Blake's hitch

Knot-details
name=Blake's hitch


names=
type= hitch
strength=
origin= Heinz Prohaska
related=
releasing=
uses= Climbing
caveat=
abok_number=

The Blake's Hitch is a friction hitch commonly used by arborists and tree climbers as an ascending knot. Although it is a stable,unslipping knot, it is often backed up with a stopper knot (pictured here, a figure-of-eight knot) . It is used for both ascending and descending, and is preferred by many arborists over other hitches, such as the taut-line hitch, as it is less prone to binding.

If the hitch does not hold securely due to slickness of the standing line, an extra turn should be made around the line, with the end still tuckedonly under two; if the hitching line has trouble gripping because it is relatively stiff, an extra turn should be made and the end tucked under it (which gives more thickness for the stiff rope to compress).

The first known presentation of this knot was made by Heinz Prohaska in an Austrianguides periodical in 1981; in 1990, he presented it in a caver's journal, Nylon Highway.Separately, Jason Blake discovered the knot for himself and presented it to the arborist worldin a letter to Arbor Age in 1994; as it was enthusiasticly adopted by arborists, it has becomeknown as "Blake's Hitch".

Technique

In practice it helps to insert your thumb under the first two turns. This facilitates threading the end later.

Note: After passing the tail round the standing end, the tail then passes back behind the standing end.

References

* [http://www.treebuzz.com/pdf/0505_geneology.pdf Son of a Hitch: A Genealogy of Arborists’ Climbing Hitches]

External links

* [http://www.animatedknots.com/blakes/ Animated Knots by Grog: Blakes Hitch]