Blakes hitch with a micro pulley.

[Rowden the cowboy]

Tried this the other day, tying a really short blakes hitch and putting a micro pulley behind it. In essence it functions in exactly the same way as a VT except you have the consistency of a blakes hitch: it always grips and very rarely jams and is very easy to tie correctly unlike the VT knots, where if one leg is shorter than the other you will slide down the rope. This is now my new working knot; it seems to outperform the vt on every level. I recommend that everyone tries it.

[Tommy_B]

It won't self tend though will it?

[Rowden the cowboy]

yes it will.

[Paul Barton]

Got a picture? I can't see how it can self tend.

[Rowden the cowboy]

I will take a pic tomorrow of it. Its weird because I wouldn't have thought it would self tend but it seems to. It has to be tied using only four wraps otherwise there is too much friction. The best thing to do is to just try it if you have got a split tail kicking about just tie a short blakes hitch and shove a pulley behind it. Id be interested to know what you think

[yorkshire pudding]

I just do the same with a prussik and a pulley,tied to the other end of your rope with an old bit of throw line.Much less grabby than a blakes in my opinion.

[Mark Bolam]

Used the Blakes with a hitchclimber for a while and liked it, but it doesn't advance as smoothly as a VT.

 

The problem with a VT is that it is tricky to set up correctly.

 

I cheat. When I've got it perfect I leave it on my rope. Wears the hitch cord out quicker, so I just bin it more regularly. Costs me about 50p a week.

 

Blakes is still an awesome hitch.

[Tommy_B]

So do you climb as you would with a VT or traditional Blake's?

[Mark Bolam]

Actually find the Blakes easier on long pulls when I'm not spiking, and I can use an abbreviated footlock with it that I can't seem to do with a VT.

 

Not often I'm not spiking these days though.

[Frank]

In esscence, any friction hitch will self tend with a pulley behind becuase the pulley is just doing your hands job for you. However a Blakes will not "break" like a v.t so can't run as smoothly up the rope. I've tried.