Page 21 - Nate Fitch, Ron Funderburke "Climbing Knots"

Sewn slings are great tools for attaching two objects
to one another, anchoring, or creating a tether. Their
versatility makes them superior to other personal
anchoring systems.

between objects and carabiners. Lead climbers use slings
to secure traditional placements or straighten out a rope
line. A short sewn sling between two carabiners is now
known as a quickdraw, one of the most iconic tools in
sport climbing. Some slings are manufactured, with sewn
and professionally rated bar tacks. Some slings are assem-
bled by hand, using 1-inch tubular webbing and water
knots. In either case, slings are not designed for climbing
in the same way as a climbing rope. They are designed
to connect two objects within a system, like connecting
a tree (or any other component) to a carabiner, con-
necting two carabiners to each other, or connecting a
climber to an anchor when the rope is not available.

Rope Talk

Learning to tie knots and hitches is easier if we learn
how to talk about the rope. Grabbing any segment of
the rope, a rope handler should be able to immediately
discern his/her proximity to the rope ends.
Ends. Because we will always be using a section
of rope in rock climbing, every section has two ends.
Middle. The point of the rope that is equidistant
from the ends is, naturally, the middle.

8 CLIMBING: KNOTS