The gripping nodes have a relatively wide scope: it is mountaineering (both tourism and industrial), and rock climbing, and caving, and rescue. In a word, wherever it is necessary to provide reliable insurance in the event of a sudden breakdown, a nodal connection is required.
There are several types of knotting knots, each of them requires a separate study and careful development of knitting skills, so that in case of an emergency, everything can be done correctly. Indeed, it is very important to knit the safety nodes as accurately as possible: without exaggeration, human life will depend on this.
Basic Rules
The gripping nodes have a number of distinctive features that should certainly be taken into account and remembered:
- They are not recommended on ropes, braided cables , as well as on cords and ribbons made of Kevlar, spectra and daina. Failure to follow this rule can be life threatening!
- No additional knots may be imposed on the loop of the gripping knot.
- It is recommended to use ropes with a tensile strength of 9.8 kN for a diameter of 7 mm and from 7 kN for a diameter of 6 mm.
- There is an opinion that you can knit a gripping knot anywhere from the trigger. However, experienced climbers strongly recommend equipping it below.
- Grasping units, tightened under load, can be used not only during lifting, but also at the time of descent from a height.
- The gripping unit works best if you use ropes that differ in diameter by half.
- The use of any type of gripping knot when icing the ropes is highly not recommended, since even in the case of strong gripping, the loop will slip along the support.
- The most important property of any grasping unit is its ability to instantly drag out in the event of a load failure, whether it is a person or a load.
Prusik Knot
Everyone who is interested in how to make a grasping knot is usually recommended in the first place to learn this particular type. Prusik bears the name of its creator - Karl Prusik, who invented it in 1931. The knot is tied with an auxiliary cord with a diameter of 6 to 7 mm around the main cable or rope with a diameter of 9 to 14 mm. The Prusik moves itself as a person moves up or down, and in the event of a breakdown, it is instantly delayed, thus providing reliable insurance.
For some time, it was the Prussian who reigned supreme among climbers, however, over time, numerous variants appeared of both himself and grasping knots in general. However, until now it is he who is considered βbasicβ and compulsory for study.
The sequence of knitting Prusik is as follows:
- a cord is taken, previously tied with a loop;
- the cord is wrapped three times around the main rope so that it is inside the loop;
- making sure that all perfect loop revolutions do not overlap and are level, you need to tighten the knot.
French Prusik
He is the knot of Marshar. It is recommended for use if it is reliably known in advance that the load will be carried out in only one specific direction. The knot fits as follows:
- First, a cord is taken on which the loop is organized.
- Then she wraps around the main rope.
- The cord is wrapped three times around the main rope. It is necessary to strictly monitor that each subsequent revolution lies side by side and exactly with respect to the previous revolution.
- The part of the cord that remains free is threaded through the loop and tightened in the direction where the held load should be located.
This node belongs to the so-called crawling, and therefore it is strictly not recommended to tackle it. You can change the number of turns around the main rope as needed. As in the case of the traditional gripping knot, the main rope must certainly have a diameter exceeding the thickness of the cord. The rule is this: the closer the ropes to each other in diameter, the lower the efficiency and, therefore, the safety of the French prusik.
Bachmann Knot
Many beginner climbers are interested in the grasping knot. How to knit it, not many know. It is usually recommended to master the so-called Bachmann knot. It bears its name thanks to the inventor - Franz Bachmann. As a self-insurance, this node is used infrequently.
To tie it, you need to perform the following sequence of actions:
- attach the longest part of the carabiner to the main rope;
- stretch the cord through the carabiner, fold it in half, make several turns (usually two or three), winding the carabiner and rope to each other;
- The Bachmann knot is triggered as soon as the load is removed, but it is not tightened immediately, and therefore the load can slip a little.
There are also options for this insurance. For example, an incomplete Bachmann knot. When tying it, the loop first covers the main rope two or three times, and only then (also by 2-3 turns) a rope with a carabiner attached to it.
A pseudo-Bahman is a grasping knot, the scheme of which is as follows: at first the cord only covers the main rope, then the loop is led through the carbine, as in the case of the classic Bachmann knot. Such a unit can be organized βon the goβ without unhooking the load itself. Important! The pseudobachman exerts its retention properties solely on a tightly stretched rope or cable. If they sag, such a knot will break.
