How to Tie Basic Knots

[CraigHardy]

Must Know Climbing Knots​

If you haven't seen my (very long) thread on everything knots, please check it out here. In that thread, I covered just about every knot that piqued my interest in one of my favorite knot books. While the book did cover over 100 knots, I'm not sure it included all of them. With that in mind, I decided to start a new thread that discussed climbing knots in particular. After all, it's climbing that I'm most interested in, so this should be a much more interesting thread than the one where I simply rehashed random content from a book. This thread will be more brief though. I'll only discuss six or seven knots here (maybe more). No need to go into some weird esoteric rope work on this page.

 

[CraigHardy]

Figure-8 Follow Through​

One of the most basic beginner climbing knots that's learned is called the Figure-8 Follow Through. The reason this one is so common is because it's the one that ties you into your harness. It's been pretty much established to be "the one" everyone uses. And after the knot is tied, it's followed up with a Fisherman's knot to make it super secure. I'll go ahead and demonstrate this knot below.

To tie this knot, I began with a regular Figure 8. To start, I made a bight with one end of my rope.



After that, I brought the working end around the backside of the standing part.



Then, I brought the working end of the rope up and over the right side of the newly formed loop and then through the loop. I pulled both ends of the rope to make it semi-tight. Not too tight - just firm and in place. That gave me a Figure 8 knot.





At this point, I'll begin with the "follow through" portion of this knot. To do that, I'll take the working end of the rope and fish if through the carabiner.



Then, with the working end, I'll trace exactly along the lines of the Figure 8 knot. I'll feed the end of the rope through and follow where the existing knot goes.



And once I'm done with that, I'll have the Figure-8 Follow Through knot.



But wait - that's not all. To make an already super secure knot even more secure, I'll finish up with a Double Fisherman's knot, which will secure the working end to the standing part.



I'll cover the Fisherman's knot down below.

 

[CraigHardy]

Triple Fisherman's Knot​

This is the knot most rock and tree climbers use to make homemade prusik loops. It's excellent for connecting two ropes together, but the prusik loop thing is where it's at. The Fisherman's knot is very secure and when you add additional wraps to the single or double, its security is strengthened even more.

For this example, I'll use two different colored ropes and combine them as one. I figure the different colors will make my demonstration more clear.

To start off, I'll place both ends of the ropes on a table, end to end and next to one another.



Then, I take the working end of one rope and place if over the other rope.



I'll give the other rope a wrap.



And then a second wrap. And a third wrap after that.





After that, I'll take the working end of the rope and, making sure to pass over its own standing part, feed it under both wraps, up and out the top.



To tighten the knot, I'll pull both ends of the rope.

To finish this knot, I'll follow the same instructions for the other rope. For my example, I basically attached the orange rope to the black and the black to the orange. Take a look.



When the two ropes are pulled away from one another, the knots come in contact with each other. These knots are strong!

 

[CraigHardy]

Flemish Bend/Figure 8 Bend​

This is a very popular knot that's considered very solid. It can hold a good amount of weight. As you'll see below, it's not likely that this knot will pull out. It's great for connecting two ropes together.

I'll need two ropes for this knot. To start off, I'll tie a figure 8 in one of the ropes.



Next, I'll introduce the next rope. My goal is to trace the figure 8's curves with the second rope.



I'll continue matching the orange rope with the black rope, turn for turn.





To tighten this knot, I'll pull the ends of both ropes. This is what the finished knot will look like.



If I wanted to get fancy, I'd use the loose working ends to tie Overhand safety knots.



And if I wanted to get really fancy, I'd leave extra long working end tails so I could tie Double Fisherman's safety knots, but that's a story for another day.

 

[CraigHardy]

Alpine Butterfly Loop​

This knot is super helpful in so many ways. It basically creates a loop along a run of any rope, without the need of having an end of the rope available. All you need to tie this is some slack. Once the loop is tied, anything can be hung from it in either direction. This is a strong knot that's not going to come loose. It can form anchors and clip in points along any point of the rope. Thinking of how this one may be useful with tree work, tying this knot and then lowering it down to a ground guy to clip a new saw or tool to comes to mind. I also think it would be helpful to tie near my saddle so I have an additional clip in point for complicated pruning or takedowns.

Another less thought of use for this knot would be to isolate an area of damaged rope. Say you nick a piece of rope and you don't trust it anymore. You think it may break if pulled on. You can tie the Alpine Butterfly loop to essentially take the damaged part out of operation.

