Hey friends… I confess that I do quite a lot of tying and trying and am never sure what is worthy of discussion here, and what the exact procedure is for giving an innovation a name. But I feel compelled to do everything in my power to find out if something has a name so that i can give credit and use that name if extend the concept. I am pasting two video links below on what I am calling the “JRB Cinch”, a secure anchor which utilizes a rappel ring secured on the end of a rope with a Buffalo hitch and locked into place with a carabiner, connected with an ‘umbilical tether’. Of course, I am aware that Rappel rings have long been used in this fashion to create anchors, but I am not aware that anybody has published a variant where the carabiner is tethered onto the assembly and that tether provides an enabler for setting and retrieving the anchor with a pole. If you are aware of prior art or publication or a NAME for any thing like this, please let me know.
For background, in another recent thread here, I showed you a Bull Hitch Variant, that I am calling the Buffalo hitch. Well, the primary reason I created that was so that I had a secure anchor that I can reliably remove from a rappel ring, as an alternative to a Scaffold or Poachers knot which will bind up so tight that we might need to cut it off. This JRB Cinch uses the Buffalo Hitch and it sure is nice that I can always remove it if I want or need to.
Using a toggle to simulate a running loop is generally regarded as very old, although not extremely common. Clifford Ashley even has such a setup in ABOK #392, except he goes with the more daring choice of using a straight toggle for quick remote removal.
Along the lines of what you are doing, we’ve had discussions in the forum of retrieving a running loop either with a separate cord or with the unused tail of an on-the-bight loop to unshrink the anchor. It’s certainly safer than a straight toggle.
As far as an alternative to the jammy Scaffold Knot, I might suggest a Gnat Hitch. It only requires a single pass through the ring (if space is limited), uses little rope, has excellent security and I suspect that it will have better jam resistance than a Bull Hitch or a double/extended Bull Hitch variation.
ABOK #392 is the Eye Splice with Toggle and I suppose that would a no-ring, rope-only version of this. I am aware that Arborists will put a hitch on a rappel ring and use a carabiner in this exact fashion to create anchors. I have not seen a name for that though, and have never seen the use of an optimally sized ‘tether’ to connect the carabiner to the assembly, which accomplishes two things:
It can be used with a pole and hook to advance and position the hitch up the tree trunk. (this is a very useful feature for my climbers)
It enables remote retrieval: the retrieval line goes on the carabiner. As you will recall, we originally had the Stone/Stein knot and Fiddlestick as one option for a remotely retrievable anchor. I added the JRB Hitch and Saddle Hunter’s Hitch as options, but they are exploding hitches, and considered too complex by some and too risky by others.
Regarding Gnat, I am familiar with Gnat (and love it for some applications) and tried it and everything I know on this first… and with either one or two wraps around the ring. Gnat or any secure hitch will work of course. The ‘Buffalo’ is my preference for a few reasons:
It seems to always lay flat on the tree, which is the proper orientation for locking it with a toggle. Before loading, Gnat seems to orient 90 degrees perpendicular, and needs to be rotated to set it. Related, Gnat has the tail sticking out in a perpendicular angle, where Scaffold, Poachers or Buffalo has them going back, parallel with the standing end, and gives a double strand upon which to cinch the tether cord. Gnat with 2 wraps sits flatter on the tree trunk, but seems less stable and harder to set.
Some members of my audience and users of this hitch will execute rappels in the darkness, on a system with a ring on both ends of the rope and in order to retrieve the rope, will need to remove one of the rings (so that the entire rope will pull through). I find Buffalo easier to remove. When I get around to it, it would be fun to do some side by side testing for jam resistance and overall strength. I am very curious to compare Buffalo and Scaffold in overall strength.
When you say “Gnat with two wraps” do you mean that you are passing the line two times through the carabiner before finishing the Gnat Hitch? Perhaps you can explain the need for the modification.
As an aside, if you attached the tether cord to the tail and standing part of the Gnat Hitch, that would force tail to be in line with the standing part, as per your preference.
