How to Anchor Rescue Rope

Establishing a rescue rope system relies on a number of precarious risk factors. A rescuer must trust his metal fixtures, rope, knots and anchor points. Any minute action that can minimize risk in a rescue situation is worth performing. Selecting the proper anchor, loading the carabiner evenly, and even positioning the knots correctly, can be the difference between life and death. Carefully follow the steps below to produce a basic, single anchor rescue system that should hold up under tremendous amounts of strain.

Things You'll Need

  • Tubular webbing
  • Carabiner
  • Rope
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Instructions

    • 1

      Determine the primary anchor. The primary anchor should be all that is needed to support the weight of a climber and much more. Additional influences on a rope could include the force placed on a rope by mass in movement, friction loss and lateral movement. A primary anchor can be natural or man-made and should be as closely aligned with the natural fall line of the rescue or rappel. Excellent primary anchors could include thick trees, boulders, car winches or light posts.

    • 2

      Put pressure on the primary anchor. Kick it, lean on it, just apply as much pressure as possible. Direct your pressure in the same way a rescue rope would be tugging on the anchor. Make the anchor prove itself, no matter how secure it may look.

    • 3

      Loop the tubular webbing loosely three times around the anchor and tie off with a water knot. A water knot connects the ends of two pieces of rope, as shown in the picture. To tie a water knot, begin with a loose overhand near one end of the webbing. Take the other end of the webbing and follow the shape of the overhand back through the loop, leaving a an inch or two of loose webbing on each side of the knot.

    • 4

      Pull out two loops of the tubular webbing, tightening the knot against the front point of the primary anchor. This position is the one that will take the most pressure off of the water knot, which is the weakest portion of your tubing. If properly tied, this set-up should be able to support more than 10,000 lbs.

    • 5

      Attach a carabiner to the two loose loops. Make sure that the carabiner used is intended for climbing, with a gate that locks. When pulling out on the carabiner the two loops should be tugged into a corner, without putting any pressure on the gate itself. Carabiners are designed to best handle weight at the top and bottom, not on the vertical sides.

    • 6

      Tie a figure-eight knot into the rescue rope. To tie a figure-eight knot, create a bight in the rope. A bight is a simple loop. Then bring the end of the rope once around the rope itself and run the rope's end through the bight. It should look like an eight at this point. Leave about a foot of rope open to one side of the figure-eight knot.

    • 7

      Loop the figure-eight knot back in on itself. Take the loose foot of rope and return it through the figure-eight, carefully following the curves of the knot. There should now be a double figure-eight knot at the base of a loop formed by the slack foot of rope held at the end of the last step.

    • 8

      Clip the loop formed by the figure-eight knot on to the carabiner. Pressure should be applied length-wise across the carabiner, with the tubular webbing on one end and the rescue rope loop on the other. Your rescue rope is now anchored and ready to be attached to any rescue or belay system.