Page 114 - Geoffrey Budworth, Jason Dalton "The Little Book of Incredibly Useful Knots"

Etrier

This is a French word meaning “stirrup,” but in climbing and caving it refers to a short

stepladder; it may also be called an “aider.” Formerly of rope, étriers are now usually made from
1-inch (2.5-cm) webbing, and vary in length from two to five 1-ft (30-cm) foot-loops. Etriers
may be factory-made with sewn steps, but can easily be knotted.

Take about 15 ft (4.5 m) of flat, rather than tubular, webbing for a four-step version. Starting with a

Frost knot (see pages 96–97), turn the webbing into an endless band, leaving a small loop at the top
for the attachment of a carabiner (1). Then tie a series of three overhand knots (see page 292) in
both legs of this webbing strop or sling (2, 3), in such a way that one leg of each loop created is
shorter than the other (4).