Rock Climbing UK » Climbing Knot

Climbing knots – 5 essential knots that every climber should know

Gareth Hanson — Tue, 11 May 2010 19:20:45 +0000

…well every outdoor climber anyway. If you plan to only climb indoors at climbing walls then you’ll probably never need most of these knots. If you’re an outdoor climber, it is highly recommended that you have these 5 climbing knots in your repertoire.

1. The figure of eight knot

The first climbing knot that everyone is taught when they first learn to climb. It is the knot that most climbers use to tie the end of our climbing rope.

2. The clove hitch

In my opinion, this is the most useful knot for building a belay when you’re leading a climb. The beauty of the clove hitch is that it is adjustable – perfect for getting the right distance between you and your anchor points, and for equalising your anchors.

3. The overhand knot

A really simple and flexible knot. Perfect for building anchors for a top roping session, or for equalising a belay.

4. The Italian hitch

The Italian hitch climbing knot from Rock Climbing UK on Vimeo.

The italian hitch is ideal for use as a belay device if you choose a direct belay and the belay point is above you. It can also be used as a back up for novice abseilers, if they slip you can hold them on the Italian hitch.

5. The humble stopper knot

Use a stopper knot as a backup to prevent another knot from coming undone (and to keep things nice and tidy). Commonly used for the overhand knot, figure of eight knot and bowline knot.

I hope you enjoyed these videos, hopefully the first of many videos from Rock Climbing UK. Stay tuned, and as always your feedback is most welcome…

Climbing knots – 5 essential knots that every climber should know is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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The bowline climbing knot

Gareth Hanson — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:56:10 +0000

I’m told the bowline (pronounced ‘bow-lin’) is often used by cavers as it is a really quick climbing knot to tie your climbing rope to your harness, and easier to undo than the figure of eight climbing knot. In fact, it can be used whenever a loop at the end of a rope is needed.

Unlike the figure of eight knot, you don’t need to tie anything before threading it through your harness loops. There’s a video here, showing you how to tie it, although I would highly recommend that if you plan to use this knot to tie into your harness that you leave plenty of rope for a triple stopper knot (just to be sure).

This guy explains it in the same way as I have been taught. The rabbit comes out of his hole, around the tree and back into the hole again – brilliant!

The bowline climbing knot is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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The figure of eight climbing knot

Gareth Hanson — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:14:42 +0000

The figure of eight knot is probably the most commonly used climbing knot, and is the first one that you are taught when you learn to climb.

It is an absolutely bomb-proof knot, especially when you add a stopper knot, and as such is the first choice for most climbers for attaching the rope to their harness. It can also be used as part of your belay setup if you have run out of karabinas (I’ll show you how in another post).

Here’s a useful video showing how to do it. That isn’t me in the video, I found it on Youtube.

The figure of eight climbing knot is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.