Archives for July 2018

The Guide's Blog

July 2018

The Well-Dressed Figure Eight Knot: Start Hard, Finish Easy

July 17, 2018 fmg-adminAlpine & Ice Climbing Guides' Tech Tips Rock Climbing

Why is a well-dressed figure eight knot even important? A messy eight will hold just as well as a neat one, so what's the big deal?  In climbing, the main reason most people tie in with a figure eight (and why the vast majority of climbing gyms require it) is because it is easy to recognize and therefore verify that it is tied correctly and will perform as expected. So dressing the figure eight is an important step in tying it as it will make it even easier to identify.

To properly dress the knot we can use a technique called start hard, finish easy. We start by pushing the standing part of the rope over while poking the working end through the hole this forms.

Once this step is complete, the working end only passes through the knot two more times. Both of these passes should be "easy." The video below illustrates this simple process: 

[embed]https://youtu.be/D_Fmb8C_gqo[/embed]




Read MORE