What is everyones opinion on the best hitch for tying a rope to another rope, where direction of pull will be parallel (same direction) as the other rope? i.e. rolling hitch, sailors gripping hitch.
Also, while were on the subject, I would like to also discuss tying to a smooth pole. Ashly describes an alternate version of the rolling hitch to use on a pole. But I have tried both and I dont see how the alternate version is any better than using the rolling hitch. Neither of them slipped.
Does adding extra turns on the rolling hitch, before the final half hitch, make it more secure or can it make it weaker?
Would the Icicle hitch work?
Willeke
not sure if I have ever seen it. Do you have a link ?
Is this the icicle hitch?
Willeke
hmmm, that one didnt seem to hod very well.
I did however try it with 2 half hitches at the end instead of one and i seemed stronger.
1734 & 1735
have you tried the prusik Knot?
What is everyone[']s opinion{s} on the best hitch for tying a rope to another rope
I’ll add that it also depends (in addition to factors cited above) on your criteria for “best”:
does the hitch need to grab on some sudden, “shock” loading, or might the load be
applied smoothly and gradually; will the load be great or relatively light; do you need
to be able to easily release and re-tension the hitch (as e.g. a caver ascending a rope
must), or is it attached for a steady one-time pull; do you want to untie the knot, or
might it be semi-permanent???
On the last factor, consider that on lobster longlines the “snoods”/“gangions” that
connect a pot bridle (& hence pot) to the longline are tied more or less permanently,
chopped (& sometimes removed, or not) when replaced; the longline is soft-laid
rope and the snood end is usually tucked into the lay. The lobstermen (the few
of whom I’m aware–small sample, nb) don’t seek complicated knots of many
gripping turns (which must run through the pot-hauler pinching wheel and thus
pose some problem) and have used e.g. a Clove Hitch and even simpler hitches
(Half-hitch, with SPart reeved through lay; HH with end reeved through lay).
These hitches need to work in each direction, since the “trawl” (longline) might
be set out in opposite end-wise orientation (I don’t think it’s checked beforehand),
and in any case might be hauled from either end.
In some circumstances what might be “best”–and yet which I don’t see books
presenting–is a combination of knots: make a HH or double HH, or two, and
finish off with some tighter, complete knot–which finishing knot will see little
of the tension passed through to it from the guard, Half-Hitch structures.
(Maybe one choses a Strangle knot for the finish, since it stays tied; the
parallel-load resistance work is then done almost entirely by the guard
structures.)
Oh, and then there is the issue of what general form of material are you
tying with–i.e., a single end of rope (or tape) or a bight end of a sling?
–dl*
I would be interested in your opinion of how you find the KC Sling hitch performs in your application
http://igkt.pbwiki.com/f/double%20KC%20sml.jpg
Details on http://igkt.pbwiki.com/KC-Hitch
Derek
Ashley’s illustration numbers are helpful for identification of particular references,
so you might point to what you are talking about in that way, for us to be sure of.
Generally, yes, adding some extra turns to a friction hitch’s coil will give some
increase of grip.
Of the many such knots available to use, alternatives to some favored or
recommended one should be chosen per situation as defined by materials
(cordage and object). Factors such relative diameters or shape or flexibility
and others can influence the hitch behavior.
An image of the Icicle hitch can be found with a search of the Net, but one
must know how to weed out the imposters! Wikipedia follows from Brion Toss’s
books’ image, and he is not one to get it wrong. But it is also an image that
hides part of the knot. Here is one from the arborist world, though one must
note that arborists have adopted the original knot–which was loaded on
a single end–into a pull-on-both-ends version (which I think does not grip
as surely). In this image (www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=14609&d=1091055832 )
the RED end should be loaded, to be the original “Icicle hitch”.
Willeke’s URLink is similar to but not quite the same knot.
Here’s another good one to try (and perhaps you will add some turns to it):
http://storrick.cnchost.com/VerticalDevicesPage/Ascender/KnotPages/KnotBlakes.html
knudeNoggin