Page 87 - Rappelling

Flat overhand knot. Flat overhand with overhand backup.

That being said, there are a few cautions: It is not The flat overhand is a poor choice for use with
recommended for tying together two ropes of drasti- nylon webbing, and it has been responsible for
cally differing diameters (e.g., 7mm to 11mm), or for numerous rappel anchor failures where it was tied
use on very stiff ropes. The bottom line is that the in webbing with a very short tail. An even worse
knot should be used with discretion, well tightened knot for rope and webbing, and a knot responsible
(pull as hard as you can on all four strands), and tied for numerous accidents, is the flat figure eight,
with a long tail (minimum of 8 inches). Person- which inverts at shockingly low loads as the knot
ally, I use the flat overhand (with a second overhand rolls inward and capsizes. The flat eight is a knot to
backup) in situations where I’m concerned about be avoided, and is very dangerous if tied with short
the knot possibly jamming in a crack when I pull tails, especially in nylon webbing.
the rope down for retrieval. Otherwise I use a figure
eight bend or double fisherman’s.

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