knotology (Very pic heavy)

[E]

Sweet. That's a knot I was never really able to get down. Don't know why, it's like monkey's fists and math tests are my doom.

haha ditto for me bro. exactly the same.

[AmirMortal]

That's fun! I love the Monkey's Fist, I always end up using it decoratively though, as I can rarely find a practical use. I used to keep a very pretty one (tied using 3/8" static line, it had a cool sennit handle, and a 1-1/2" hardwood ball as a core) in my car for "demonstrative" purposes.

[Lenny]

That's fun! I love the Monkey's Fist, I always end up using it decoratively though, as I can rarely find a practical use. I used to keep a very pretty one (tied using 3/8" static line, it had a cool sennit handle, and a 1-1/2" hardwood ball as a core) in my car for "demonstrative" purposes.

The monkeys fist is for heaving lines. Or adding weight to the end of a line or rope.

[Lenny]

I hate bumping posts.......


Anybody got anything new?

[AmirMortal]

I hate bumping posts.......


Anybody got anything new?

Well, not new, I just ran across this old pic. It was taken in front of an apartment I lived in in like 2001. The city utility company let this persist of about a year, even after a few complaints. I lost all the others that documented the whole thing, but this was hanging at roughly the same height as the original pole, which was simply cut out from under this dangling bit. I thought this pic was gone too, but my somehow my mother had gotten a hold of it, and returned it to me last time we went up to visit her.



ETA: Natural fibers under load in the weather... in Florida... = Good idea

[Lenny]

Awesome, simply awesome!

[ninja-elbow]

That unknown knot is what we called "some half hitches and a prayer" or "hope knot".

"I hope and pray this fucker holds." was heard a lot on the deck plates.

ETA: I'm still working on an eye-splice in 3 strand tutorial but things have been busy for me. Got a marlin spike from 1984CJ though and it oughta' make that tutorial much easier. I made the Hell out of them eye-splices on the St. Louis and Shasta on mooring lines and then later made some money off of them in the SCA when people wanted nice tent pole stays that were period.

[AmirMortal]

That unknown knot is what we called "some half hitches and a prayer" or "hope knot".

"I hope and pray this fucker holds." was heard a lot on the deck plates.

ETA: I'm still working on an eye-splice in 3 strand tutorial but things have been busy for me. Got a marlin spike from 1984CJ though and it oughta' make that tutorial much easier. I made the Hell out of them eye-splices on the St. Louis and Shasta on mooring lines and then later made some money off of them in the SCA when people wanted nice tent pole stays that were period.

I've also heard it called "Two twists and a Tangle"!

[Lenny]

Its a Might Knot. "It might hold, it might knot."

[ninja-elbow]

Forgot about that one.

[mr. right-wing]

Monkey fists:

[muscleman_coffeemesto]

Monkey fists:

So is that knot for impromptu hangings?

[jamoni]

I brought my Self Rescue/Rigging/Ascending Kit home for some snapshots. I keep this kit in a small pouch on the back of my harness.

It's most frequent use is when I need a biner or runner to rig something, and can't wait to have one sent up the tower. I try to limit them to light load bearing, since they are also my rescue kit.
The second most common use is ascending. We don't have any special ascending gear, since we do it so rarely. I've done it twice this year. I make a prusik

around the rope or mast with the medium runner, and use one biner to clip that to my chest D-ring. Below that prusik, I make another one with the long runner. This one hangs free. I put my foot in the long runner, stand up, and slide the chest prusik up the rope. I then hang from the chest, and slide the long runner up. Yes, it takes forever.
The least common usage is self rescue. All of our tower crews are rescue trained, and we have rappel and safety ropes available. However, it is conceivable that an emergency could occur which would render my rescuers unable to help me, or I may need to get down so quickly (fire!) that I can't wait for them to climb above me with the rescue gear. In that case, This kit gives me the ability to rappel down the load rope quickly and safely. (The load rope is the rope rigged to the tower to raise and lower buckets, tools, etc.) If the rope is out of reach, I can hitch all the runners together, use the biners as a weight, and use it like a bolo to get the rope and pull it to me. I actually do this a bit at work, since the rope has a tendency to wander off.
First I'd secure the load rope, either making sure it was all the way to the pulley, or that I had both ends. I'd run that through the figure eight, and clip it to my harness with a biner. Then, if I had the time, I'd make a prusik above the figure eight with my medium runner, and clip that to my chest D-ring. This is my safety: If I lose control of the rope and fall too fast, it will cinch up around the rope and catch me.
Actually, I could get down the rope with only a biner, using a munter hitch:

This knot allows you to control the feed of a rope through a biner. It's good in an emergency, but tends to twist the rope pretty bad, so shouldn't be used unless necessary.
Or even with no gear, using a Dulfersitz wrap. However, this gear allows me a more controlled descent, as well as the option of using a safety.
And if worst comes to worst, and somehow I need to, it can also be made into a makeshift, if not too comfortable, harness:



The Klemheist is a knot that I use often for rigging pulleys. We have to hoist antenna onto pipe masts, and often the easiest way is to rig the pulley right at the top of the mast. Some folks will just HOOK a big biner into the hole at the top, and maybe tape it if they feel froggy. This is much safer:
I usually tape it in place, because sometimes the load will jump a little, deweighting the line, and allowing the knot to loosen up and slide a hair before it tightens down. You can use the Prusik for this as well, but IMHO this holds better.


