Another one of my potentially boring questions :) blakes hitch problems?

[YoGi_93]

I went on a taster day for the college course i got into last tuesday (it was AWSOME:biggrin:) and we were doing climbing with the traditional climbing system of a bowline and blakes hitch. But i went up the tree and when I pulled the friction hitch towards me to come down the knot became loose and there was no way to stop repelling untill i hit the ground because of it. If i was up very high it could be quite dangerous. The tutor seemed like he really knew what he was talking about and just thought that the rope was a abit old and quite stiff that was the problem, do you lot agree or could it be something else?:thumbup1:

[softbankhawks]

That sounds nasty. Did you have a stopper knot in the Blakes hitch tail?

[Gareth Smith]

If the knot was tied and dressed correctly there's no way it should come loose ! Did your instructor check the knot before he let you climb on it ?

[Steve Bullman]

If the knot was tied and dressed correctly there's no way it should come loose ! Did your instructor check the knot before he let you climb on it ?

 

agreed, more than likely user error in not dressing the knot properly. alternatively could be poor rope/hitch cord combo, but i would like to assume that being at a college that wouldnt be the case

[YoGi_93]

Yep figure eight knot in the end. Ive climbed on it before with a mate of mine. The instructor checked it too yeah to be fair he seemed like a really good climber. We went to a massive cedar and he was up off the ground and almost right at the top of the tree to put in our ropes before we even got ready, and was moving around the canopy as naturally as he walks on the ground. He checked all my knots and watched me climb up and i was doing it right. He explained that the knot basically just puts a kink in the running end and if the rope is too stiff then it wouldnt work properly. He then explained to try and tighten the knot whilst in the air but i couldnt do it with one hand whilst holding the running end with the other. (so i didnt plumet). I wondered if it was because I was probably the heaviest in the group?

[morten]

The Blakes hitch does not have a tendency to come undone (roll).

 

The only reason I can think of, causing it not to "bite", is that it was not dressed and set properly in the first place.

[morten]

agreed, more than likely user error in not dressing the knot properly. alternatively could be poor rope/hitch cord combo, but i would like to assume that being at a college that wouldnt be the case

 

Another reason to exclusively teach prussik loop at college. It is virtually impossible to get wrong (tie, dress, set), and will bite consistently.

[morten]

I went on a taster day for the college course i got into last tuesday (it was AWSOME:biggrin:) and we were doing climbing with the traditional climbing system of a bowline and blakes hitch. But i went up the tree and when I pulled the friction hitch towards me to come down the knot became loose and there was no way to stop repelling untill i hit the ground because of it. If i was up very high it could be quite dangerous. The tutor seemed like he really knew what he was talking about and just thought that the rope was a abit old and quite stiff that was the problem, do you lot agree or could it be something else?:thumbup1:

 

What exactly do you mean by "the knot became loose"?

 

Was it not loose in the first place? How could you tell?

[armchairarborist]

i always use a blakes and prefer it to all them modern 'bootlaces' folk climb on. it does need dressing properly though, i'm bad for overdressing and getting stuck as its too tight. if someone has bombed out of the canopy and glazed the rope then it will need to be tight to get enough bite.

[Taupotreeman]

Never known a Blakes to come loose unless it wasn't dressed properly in the first place. I thought the whole idea of a Blakes was that it would neither tighten or loosen on you once dressed properly.