Page 64 - Nate Fitch, Ron Funderburke "Climbing Knots"

The Clove Hitch

The clove hitch is not necessarily used to construct
an anchor, but it is clearly an anchoring hitch. The
clove hitch is used to attach a section of climbing rope
to a locking carabiner, but unlike the figure 8 follow
through, the clove hitch can be quickly adjusted to

The Clove Hitch

Strength: The clove hitch is a slippery hitch,
and it can behave erratically at high loads, when
the rope is wet, or when interacting with differ-
ent carabiners. It might be helpful to imagine the
clove hitch as having the potential to slip at 1,000
pounds. Actual strength can be quite variable,
so low loads (like a climber’s body weight) are
most appropriate for the clove hitch.
Visual clarity: The clove hitch’s capturing
strand is easily recognizable.
Efficiency: It takes only three quick steps to tie
a clove hitch, and even after heavy loads it will
slide off of its locking carabiner.
Security: As long as the load applied to the
clove hitch remains constant and unidirection-
al, it is quite reliable. However, dynamic loads,
D-shaped carabiners, and wet/icy conditions
can make the clove hitch less secure.
Failure mechanism: The clove can fail in a
variety of ways. High dynamic loads can cause
the rope to break right in front of the hitch,
whereas slower tensile loads can cause the hitch
to slip.
Ideal application: Anchoring the climber/
belayer to an anchor with a locking carabiner.

Using the Rope for Anchoring 51