Whassa Blake Knot?

Gordon said:

When I asked them, they said it was a Blake
knot, but I later started wondering whether they said "brake knot"!

[snip]

Is there such a knot as a Blake Knot used in rope work? :-)

You heard right: http://www.stanford.edu/~matthewk/blake.html

Colin

In article <[email hidden]>, Gordon
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

I was watching some workers today in Etherow Park, Compstall, and they
were removing 'agriculture' from a 25 foot retaining wall by abseiling
down from the public path above the river Etherow.
Dominic will know the area.

The belay was a tracked vehicle on the path, and the young guys were
having fun below, swinging around and throwing chunks of vegetation at
each other until one got a partial bath in the river!

They each hauled themselves up on a double rope, and we hung around to
see what descendeur or prussic device they were using.

It consisted of about half a dozen turns coiled around the main rope,
of the same thickness, and with an end protruding between the centre
two turns of the coil. When I asked them, they said it was a Blake
knot, but I later started wondering whether they said "brake knot"!

Unfortunately I left the camera in my car, because there is a major
renovation going on there, including replacement of a bridge, and
pointing and rebuilding of the retaining walls. These guys were just
surveying the state of the walls after cleaning them up.

Is there such a knot as a Blake Knot used in rope work? :-)

Klemheist (?) or Prussik (?)

--
Bill Grey
http://www.billboy.co.uk

"W. D. Grey" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Gordon
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

I was watching some workers today in Etherow Park, Compstall, and they
were removing 'agriculture' from a 25 foot retaining wall by abseiling
down from the public path above the river Etherow.
Dominic will know the area.

The belay was a tracked vehicle on the path, and the young guys were
having fun below, swinging around and throwing chunks of vegetation at
each other until one got a partial bath in the river!

They each hauled themselves up on a double rope, and we hung around to see
what descendeur or prussic device they were using.

It consisted of about half a dozen turns coiled around the main rope, of
the same thickness, and with an end protruding between the centre two
turns of the coil. When I asked them, they said it was a Blake knot,
but I later started wondering whether they said "brake knot"!

Unfortunately I left the camera in my car, because there is a major
renovation going on there, including replacement of a bridge, and pointing
and rebuilding of the retaining walls. These guys were just surveying
the state of the walls after cleaning them up.

Is there such a knot as a Blake Knot used in rope work? :-)

Klemheist (?) or Prussik (?)

--
Bill Grey
http://www.billboy.co.uk

Prussik

"W. D. Grey" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Gordon
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

I was watching some workers today in Etherow Park, Compstall, and they
were removing 'agriculture' from a 25 foot retaining wall by abseiling
down from the public path above the river Etherow.
Dominic will know the area.

The belay was a tracked vehicle on the path, and the young guys were
having fun below, swinging around and throwing chunks of vegetation at
each other until one got a partial bath in the river!

They each hauled themselves up on a double rope, and we hung around to see
what descendeur or prussic device they were using.

It consisted of about half a dozen turns coiled around the main rope, of
the same thickness, and with an end protruding between the centre two
turns of the coil. When I asked them, they said it was a Blake knot,
but I later started wondering whether they said "brake knot"!

Unfortunately I left the camera in my car, because there is a major
renovation going on there, including replacement of a bridge, and pointing
and rebuilding of the retaining walls. These guys were just surveying
the state of the walls after cleaning them up.

Is there such a knot as a Blake Knot used in rope work? :-)

Klemheist (?) or Prussik (?)

The Klemheist is an upside-down Hedden Knot :-)

"Michael Hobby" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"W. D. Grey" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Gordon
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

I was watching some workers today in Etherow Park, Compstall, and they
were removing 'agriculture' from a 25 foot retaining wall by abseiling
down from the public path above the river Etherow.
Dominic will know the area.

The belay was a tracked vehicle on the path, and the young guys were
having fun below, swinging around and throwing chunks of vegetation at
each other until one got a partial bath in the river!

They each hauled themselves up on a double rope, and we hung around to
see what descendeur or prussic device they were using.

It consisted of about half a dozen turns coiled around the main rope, of
the same thickness, and with an end protruding between the centre two
turns of the coil. When I asked them, they said it was a Blake knot,
but I later started wondering whether they said "brake knot"!

Unfortunately I left the camera in my car, because there is a major
renovation going on there, including replacement of a bridge, and
pointing and rebuilding of the retaining walls. These guys were just
surveying the state of the walls after cleaning them up.

Is there such a knot as a Blake Knot used in rope work? :-)

Klemheist (?) or Prussik (?)

--
Bill Grey
http://www.billboy.co.uk

Prussik

Nope wrong!

Unlike the standard Prussik, Blake's Hitch can be tied with the free end of
the sling rope, and unlike the Helical, it is self-adjusting. On the other
hand, the tail can easily pull through so it is important to tie a stopper
knot to keep the knot from untying. The holding power can be increased by
adding turns, at the expense of making the knot harder to move. The knot can
be tied to work well on clean ropes.

