with a locker?? seems stupid

S Denny wrote:bowline on a bight? really? with a locker?? seems stupid

When sport climbing, I use a bowline since it doesn't tighten up with the repeated falls I take while working a project. For "trad" climbs, I use an 8 knot.

I never tie in to the sharp end.

I use a standard fig 8 for every thing.

If Im working a project that I know I will whip are few times on than while a tie my 8 aninsert a 4-6in long piece of 2mm cord snaked into the knot to pull on when the knot is super tight.

Single bowline for almost everything. Learned to tie the bowline my first day of climbing. Not much fun to fall or lower to the ground with a single goldline rope looped around your waist. Back in the day before we all checked each other every 5 minutes (Which is good) I failed to finish it with half a fishermans knot (safety knot) and realized it just before the swing over to the stovelegs. Did it one other time as well. When I do long routes I use a figure 8. But for shorter routes I swear by the BOWLINE. I take so many whippers I need a knot that unties easily. I once calculated that I get three routes more per month because I don't spend 5 minutes trying to untie my FIGURE 8. Seriously I timed them. No I didn't!

Here is my experience. You may have seen something different but remember, I'm right and if you disagree with me, you're wrong. Bowline, British and Scottish climbers. Exclusively.

And Adam Ondra. He´s not British. Scotland is part of Britain by the way and the Scots are British, whether they like it or not.

I like to tie in with 12 pound test fishing line with a square knot. Although not safe, this allows all my climbing to feel more adventurous.

Knot Strength
NO Knot 100%
Double Fisherman's 65-70%
Bowline 70-75%
Water Knot 60-70%
Figure 8 75-80%
Clove Hitch 60-65%
Fisherman's 60-65%
Overhand 60-65%

remaining strength of a rope with these knots tied. Courtesy of sterlingrope.com/media/docu…

Dave77 wrote:Knot Strength NO Knot 100% Double Fisherman's 65-70% Bowline 70-75% Water Knot 60-70% Figure 8 75-80% Clove Hitch 60-65% Fisherman's 60-65% Overhand 60-65% remaining strength of a rope with these knots tied.

Figure-8 follow through with an alternate stopper method. I used to use a Bowline but with modern kernmantle ropes it has a tendency to loosen up. Agreed though it does untie quite readily after a fall or weighting.

-sp wrote: Generally considered a very bad idea in the context of technical rock climbing.

I tie an overhand loop and then clip into my Swiss seat with a single non-locking oval. :-)

Just read this and remembered this thread.

rockandice.com/news/2201-tn…

There are several good points here. I had to laugh about tying knots in the end for rappel because I was interested teaching a couple people to climb and had them put knots in the end for a rappel that went to a walk off ledge but still had a large drop beyond it. A guy on the next route admonished us never to tie a knot and I just thought he was an idiot. Clearly it would save a few people each year if the would do it. How many would die from stuck knots?

1Eric Rhicard wrote:Single bowline for almost everything. Learned to tie the bowline my first day of climbing. Not much fun to fall or lower to the ground with a single goldline rope looped around your waist. Back in the day before we all checked each other every 5 minutes (Which is good) I failed to finish it with half a fishermans knot (safety knot) and realized it just before the swing over to the stovelegs. Did it one other time as well. When I do long routes I use a figure 8. But for shorter routes I swear by the BOWLINE. I take so many whippers I need a knot that unties easily. I once calculated that I get three routes more per month because I don't spend 5 minutes trying to untie my FIGURE 8. Seriously I timed them. No I didn't!