To tie this knot, I used my black rope, which is definitely the most flexible one I've got. The twists and turns don't show as well as my other colored ropes, but try to keep an eye on what's overlapping what.

To start off, I made a bight in the middle of the rope.



Then, I gave the bight two twists.



If you'll notice, there are now two loops, one on top and one on bottom. I'll take hold of the one on top and fold it under the one on bottom.



Again, I've got two loops. This time, I'll take hold of the bottom one and pass it through the smaller one on top.



To finish things off, I'll pull that loop all the way through until the knot is tight.

 

[CraigHardy]

Clove Hitch​

The Clove hitch is one of the most popular knots in the world. For good reason. It's a self tightening knot, meaning, the most tension that's put on it, the tighter it will get. This is an especially important knot for tree work. Whether it be climbing or lowering limbs, this one comes in handy all day long.

To tie this knot, I first made two loops with my rope. Take a look at the photo below and keep your eye on how the ropes are positioned. Do you see how the rope leaves the loop on top on the left side, but on the right side, it leaves the loop underneath? That's important.



Next, I took the right loop and slid it over so it sits on top of the left loop.



Then I clipped my carabiner onto the loops. Notice how the ends of the rope exit the knot between the loops.



To tighten the knot, all I did was pull the ends of the rope.



If I were to use this as some sort of termination knot, I'd certainly tie a safety stopper knot at the end of my rope. Also, if I were going to use this knot to lower limbs, I'd finish things off with a double overhand knot or something with the two ends of the rope.

 

[CraigHardy]

Prusik Knot​

This knot is universally accepted as one of the most popular and useful climbing knots out there, not only for rock climbers, but for tree climbers as well. This one is extremely helpful for ascending, maneuvering around the tree when you're saddled in, self rescue, and descending. The knot easily slides along a climbing rope when there's no tension on it, but locks right up the moment weight is put upon it. It's also bidirectional, meaning, it slides and locks in both directions.

To tie this knot, I first created a Prusik loop with an 8mm diameter rope. Then, I made a bight with one side of the loop and placed it on top of my climbing rope.



Next, I bent the bight around the climbing rope.



After that, I lifted the end of the bight so I could easily pass the other side of the Prusik loop through it.



And finally, I gave the climbing rope two and then three wraps with the Prusik loop.





After I pulled the ends tight and dressed the knot, it was ready to go.

 

[CraigHardy]

Munter Hitch​

If you ever go looking for belay devices for either rock climbing or tree work, you'll find yourself in a sea of steel and aluminum. There are tons of things that will help you descend from a rock or a tree. If you're a climber, you really should pick a device up. They range in cost from just a few dollars to $100 and up. I saw a figure 8 I liked the other day. I think it cost $7.99. That's not bad.

Sometimes, belay devices break, fall out of trees, or just get lost. It's times like these you'll want to employ a backup belay...knot. That's where the Munter hitch comes in. It's basically a knot that can be used with a regular carabiner. No additional fancy device needed. The trouble with this hitch is that it can be hard on climbing ropes, so you wouldn't want to use it all the time. Every so often is fine, but it can add a lot of wear and tear to whatever you use as a rope.

To tie this hitch, I made two bights in the middle of my rope. If you were at the top of wherever it was you'd want to descend from, you'd created your bights right in front of you.



Next, I'll give the bight on the right two twists. Notice which way I twist. I bring the far side under, toward the other bight.



I'll take my carabiner and clip to the ropes from underneath.



And finally, I'll pull both ends of the rope and I'll have a wonderful Munter hitch. Notice how the bottom rope is away from the gate of the carabiner. This is for safety. Make sure yours is like this too.

 

[CraigHardy]

Popular Knots for Arborists (Tree Climbing)​

There is a specific set of knots that are especially helpful for arborists. The tree care industry calls for somewhat unique tasks and having the knowledge of knot tying in your arsenal can make or break a career. Whether it be knots for climbing or knots for rigging, the story is the same; the climber needs to know what he's doing. If he doesn't, something terrible can happen. Use your imagination here - I'm sure every last awful thing has gone down in this industry. Safety and experience is the most important aspect of tree care. Without those two things, it's going to be a doomed job.

In this thread, I've decided to demonstrate how to tie some of the most popular arborist knots. If you have any questions, ideas, or knowledge you'd like to share, please do so down below. I'd love to hear from you.

