How to Tie a Back Splice Knot for Climbing

A back splice knot is a time-tested means of preventing a rope from fraying. If you use quality ropes to climb and want to ensure the integrity of the ropes over time, a back splice is an essential knot to master.

Instructions

    • 1

      Tie three strands into a crown knot. Begin by placing each strand over the strand to its left (or right, if you prefer). Once you have placed each strand over its neighbor, pull each strand through the loop formed by the crossing over the other two strands. Pull the knot tight and make sure there are no kinks or irregularities.

    • 2

      Start splicing. Take any of the three strands of the rope. Pass the strand over the strand immediately next to it. Then, pass the strand underneath the remaining strand or, in other words, between the two other strands. Alternate strands so that you perform the splice with each of the strands an equal number of times.

    • 3

      Continue the splicing as necessary. The minimum number of splicing rounds is three or four. However, you can use as many splices as you want to complete the back splice and end up with a solidly closed rope. If you want to do more than three or four splices, simply continue until you run out of rope.

    • 4

      Tighten and cut the end. As you go through each step you should make sure each layer of the back splice is tight. When you're finished make sure there are no irregularities. Tighten the back splice, cut the loose ends and then roll the knot on the ground to give each part of the knot a last round of tightening.