There鈥檚 an old saying: 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 know a knot, tie a lot.鈥�

It鈥檚 funny advice, really.听Outdoor sports enthusiasts should know lots of , but we should know how to tie them correctly听every time. As Clifford W. Ashley, author of the famous 1944 , wrote, 鈥淎听knot is never nearly right; it is either exactly right or it is hopelessly wrong.鈥�

As a climbing coach,听I am often surprised by how few knots some of my fellow outdoorspeople actually know how to tie. I鈥檝e watched other climbers struggle to remember how to tie bowlines to make anchors on trees. I鈥檝e seen tents blow away on Mount Rainier听because they weren鈥檛 lashed听down properly听and听hammocks collapse with people in them because they听were attached to trees with knots that weren鈥檛 load bearing.

Since most of us are听stuck at home looking for ways to pass the time, this is the perfect opportunity to get caught up on your knot knowledge.

Bowline

Common uses: Building climbing anchors around trees,听fastening a mooring line to a dock,听and hanging bear bags and tarps for camping

If there鈥檚 one knot to know, it鈥檚 the bowline. This is a quick and efficient way to tie听cord around an object. The biggest advantage of the bowline is that it鈥檚 easy to untie after听it鈥檚 loaded. If you听had bear bags for a group of ten听hanging off an overhand knot all night, it鈥檚听going to be hard to undo. (The weight from the bags would cinch the knot tight.)

To tie it:

Make a loop with the working end听of the rope (the part that鈥檚 being tied)听on top. Wrap the rope around an anchor, bring the working end up through the loop, wrap down and around the standing end of the rope (the end of the rope that鈥檚 not being used to tie the knot), then back down through the loop.听Since it鈥檚 so easy to undo,听it鈥檚 important to have a long enough tail left over鈥攁t least 12听inches鈥攕o it doesn鈥檛 come untied on its own.

Alpine Butterfly

Common uses: Attaching to a rope for mountaineering or glacier hiking,听fixing ropes and hauling,听and making听handles on handlines for hiking over technical terrain

This is one of the most popular knots for connecting to the middle of a rope, because it can be safely听loaded in any direction. Mountaineers will often clip into an alpine butterfly in the middle of their line with two locking carabiners when crossing a glacier on a rope听team. It鈥檚 also good for heavy loads, because it鈥檚 easy to untie, so big-wall climbers like to use it for fixed ropes and haul lines. If you need to set up a handline to help hikers up a short section of fourth-class rock, a听few alpine butterflies tied throughout the rope听make nice handles to grab.

To tie it:

Wrap a听rope around your hand twice.听Keep the first loop on your fingertips to separate it from the second loop. Pull the first loop toward you听and down, then thread it back up through both loops on the palm of your hand. Slide the knot off your hand, and cinch the ends tight.

Water Knot

Common uses: Making slings out of tubular webbing for climbing anchors,听repairing broken straps,听and tying webbing of similar sizes together

The water knot is often used to make slings for climbing anchors by tying a piece of tubular webbing into a loop. It could also be used to fix the webbing on a broken听backpack strap. And it鈥檚 a great solution if your shoelace breaks on the trail鈥攁ll you have to do is tie the broken ends back together. Need to tie听two short ropes into听a single long one? The water knot will do it. It鈥檚 simple to tie, and it holds well.

To tie it:

The water knot is essentially a retraced overhand knot. Tie a loose overhand in one end of webbing. Thread the other end in the reverse direction. Make sure it鈥檚 dressed neatly, without any twists in the webbing, and cinch it tight. For critical applications, like climbing anchors, make sure you leave long tails鈥攁t least six inches鈥攐n either side of the knot so it can鈥檛 come undone easily.

Prusik

Common uses: Fashioning ascending ropes, rescuing stuck climbers,听and backing up belay devices

The Prusik听is the most popular and versatile friction hitch. It鈥檚 tied with a Prusik loop鈥攎ade out of a smaller-diameter cord tied into a loop with a 鈥攚rapped around a larger-diameter rope. Unweighted, the Prusik can be pushed along a rope. Weighted, the Prusik听cinches听down on the rope it鈥檚 tied around and听anchors it in place. It鈥檚 sometimes used in mountaineering to ascend ropes in crevasse rescues. It鈥檚 also听commonly used in rock climbing as a backup for belay devices while rappelling or lowering another climber. The Prusik has a number of uses around a campsite: I鈥檝e used them to make adjustable-height听hanging tables that can be raised and lowered inside a big tent. They also help to adjust the tension of guylines, an ideal fix听when you need to keep your tent lashed down securely in blustery weather.

To tie it:

Wrap the loop around your main rope three times. Keep each pass around the rope inside the first wrap.听Make sure the double fisherman鈥檚听knot used to close the Prusik loop stays out of the way: for the first pass, use the end of the rope that鈥檚 opposite the double fisherman鈥檚 knot. These听wraps will form a barrel shape around the rope. Finish by pulling the rope back through itself. The Prusik hitch must be dressed well, so take a moment to get all the loops in order, and make it look nice.

Tensionless Hitch

Common uses: Anchoring ropes for ascending and rappelling, fixing handlines for hiking technical terrain, securing bear bags, and tying down tents

This hitch is superstrong compared to other knots, because it鈥檚 not really a knot at all. Usually, . But the tensionless hitch uses friction around a tree or post to hold a load, with a knot as a backup. This theoretically maintains the rope鈥檚 full strength and makes it very easy to untie after it鈥檚 been loaded. The biggest disadvantage of this hitch is that it requires a lot of rope.

To tie it:

Wrap a rope around a tree at least three times. Smaller-diameter ropes or smaller-diameter trees will require more wraps. Make sure there is sufficient slack in the working end of the rope, then tie an 听(a curved section of the rope) or a ,听and clip it to the standing end of the rope with a carabiner. If you don鈥檛 have a carabiner, you can also secure the working end of the rope by tying a bowline around the standing end. There should be some slack in the working end of the rope鈥攖hat鈥檚听why it鈥檚 called a tensionless hitch鈥攕o don鈥檛 worry about getting that tight. Let the friction around the tree do its job.

The post Knots to Learn for More Fun and Safety in the Mountains appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.