How to Tie Rock Climbing Knots

Rock climbing is a growing adventure sport attracting young and seasoned individuals. Whether you're climbing indoors or outdoors, tying knots is a vital skill needed for belaying, rappelling and anchoring. The most essential knot to learn is the figure eight knot.

Things You'll Need

  • Rope
  • Climbing shoes
  • Climbing harness
  • Carabiner
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Instructions

  1. Belay Knots

    • 1

      Tie in your climbing rope to your harness when you're ready to climb using the figure eight knot. Gather about 3 feet of rope and shape the end of the rope into a small figure eight, about the length from your hand to your elbow.

    • 2

      Feed the end of the rope through your bottom and top harness loops (depending on your harness) and follow the figure eight loop again.

    • 3

      Tighten knot and leave a tail at the end. The knot slips when you remove slack from the rope. Have your partner double check your knot before climbing. Tie a stopper knot if the tail from the figure eight knot is long.

    • 4

      Use a figure eight knot also for anchoring in at the top of a climb. Pull up about 3 to 5 feet of rope from your belayer to work with in knotting. Use the slack rope (bight), form a figure eight knot through the anchor to hook into the wall or rock.

    • 5

      Use the inline figure eight knot to equalize the anchor onto a carabiner and reduce the potential load. Form the figure eight knot, but use a carabiner as the point of control. Screw the opening of the carabiner to lock it.

    Knots to Join Two Ropes

    • 6

      Use the figure eight knot to join two ropes. Start with a figure eight knot on one rope. Follow the figure eight shape from the loose end of the first rope. Use stopper knots if there is excess rope.

    • 7

      Join two ropes of similar sizes using the double fisherman's knot (also known as the grapevine), a more compact knot than the double figure eight.

    • 8

      Wrap the end of the first rope around the second rope two times, then pull the knot tight. Do the same with the end of the second rope and end with two knots.

    • 9

      Attach a rope to another rope to create the rolling hitch, or a slide and grip knot, for a time when the line of pull is nearly parallel.

    • 10

      Start wrapping one rope end all the way around the other rope once, then again and again. On the third time, tuck the rope end under the second turn and tighten.