Good knots, bad knots, and what not

Death Knot or a well-dressed flat overhand?

 

Social media discussions on climbing knots, as well as other methods, tend to go berserk. We throw half-baked arguments at each other, disagree, and the guy with the biggest guide badge wins. I decided to break it down a bit, and figure out why we disagree. I ask myself, in very general terms, what constitutes a Good Knot? 

This is not a technical article, so don´t hope for any final verdicts on EDKs, Yosemite Bowlines, or Girth Hitch Masterpoints. Hopefully, you might gain some insight into why you use the knots you use, and maybe you will understand what knots you should teach. Hopefully, this will add to more constructive discussions in the future.

What to use in your own climbing

Let me start with a statement:

A good knot for you is one that is technically adequate and fully mastered by your team.

"Technically adequate" means that correctly tied, and dressed, and applied in the right context, the knot does its job. This means, for example, that an offset (or "flat") overhand, aka "EDK", is technically adequate, while a figure-eight, used to join two ropes, is not. The flat overhand, if dressed, pretensioned and tied with long tails, has the strength needed, and provides other advantages as well. The figure-eight can fail under lower loads, even if you do everything right; it is not technically sound, despite looking like it would be stronger.

How about "fully mastered"? Here is the interesting thing. While the engineering of the knot can be tested in a machine, the team´s understanding of it can not. Mastery involves practice to the point where you can tie the knot with frozen fingers after a sleepless bivy; understanding the proper application of the knot, and the applications that should be avoided; recognizing the knot when your team mate ties it, not getting slowed down by a discussion on whether or not the method is OK.

In other words, what constitutes a good knot depends on you and your partner. An overhand on a bight might be perfect for you, if you find it easier to remember than an alpine butterfly. For me, as a guy who grew up with boating, two half hitches is standard, while mainstream climbing culture seems to completely ignore this great method. A good knot for you may be a bad knot for someone else. The main reason, of course, is that all knots are death traps if tied incorrectly, or used for the wrong purpose!

As you develop, and your volume of climbing grows, or you even start working with climbing, your repertoire of actively used knots grows. Like any master craftsman, you start using more tools and more specialized tools.

What to teach

But how about the beginner? What knots should you teach?

I will venture another statement (which I think a lot of would-be climbing educators online should consider):

A good knot to teach to beginners is a knot that is

• technically adequate
• simple
  
• versatile
  
• popular
  

Note that these are much narrower criteria. "Technically adequate" is the same as above (possibly with slightly tougher requirements in that if you teach it, it should have been thoroughly vetted by trusted authority, but that will need to be another post). But now we are dealing with someone who has little or no background in knot-craft, who is stressed by the exposure or group dynamics, and is having a very maxed out day. This person has little bandwidth to spare. 

To develop "mastery" in this situation becomes very hard, and we should pave the way by starting with knots that are simple. By this I mean easy to learn, easy to inspect, and obvious when wrong. (It is worth noting that such knots are also very useful for experienced climbers, when they end up in stressful situations. Bandwidth goes down under stress.)

The low bandwidth also means we should strive to teach as few knots as possible. As the consequence, the four or five knots we select need to be versatile - useful in a great variety of applications. the overhand on a bight is a great example.

Finally, we have no idea who this person will be climbing with, so we cannot know what a future partner likes. We assume, therefor, that they will be climbing in the local community. Just like we teach the standard commands used in our country or community, we teach standard knots. (I use the word "popular" in a slightly provocative sense.) Standards may vary between communities, but in my area we would be able to limit ourselves to

• figure-eight (for tie-ins and masterpoints)
• overhand on a bight (to create loops)
• clove hitch (for adjustable connections to carabiners)
• autoblock (as backup for abseiling)
• Flat overhand, "EDK", with backup knot (for joining ropes)
  

There are a multitude of alternatives to each of these, but teach all of those and the student will soon be overwhelmed and you will never finish on time. 

Side note: I could argue that the figure-eight is overly complex. An overhand on a bight is just fine for tying in, easier to understand, more obvious when tied incorrectly, uses less rope, and would reduce the cognitive load. (It is a bit harder to untie after long falls, but so what? Taking long falls is a specialist application!) However, here I will defer to the local climbing culture: the figure-eight is standard, and I want my students to be accepted by new climbing partners and use what is generally understood as good practice in climbing gyms.

Looking at a few knots

Finally, let´s look at some controversial, or at least debatable knots, based on the criteria I have listed.

Offset/flat overhand ("EDK"): Technically sound? Yes! Simple? Yes, but needs to be well set. It is not forgiving if you are sloppy. Versatile? Well, it has only one application as far as I know, but an overhand is an overhand. Popular? Depends on your community, but where I am from: yes! In writing this I am having second thoughts. The fact that the knot is pretty weak if tied poorly makes it less than optimal for beginners. It is possible that I will switch to teaching it with an extra overhand as backup. If you choose to teach it in the single configuration, be sure to mention the important details!

Yosemite bowline: Technically sound? Yes! Simple? Nope, there are some very important details in how you dress it. Versatile. Nah. Popular? Not really. I don´t teach it. But I don´t mind you using it if you master it! (Note that ease of untying can be achieved with a well tied figure-eight too!)

Girth hitch master point: Technically sound? Not sure, but probably. Some uncertainty when it comes to modern materials and fast loading. Simple? Yes! Versatile? Yes! Popular? Not where I work, but if fully tested I am sure it will catch on. Wait for more testing before teaching it to beginners.

Connecticut tree hitch: Technically sound? Yes, in its very specific application. Simple? No. Has a dangerous failure mode. Versatile? No. Common? No, not unless you are an arborist. Don´t teach it to beginners.

Conclusion

As an instructor, do not get caught up in the simplicity of "this knot vs that knot" discussions. Generally, the discussion is about knots that are ALL technically adequate. Understand that you are a product of your climbing environment - you and I are both biased by the community, culture, mentor, and the prevalent "style" where you grew up climbing. Know also that this is not irrational. Using well-tested methods that both you and your partner fully master is always a good idea in a life-and-death situation.

But we should also attempt to improve our intuition and our standard methods by looking very critically at cultural preconceptions and personal feelings. Push the limits a bit, but do it in a controlled environment, with experienced partners who have been briefed about what´s going on. Try the new (or really old) stuff. Most methods in use today are used by people who have no idea of the options, the pros and cons, the testing, research or criticism. Don´t be one of them. Know that there are gems out there that you just missed until now! Know also that materials change, and sometimes knots must be updated accordingly.

If you like a new cool knot, do the research and get the facts. If you hate a new ugly knot, be open to the possibility that you are wrong. (The EDK is a great example of something that looks too simple to be safe, but is actually safe because of its simplicity.)

A final word: as an instructor, you should know more than the knots you yourself use and teach, including the bad ones. This allows you to confidently reject methods that students have invented or picked up from Instagram. YOUR toolbox should include the old, the new, the good, the bad, and the ugly.