Joining Two Ropes For Abseil

The figure eight overhand double fishersman s are just three methods.

Joining two ropes for abseil.

In this test on rock and ice all three knots tested were weaker with different diameter ropes. Rethreaded figure eight there is more than one way of joining two ropes using a figure eight knot. The problem is we all know what happens if you get this wrong and abseiling is terrifying enough and if you aren. Instead of joining your ropes with a double fisherman s you could also use a bigger knot such as the re threaded figure 8 just make sure the knot is big enough so that it can t be pulled through the chain or carabiner at your main anchor point.

For normal abseiling if the ropes are dry then i use a well tied neat single overhand knot with ample tails. It is often said that a double fisherman s knot is the best for joining two ropes of different diameters. I know of two climbers one british and one french who actually came to blows at the top of an ice climb once neither trusting the others tried and trusted techniques of joining two ropes. This like the belay chapter is a long one due the many different approaches that can be adopted.

There s many reasons why you d want to join two ropes together but perhaps the most obvious one is to allow for a full rope length retrievable abseil. You can also abseil in the same way using two ropes. A surprisingly high number of climbers die abseiling. Although a series of alternative knots are discussed the edk is presented as the normal knot for joining abseil ropes.

So keeping it simple makes sense. Times when you might need to abseil past a knot.