 

[CraigHardy]

Slip Knot​

Super simple and ultra useful, the Slip knot will take you about three seconds to tie. What's it good for? Picture yourself up in a tree. You forget how to tie the Alpine Butterfly loop and you need to have a different climbing saw passed up to you. Basically, you'll need a loop in your rope so your ground guy can attach the saw to it. Or, you'd like to lower something down to your groundman. Whatever it may be, you need a loop in your rope. Take a look below. I'll teach you how to tie the Slip knot. By the way, this is also a great stopper knot that's got tons of uses. Just remember - if you have nothing attached to the loop in this knot, it'll "slip" right out. So be careful.

To tie this knot, I first made a loop somewhere in my rope. Anywhere.



Then, I brought the top part of the rope under the loop.



I continued to pull that top part through the loop.



And finally, I pulled on that new loop and the bottom part of the rope to tighten the knot.



As I mentioned above and what's clearly visible now, this knot will pull loose if you don't have anything attached to the loop. Also, whatever it is you do have attached to the loop will be cinched upon. In other words, this loop will always tighten around any object attached to it.

 

[CraigHardy]

Clove Hitch​

The Clove hitch is a popular knot, not only for climbing, but for tree rigging as well. I've used this knot extensively while doing takedowns and I've seen other climbers use it as well. It's tried and true.

There are two different methods for tying this knot. I'll cover them both below. For both methods though, you'll need to back this knot up with two Half hitches. Basically, you'll tie the working end and the standing part together using the hitches.

To tie this knot, I'll first make a wrap around the branch with my rope.



I'll make sure the working end crosses over the standing part.

Then, I'll continue around the branch with the working end.



For this final step, you can either feed the working end underneath the second wrap, alongside the standing part or you can feed it straight up underneath the X. It's up to you. I think feeding it up under the X is better, as it applies more pressure on the working end of the rope.



Again, either way, you'll need to follow up with two Half hitches.

 

[CraigHardy]

Bowline Knot​

This is another very popular knot for arborists. It's used as a termination knot when rigging. Oftentimes, it's finished up with two Half hitches for security, but there's some controversy regarding that. In some circles, it's said that the addition of the Half hitches actually weakens the knot. I don't know how that occurs, but I'm not one to argue.

To tie this knot, I first make a small loop about a foot or two away from the end of my rope.



Then, I took the working end of the rope and fed it through the loop. I fed it from under the loop to over.



Next, I fed the working end behind the standing part.



And I continue on by feeding the working end back through the loop whence it came.



This is the Bowline knot itself.



And this is the Bowline loop.

 

[CraigHardy]

Running Bowline​

If you'd like a knot that tightens around an object, a Running Bowline is a great choice. This knot combines the strength of a regular Bowline with the tightening of a noose or a lasso. It's the best of both worlds. This is actually very popular with arborists because it tightens around limbs when rigging.

To tie this knot, I followed the exact same instructions as above, but before I did that, I had to feed the working end of the rope around the standing part.





At this point, I began tying the standard Bowline loop. I started with creating a loop in the working end.



Then I fed the working end through the loop, from underneath to above.



And then I completed the Bowline knot. To see instructions for that, check out the post that's directly above this one.



This is an example of how this knot can run and tighten around an object. I used my trusted log in this demonstration.

 

[CraigHardy]

Bowline on a Bight​

This is an interesting Bowline knot. It's sort of a doubled up version of the standard one. This knot isn't actually tied like a traditional Bowline would be. It's tied much differently.

To tie this knot, I first make a bight in my rope and then tied an Overhand knot.



Notice which way the knot is facing (which part of the rope is facing up and which is facing down.

Next, I took the loop and flipped it up and over the knot.



After that, I took hold of the ropes that feed through the knot to form the loop and began to pull.



What's happening here is the loop is tightening down around the knot while I'm pulling the ropes that feed the loop.

Finally, after I pull those ropes, the loop tightens completely around the base of the knot and the two ropes now become the new loop.

 

[CraigHardy]

Anchor Hitch​

This is one of the best termination knots known to man. It's actually my favorite climbing knot to use with a carabiner and saddle. It's very easy to tie and it holds very strong. I always use a stopper knot on the working end though because that's just how I am. As long as you've got five rope widths as a tail, you should be fine. They say this one doesn't come loose. I personally still like to use stopper knots with everything, just so I don't have to worry, but that's me. I do a lot of moving up in those trees and who knows what can happen to a knot while that's going on.

To tie this knot, I first bring the working end of the rope from under the carabiner up through it.



Then I take two wraps with the rope. Notice how the tension that's going to be put on the rope is closest to the spine of the carabiner.



Next, I feed the working end of the rope around the back of the standing part and then slide it through the wraps.



