Page 48 - The New Encyclopedia of Knots

The rope must be at least twice as long as the distance of the descent to be made. Form a Tom Fool’s
knot (see page 173) with very large bights in the centre of this rope, so that the smaller bight will fit

the casualty around the body and under the armpits and the larger bight is twice this size, for the
person to sit in. Form a half hitch in the standing part below each of the two bights in the Tom Fool’s
knot (figure 25.1) and cast each half hitch over the end of its corresponding bight (figure 25.2, in
which the bights are shown much smaller for the sake of displaying the knot), pulling each half hitch
snugly up to the centre of the knot (figure 25.3). Then fit this harness to the casualty, with the larger

bight under the thighs to position the knot in front of the casualty. This should prevent overbalancing
during the lowering process, with the knot immediately above the casualty’s chest level supporting
the weight. Throw the half of the rope from the small bight around the casualty’s torso down to an

assistant, and run the other half of the rope over a strong support such as a railing. The assistant
below hauls off with his standing part to guide the descent, while you feed the upper half over the
support to take the strain as the casualty is lowered.

Cleating see belaying a rope with a cleat.

Clove hitch (cast): secures a line to a fixed object, such as a post, when it can be dropped over the
end of the object. Form the two bights in your hands (figure 26.1) and position the right-hand bight to

lie over the left-hand bight (figure 26.2). Drop them over the post to produce the complete knot
(figure 26.3).

figure 26.1