Finally, students of the Ural Polytechnic University proposed a variant of a pseudo-brahman, in which the knotting begins as in the case of a regular pseudo-brahman, and then the loop conductor is fastened to the carabiner. The node was called UPI (by the name of the educational institution), although its author, tourist A. Yu. Yagovkin, is known.
Double knot knot
As in the case with other types of insurance, before knitting a double gripping knot, you need to make sure that the main and auxiliary ropes are different in diameter. That is, the cord should be thinner than the handrail - optimally one and a half times.
There are two options that can be used to tie a double knot. The first assumes that two grasping nodes are organized on a railing main rope at a certain distance from each other. Thus, the climber can be sure that if for some reason one gripping unit fails, the second will work.
According to another embodiment, two loops are tied around the base of the rope. Thus, it is possible to organize both double and triple symmetrical gripping unit.
One end grip
A knot that grabs at one end is tied in the same pattern as the classic one, however, it is not the loop that is formed as a result of folding the cord in half, but just one end of it.
Semislip knot
Such a knot is like half grasping. First, the auxiliary cord is wrapped around the main rope in one turn, then another coil is placed next to it (you need to carefully ensure that there are no overlaps), and the free end is threaded into the loop of the cord. This unit should never be used in mountaineering, hiking, etc. It is used exclusively in everyday life.
Straight Austrian gripping knot
To organize a direct grasping Austrian knot, it is recommended to use the main round rope with a diameter of 9 to 15 mm and an auxiliary cord with a diameter of 6 to 7 mm. The larger the difference in diameters, the stronger the grip will be knot.
The double cord is tied 4-6 times around the railing, after which its free end is threaded into the loop in the direction from itself from the bottom up. Such a node is usually used at various crossings.
Reverse Austrian Gripping Knot
When tying such a node, 2-3 turns of a double cord around a vertical railing rope are made in the direction from top to bottom. The reverse Austrian knot finds its application usually during vertical movement, including as a self-insurance.
Autoblock
A distinctive feature of the autoblock is that the two ends of the cord are not threaded into the loop, but are closed by a carbine. One has only to unfasten them, and the knot is instantly untied under the action of the elastic force of the cord.
Autoblock is preferable to use for insurance during the descent or ascent. In some cases, it is much more reliable and safer than the same prusik. However, the important point is that the reliability of the autoblock is highly dependent on the material from which both the cord and the main rope are made. Soft materials are preferred.
Common mistakes
Beginners who have just learned to knit grasping knots often make the following typical mistakes:
- When using the grasping unit, a beginner can intercept the unit itself with the palm of his hand. This will inevitably lead to the fact that in the event of a critical situation, the hand is reflexively compressed, as a result of which the node does not work, and the further load is transferred directly to the hand. Naturally, it is impossible to prevent a fall due to only the efforts of the palm, and therefore this error is fraught with tragedy. To avoid it, the knot itself should be moved not by hand, but by pulling the auxiliary rope.
- Despite the fact that information about the grasping knot is easily accessible, and in mountaineering schools a lot of time is devoted to this, beginners nevertheless repeatedly make the following main mistake: tying an insufficient number of revolutions around the main rope or, conversely, an excess number. In the first case, there is a high probability that one revolution will simply not be able to hold the load that fell off. Simple etching can cause an uncontrolled drop. In the second, the node stops during movement, up to complete blocking.
- Using the same cord for a long time. Even the most durable repsnur will fray over time, especially in conditions of heavy use. Inspect the cord very carefully for damage before each use.
- Often a gripping knot acts as insurance. How to knit it so that it serves reliably? It should be noted that the length of the released free end of the reporters must not exceed the length of their own hands. Otherwise, at a critical moment, you can simply not reach the main rope.
- During movement, the knot should be pushed with the hand, and not moved with the palm of your hand (see point one), or pulled by the free ends of the cord. Failure to comply with the second point can lead to the formation of overlaps, which will significantly weaken the setting of the node.
- Finally, the rule already mentioned above should be clearly followed: the thickness of the main rope should be about one and a half times the thickness of the cord. The inverse ratio is unacceptable, and even ropes of the same diameter will not contribute to the gripping strength of the knot.