This is just your garden variety butterfly knot. It's great for hoisting things up the line. Say a climber above you needs something you have, you just tie this knot in the load line, clip your tool or whatnot into it, and he can pull it up, without bothering the ground crew. It's also good for hoisting multiple objects without them banging together.

Well, that's all I got right now. Be safe!

[shrapnel]

*wolf whistle*
Is that a marlin spike in your pants, or do you just like your impromptu harness?
[/oaf]


My mental image of you, jamoni, now looks something like this:





Also, you are out of toilet paper.

[mr. right-wing]

Monkey fists:

So is that knot for impromptu hangings?

No, I just tied em off with a noose, no hangings involved!

[AmirMortal]

Monkey fists:

So is that knot for impromptu hangings?

No, I just tied em off with a noose, no hangings involved!

If you tie the noose in the other direction, in the end, you get a handle:


Mine is 5mm technora, with an old mouse ball in the core.

[AmirMortal]

Jamoni, Awesome post man!

I use the Klemheist for all kinds of tasks, great knot. Also the Munter's hitch can be indispensable. I like the improvised harness with the web loops, I'll have to remember that one.

We don't have any special ascending gear, since we do it so rarely.

Yeah, I have collected a bunch of great gear over the years, and now most of my ascenders/descenders just take up room in my kits. I don't get to do very much on rope work anymore. I mostly just use my harness for fall arrest/positioning, my ropes and sheaves for hauling, though my chalk bag gets a lot of use for small/light tools. Just for fun though here are a few pics.

When you started talking about ascending, at first I thought you meant this way, with handled ascenders, and a Croll:




Some of my old hardware, there's more, but I'd have to dig it out.


Knife/marlin spike and Leatherman on lanyards:


I'm curious, when you are working, what harness do you use/prefer? Ive been using a Ropeworks version of the Yates Rigger/Tower harnesses, in different iterations, since 2003:

[ninja-elbow]

Oh Shrapnel, you made coffee come out my nose.

[jamoni]

Shrapnel, your mental picture is pretty much dead on. Any of my friends would recognize m from your photo.
Amir, we use the DBI-Sala Exofit XP. They are a little heavy, but they are super sturdy, and pretty comfy. And since the company pays for them.... well, I'll take it!
How do you like the mechanical ascenders? I've thought about getting one, but filed it under "Shit I can do with what I have, so why buy something else?"
We're going to be flying some microwave dishes and eliptical coax this week, and I plan to take my camera up, so hopefully I can get some rigging pics.

[AmirMortal]

How do you like the mechanical ascenders? I've thought about getting one, but filed it under "Shit I can do with what I have, so why buy something else?"
We're going to be flying some microwave dishes and eliptical coax this week, and I plan to take my camera up, so hopefully I can get some rigging pics.

Looking forward to pics!

I actually haven't gotten to use them for climbing rope much, most often I've rigged it into a "I'm to lazy to have ever bought a wall hauler or pro traxion" progress-capture rig for hauling, usually something like this:



In this picture, the monkey's fist represents the load being hauled. I don't use it for more that 200lbs, and I'm not worried about the D/d, the swallows of the ascender are contoured just right, and as soon as the line has load, the ascender rocks to about a 45 degree angle. It's clunky, but it works. Very useful for hoisting a piece into place, then connecting it, without having to hold the load, or go out of your way to tie it off. Only useful if you can reach your sheave though, obviously.

[Lenny]

FOR THE LOVE OF PETE!!!!!!!!!! Either Whip those ends or melt them or some thing!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I was internet yelling and I always say for the love of pete!

[offcamber]

Here is a good step by step (animated) site for knots:

http://www.animatedknots.com/albright/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com

It will play the full sequence, then you can select the individual steps under the animated image.

I've learned a bunch from there since they make it pretty foolproof.

[Lenny]

I know ya'll are a bunch of pro's out there......

Why does a three strand eye splice have to be farkin difficult to start! I think I am getting the hang of it though. I went out this morning and spent .60 on 2 feet. It took me 27 minutes to get it right....grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[ninja-elbow]

I used to number the strands with a marker - this was 4" and 5" hauser though. I'd always forget which strand was which as soon as I got that first tuck in.

Also, later in the SCA when I did eye-splices for folks (for money BTW) and their tent stays, I'd just not care as long as it dressed up right. Works fine in sisal or natural - not so much on synthetic.