Page 49 - Derek E. Avery - 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).