In article <[email hidden]>, Colin MacDonald
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Gordon said:

When I asked them, they said it was a Blake knot, but I later
started wondering whether they said "brake knot"!
[snip]
Is there such a knot as a Blake Knot used in rope work? :-)

You heard right: http://www.stanford.edu/~matthewk/blake.html

Much favoured by tree sturgeons. Here's how to tie one

http://www.iland.net/~jbritton/blakeshitch.htm

--

Dominic Sexton

Dominic Sexton <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Colin MacDonald
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Gordon said:

When I asked them, they said it was a Blake knot, but I later
started wondering whether they said "brake knot"!
[snip]
Is there such a knot as a Blake Knot used in rope work? :-)

You heard right: http://www.stanford.edu/~matthewk/blake.html

Much favoured by tree sturgeons. Here's how to tie one

http://www.iland.net/~jbritton/blakeshitch.htm

Thanks, I must get back there with the camera. :-)
--
Gordon Harris

In article <[email hidden]>, Craven
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Nope wrong!

Unlike the standard Prussik, Blake's Hitch can be tied with the free end of
the sling rope, and unlike the Helical, it is self-adjusting. On the other
hand, the tail can easily pull through so it is important to tie a stopper
knot to keep the knot from untying. The holding power can be increased by
adding turns, at the expense of making the knot harder to move. The knot can
be tied to work well on clean ropes.

Quite so - My first thoughts from the description was a Klemheist - I
added prussik as being a knot which does a similar job.

Even so the knot in question is interesting and in a way is similarr to
the Klemheist

Why not use a loop and Klemheist and do away with the stop knot?

Thanks for the extra details.
--
Bill Grey
http://www.billboy.co.uk

In article <[email hidden]>, Craven
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

"W. D. Grey" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Gordon
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

I was watching some workers today in Etherow Park, Compstall, and they
were removing 'agriculture' from a 25 foot retaining wall by abseiling
down from the public path above the river Etherow.
Dominic will know the area.

The belay was a tracked vehicle on the path, and the young guys were
having fun below, swinging around and throwing chunks of vegetation at
each other until one got a partial bath in the river!

They each hauled themselves up on a double rope, and we hung around to see
what descendeur or prussic device they were using.

It consisted of about half a dozen turns coiled around the main rope, of
the same thickness, and with an end protruding between the centre two
turns of the coil. When I asked them, they said it was a Blake knot,
but I later started wondering whether they said "brake knot"!

Unfortunately I left the camera in my car, because there is a major
renovation going on there, including replacement of a bridge, and pointing
and rebuilding of the retaining walls. These guys were just surveying
the state of the walls after cleaning them up.

Is there such a knot as a Blake Knot used in rope work? :-)

Klemheist (?) or Prussik (?)

The Klemheist is an upside-down Hedden Knot :-)

:-)
--
Bill Grey
http://www.billboy.co.uk

It is so totally refreshing to find a simple "thread" that stays on
topic for 10 posts and offers useful information and even instruction
about Knotting. (pun intended)

Being a knots nut I am delighted to learn this new one from you.

Thank you.

Dominic Sexton <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Colin MacDonald
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Gordon said:

When I asked them, they said it was a Blake knot, but I later
started wondering whether they said "brake knot"!
[snip]
Is there such a knot as a Blake Knot used in rope work? :-)

You heard right: http://www.stanford.edu/~matthewk/blake.html

Much favoured by tree sturgeons. Here's how to tie one

http://www.iland.net/~jbritton/blakeshitch.htm

These "sturgeons" appeared to be using a three plus three knot, ie one
extra turn top and bottom, but I will have another look if they are
still working there on my next visit.
--
Gordon Harris

W. D. Grey said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Craven
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Nope wrong!

Unlike the standard Prussik, Blake's Hitch can be tied with the free end of
the sling rope, and unlike the Helical, it is self-adjusting. On the other
hand, the tail can easily pull through so it is important to tie a stopper
knot to keep the knot from untying. The holding power can be increased by
adding turns, at the expense of making the knot harder to move. The knot can
be tied to work well on clean ropes.

Quoted message said:

Quite so - My first thoughts from the description was a Klemheist - I
added prussik as being a knot which does a similar job.

Quoted message said:

Even so the knot in question is interesting and in a way is similarr to
the Klemheist

Quoted message said:

Why not use a loop and Klemheist and do away with the stop knot?

Depends whether you're doing a lot of sliding with the knot. Tree
climbers and other rope aerial access folk do. They often use it to
control descents, so they like a knot in the end of a bit of a fairly
thick bit of rope they can cut off when it gets worn. Rock climbers
OTOH don't slide these knots under load, so they don't wear them out
nearly as fast. Hence the preference for thinner slings (loops)
for rope grabbing knots.

IMHO the best knot of the Prusik type is this tape loop knot:

http://www.gudelius.homepage.t-online.de/fbbdklkn.htm

It's a development by Franz Bachman of the Kreuzklem knot. It's
special quality is that it will reliably grab the rope quickly and
solidly when loaded, even if quite loose, and frees up easily when
pushed. It's the knot in the end which does it.

For tree climbing and aerial access by rope Blake's hitch is the
standard basic one taught by most training courses, but there are some
recent variants on the general idea which some of the experts prefer
and promote, just as there several variants on the old Prusik (one
S).

--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]