Making sure the tail is at least five rope widths long, I pull both ends of the rope to tighten the knot.

 

[CraigHardy]

Alpine Butterfly Loop​

This is a hugely important and useful knot for arborists. It essentially allows a loop to be tied anywhere in a rope. It doesn't matter if all you've got is the dead center portion of your rope. If you need a secure loop, this knot is for you. It's also very easy to tie. I can imagine using this loop to lower objects, such as chainsaws and pole saws, down to my groundmen and having them pass objects back up to me. I can't count how many times I've needed to have things passed up while I was in the tree. Before I knew this knot, I had everything tied to the end of my rope. While that worked, it wasted a lot of time.

To tie this knot, I placed my rope flat on the table. If you're in a tree, your rope will likely be hanging right in front of you in a straight line. That's fine. I then made a bight in the rope and twisted it twice.



If you'll notice, there are two loops in the rope. There's one up top. That was created by the second twist. There's another loop that was created by the first twist. In the above photo, that one is sort of closed up.

To continue on, I took the top loop and folded it back and under the bottom loop.



Then I took the new bottom loop (the original end of the bight) and fed it up and through the new center (top) loop.



When I pulled all the ends of the rope as well as the bight tight, I had a wonderful Alpine Butterfly loop.

 

[CraigHardy]

Munter Hitch​

When you don't have a repelling device, such as a figure 8, on hand, you may use the Munter hitch to descend from a tree. As long as you keep tension on the bottom part of your rope, it should work fine for you. Be warned though, because this hitch utilizes rope on rope contact to slow your descent, it can cause a lot of wear to your rope rather quickly. It's best to limit this hitch's use.

This knot is easy to use at any point along your rope. You don't need to find the end of the rope and work from there. A mid-section is fine.

To tie this knot, I first clipped my carabiner onto the rope. Notice that the rope is above the top part of the carabiner and under the bottom. That's important.



Next, I made a loop with the bottom portion of the rope. Notice that the part of the loop that's closest to the carabiner is on top.



After that, I brought both sides of the loop into the carabiner.





When I pulled both ends of the rope tight, the hitch was complete. It's upside down when the rope is loose, but once there's tension placed on it, it flips into the proper position.

 

[CraigHardy]

Round Turn & Two Half-Hitches​

This is an incredible knot for rigging. The multiple large round turns take a lot of stress off of the rope that holds the limb and the two Half hitches are essentially a Clove hitch. I'd say this is a secure knot to use with tree work.

To tie this knot, I first made two round turns around the log (limb), making sure to cross the working end over the standing part.



Next, I brought the working end of the rope around the standing part and fed the working end under itself.



Finally, I brought the working end around the standing part again and then I fed the working end under itself to create the Clove hitch. I pulled the ends of the rope to tighten the knot down.

 

[CraigHardy]

Blake's Hitch​

I love this knot. This is the go-to knot for tree climbers. Climbers use this knot all day long while spending time in trees. It's a friction knot that allows a climber to ascend a tree and then repel just as easily. There are tons of videos on how to tie this knot on YouTube, so if you'd like more background and usage information, I encourage you to search there.

To tie this knot, I first crossed the working end of my rope over the standing part.



Then, I wrapped the working end four times around the standing part, from bottom to top.



After that, fed the working end over the first wrap and then behind the standing part.



I continued to feed the working end under the lower two wraps and then out the side.



I pulled the tail tight and I had a nice Blake's hitch.





This hitch slides easily up the standing part of the rope, but when pressure is put on it from below, it'll lock in place to avoid sliding down.

 

[CraigHardy]

Prusik Knot​

The Prusik knot is one of the easiest knots to tie. All it takes is to wrap your prusik around your climbing rope a few times and you're done. This knot is very popular with tree climbers because it offers unparalleled maneuverability in the tree. It's generally used in conjunction with a carabiner and a lanyard and is especially popular with pruners. I used to use this all the time when I would prune large oak trees.

To tie this knot, I first took my prusik loop and placed it perpendicular to my climbing rope. Please note that these ropes are for demonstration purposes only. Neither rope would really be used in the field. These are cheap ropes from Tractor Supply.



Next, I took the knot end and fed it under the climbing rope and through the other side of the prusik. Also note that I would generally offset the knot so it wouldn't get in the way later on.



I then wrapped the prusik around the climbing rope two more times.





After I pulled tight, I had a nice Prusik knot.



The benefit of this knot is that it loosens from and locks onto the climbing rope or lanyard in either direction, making it especially versatile.