Page 76 - Duane Raleigh - Knots Ropes for Climbers

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Half-inch tie-offs are delicate and prone to cutting. You may get only one use per tie-off, especially if
you put the tie-off on a piton and then drive the pin in a corner. Even in top shape, a 1/2-inch tie-off
breaks at just over 1,000 pounds. When they are nicked, they can break at half that weight. Use them
carefully, and inspect them often. Retire frayed tie-offs. I put two and sometimes three tie-offs on

critical pieces. On a big aid climb like El Capitan in Yosemite, you'll use fifty to a hundred or more
tie-offs. Free climbers will seldom if ever need even one.

Runners

Runners are the open loops used for a myriad of chores. Wear one bandolier-style over your
shoulder, and it becomes a functional, albeit painful, gear sling. Clip a runner to your protection and
then the rope, and the flop and tension of the rope are less likely to dislodge the placement. Girth
Hitch a runner to your harness, and you can clip yourself to belay or rappel anchors. Twist a runner
into a figure eight, and it becomes a pair of emergency leg loops or a daisy chain. The uses are
endless.

Runner girth hitched to a harness.

Common runners are the single and double. Single runners are tied in loops from 6 to 7

feet of 9/16-inch tubular webbing. You can tie runners from 1-inch tubular webbing, but the wider
webbing is bulkier and more difficult to work with. Use the Ring Bend to tie your runners. Tie each
loop, then hook it to a stout tree limb, clip a stirrup or aider to the loop, and bounce your body weight
on it to draw the knot up tight. A wet knot gives the tightest set. As a final precaution, you can tape the
tails to the loop. Stitching also works but is difficult to undo when you find yourself in a tight spot and
in need of a single length of webbing. Inspect your Ring Bends before each use, and retie if they have

gone soft or the tails have shortened.