Connecting Ropes for Climbing and Mountaineering // DAVE SEARLE
Dave Searle Dave Searle
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 Published On Aug 31, 2024

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DOWN by Andy Kirkpatrick on Amazon.co.uk:
https://amzn.to/3Xm2FId

Petzl article on using Overhand vs Flat Figure bend: https://www.petzl.com/INT/en/Sport/Kn...

ALPINE SAVY Articles:
https://www.alpinesavvy.com/blog/flat...
https://www.alpinesavvy.com/blog/do-y...

Knots demonstrated in this video:

Offset knots:

Offset Overhand bend. AKA: OOB, Flat Overhand, Overhand knot, EDK (stands for European death knot which is a term I think we should stop using!). When tied correctly, dressed and stressed this is perfect for attaching two ropes together for rappelling / abseiling. Passes through a big carabiner for lowering easily and is quick and efficient to tie and untie.

Backed up Offset overhand bend: Good for mismatched rope diameters, heavy loads (simul rappelling in rescue scenarios), wet or icy ropes, thiner or slicker ropes or when you just want to feel more comfortable with the knot. Much better than the Flat Figure of 8 bend!.

Gibbs knot: Probably the best offset knot (and as Andy says the one we should all be using) but not everyone knows it or uses it. Strong and way less likely to roll. Ideal for attaching two ropes off vastly different diameter for example a 6mm Radline and 9mm single rope.

Half Gibbs: Slightly smaller but harder to get the tails equal. Full Gibbs probably better and easier to use.

Flat Figure of 8 bend: European death knot? Don't use it. Not worth the risk of it rolling!

Inline Knots:
Double Fishermans: Great for attaching two dynamic ropes. Hard to untie when loaded.

Triple Fishermans: Stronger than a double so better for Tech cords or slippery dyneema. Good for building an anchor around a spike or tree for example.

Flemish bend: Strong and fairly easy to tie. Good for a lot of inline uses such as anchor building or fixing ropes. Hard to untie once loaded.

Ring bend AKA rethreaded overhand or waterknot. Similar to flemish bend but easier to tie and harder to untie.

Backed up reef knot. Reef knot with fisherman knots either side: Three knots to tie but is good if you are expecting heavy loads and want to untie the knots in a hurry.

Knots not to use.
Single fishermans: Not strong enough for climbing purposes.
Reef knot: Not strong enough for Climbing purposes and can shake loose.
Sheetbend: Not strong enough and also not good when shaken.

More knots with specialist uses in Andy's book!

00:00 Intro
01:42 Why do we connect two rope ends together?
04:07 Why Would you need to learn more than one knot?
04:42 Inline Vs Offset knots
07:42 Offset knots
07:53 Offset Overhand Bend
10:40 Backed up Offset Overhand Bend
12:00 lowering with OOB
13:03 "EDK"
13:41 The real EDK Offset Figure of 8 bend
15:06 Gibbs and Half Gibbs Knots
16:42 Down by Andy Kirkpatrick
17:20 Inline knots
17:30 Flemish Bend
19:36 Double Fishermans
21:34 Single Fishermans (!)
21:48 Triple Fishermans
22:17 Knots not to use
23:13 Final Thoughts
24:39 Outro

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