2 ms·
Just curious, why is the clove hitch so high on the list. I hate that knot, and never understood its widespread popularity. It tends to jam and slip. I guess t
by GuB-42 6y ago
Just curious, why is the clove hitch so high on the list.
I hate that knot, and never understood its widespread popularity. It tends to jam and slip. I guess that there are cases where these combined properties are useful, for example if you want to make things adjustable, but most of the times, I just find it unsafe and hard to control.
I did a bit of sailing and while the clove hitch was taught early, we almost never used it. I'd say the most useful list include, from memory: bowline - figure 8 - two half hitches - cleat hitch - reef knot, and of course, proper coiling.
About the reef knot. It is also called the square knot, and it should be used only when appropriate (ex: on reefing), it can be dangerous when misused.
I also tried a more... adult kind of knot tying and the clove hitch is generally a bad idea.
- roessland 6y agoIn multipitch climbing the clove hitch is used to attach yourself to every belay. In this situation adjustment is useful. It usually only holds body weight, and it's always tied in a carabiner, so you can slide the carabiner out instead of untying. It doesn't slip with climbing ropes either. So it's perfect for climbing.
- scarecrowbob 6y agoThis. It's what I use between my harness and the anchor to tie myself to the belay I have used it with, say, guy lines on a tent, and it is finicky there, or around a tree... but with a 9mm climbing rope and a carabiner it's quite good. It's easy to inspect, it is easy to tell if you've tied a girth or munter hitch on accident, and it's easy to untie by removing the carabiner. Best of all, it's very easy to adjust without fully undoing the knot, and so you can change the length of the tether quickly.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- qbasic_forever 6y agoI was taught to use the clove hitch as a fast and easy to check way to secure something, typically for a backup to a primary anchor or knot. Like once you get up to the top and are anchoring in you can throw a quick clove hitch on as a backup while you get a stronger anchor setup. We also used it in crevasse rescue situations as a backup for the prusik/friction hitch.