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Better Friction Hitch?

bigjoe said:
@TonyGreenway or someone else please chime in and correct me if needed.

My thought is that Hitches only need to work in what we do in one direction, ie as tension is applied engaging the hitch. In other words as we put weight on the hitch. The reason I have read about a prusik melting is that depending on the diameter of the rope being used for the prusik, the # wraps, and type of rope determine how well a hitch seats itself against the main rope ie lineman lanyard, safety line, tether etc, all these determine how well a hitch slides. All these factors becomes more important with a prusik since it grabs both ways.


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Yes, in most of our uses, a uni-directional hitch is fine. @Wirrex is using a double-ended lineman's belt, though, and wants to continue using it to leapfrog over limbs by clipping in above the limb and unclipping below it. With this technique the hitch goes from being loaded in one direction to being loaded in the opposite direction. The standard prusik is probably the best hitch for such an application. There are other bi-directional friction hitches that you can lookup if you so desire. As for melting, I don't think it's a problem for most saddle hunters. I've melted a few split tails and ropes over the years, but always with fast descents when dropping quickly to a lower limb while swinging or escaping honeybees. :eek: Gentle descents and lineman's belt uses don't really run those risks.
 
Would other uni directional knots like the Klimheist and French Prusik work just as well?
 
TheTracker said:
Klemheist only grab in 1 direction.

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I'm generally bad with my terminology, but isn't that what I said? Most of our applications need for a grab in one direction, down. Would the ones I mentioned work better than a classic prusik because it would loosen easier?
 
Yes, they work wonderfully. The down side is that the french prusik has a chance of opening, when not under load, and failing to grip in the event of a fall. The klemheist, schwabisch, or distel hitch would be great.
 
Lu Rome said:
I'm generally bad with my terminology, but isn't that what I said? Most of our applications need for a grab in one direction, down. Would the ones I mentioned work better than a classic prusik because it would loosen easier?
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That is what you said my bad. I mistaked unidirectional for bidirectional.

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cedar paul said:
I use a Michocan in my srt systems and have used them for lanyard(linesman belt) .
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That's a good hitch I've used that and a distel with my rope wrench when I rec climb srt.

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TheTracker said:
That is what you said my bad. I mistaked unidirectional for bidirectional.

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Ha, no worries. The steepest part of the learning curve for me moving to a saddle has been all the climbing and rope terminology. Was figured I had it wrong.
 
TonyGreenway said:
Yes, they work wonderfully. The down side is that the french prusik has a chance of opening, when not under load, and failing to grip in the event of a fall. The klemheist, schwabisch, or distel hitch would be great.
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Awesome. Thanks!
 
does anyone use a clove hitch on a caribiner instead of a Prusik or ropeman on their tether. It is very easy to tie and untie and would mean I less piece of gear.
 
PtotheC said:
does anyone use a clove hitch on a caribiner instead of a Prusik or ropeman on their tether. It is very easy to tie and untie and would mean I less piece of gear.
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No I prefer a eye to eye hitch, a clove hitch tied onto a biner seems pretty dangerous to me.

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It is a very safe knot especially if you leave enough tail and tie a stopper.
 
PtotheC said:
does anyone use a clove hitch on a caribiner instead of a Prusik or ropeman on their tether. It is very easy to tie and untie and would mean I less piece of gear.
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If you use a clove hitch for life supporting purposes, PLEASE back it up with 2 half hitches. By that I mean tie the clove hitch, then take the tag end (tail) and tie two half hitches around the standing end (part running from saddle to tree). A clove hitch is prone to slipping (untying itself) if it's not secured in this way. A figure 8 stopper knot can also be used, but the half hitches are safer. One downside to tying directly to your saddle is the lack of quick, easy adjustment in the length of your tether.
 
PtotheC said:
does anyone use a clove hitch on a caribiner instead of a Prusik or ropeman on their tether. It is very easy to tie and untie and would mean I less piece of gear.
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That's an interesting idea. Back in the day it was common in DdRT systems to use a clove hitch for the rope snap/carabiner.The tail of which was used for the Tautline or later the Blakes hitch. I think it went out of favor though because if the bridge needed to be cut in an aerial rescue situation the tail may not be long enough and/or be left without a stopper knot. So bowlines, anchor knots (my favorite), etc took over that application.

I'm guessing part of the reason for using a clove hitch is because you can loosen it easily to adjust the length and then tighten it to hold position? What about using a Munter hitch? A Munter can easily flip flop to feed line in either direction and then you could lock it off when you want to hold position. It uses a little more rope with the lock off than a clove hitch but it would be easier adjusting.
 
brydan said:
That's an interesting idea. Back in the day it was common in DdRT systems to use a clove hitch for the rope snap/carabiner.The tail of which was used for the Tautline or later the Blakes hitch. I think it went out of favor though because if the bridge needed to be cut in an aerial rescue situation the tail may not be long enough and/or be left without a stopper knot. So bowlines, anchor knots (my favorite), etc took over that application.

I'm guessing part of the reason for using a clove hitch is because you can loosen it easily to adjust the length and then tighten it to hold position? What about using a Munter hitch? A Munter can easily flip flop to feed line in either direction and then you could lock it off when you want to hold position. It uses a little more rope with the lock off than a clove hitch but it would be easier adjusting.
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That is pretty much what it would be. The clove hitch it just a munter with one more loop.
 
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