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How would I tie a double figure of eight knot for attaching to a rock climbing harness?

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    also referred to as a figure eight follow through. – AM_Hawk Dec 17 '13 at 20:23
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    Thx @Liam. Really appreciate your work. Would like to see those explanations for other types of knots just to have a reference to look at :) – Wills Dec 18 '13 at 21:01
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    @bashophil Have a look at http://www.animatedknots.com/indexclimbing.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com – AM_Hawk Jan 12 '14 at 21:46

1 Answers1

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First things first:

Please be careful when rock climbing. Learning information on the internet is no substitute to proper training from an experienced and knowledgeable guide.

Please don't use this information to put yourself in a situation where you may be in danger.

That said

You will need around one arms span of rope (about 1m).

First off make a loop in your hand thus, do not let go of the rope until specified: enter image description here

Take the loose and and pass it over your wrist pulling it round to the front: enter image description here

Pass the loose end back through the loop your holding in your hand:

enter image description here

Pull the loose end tight downwards. If it doesn't look like a figure 8, below, you've done it wrong. Untie everything and start again:

enter image description here

Now pass the loose end though whatever you want to attach the rope to (I'm using a carbiner here):

enter image description here

You now need to rethread the loose end back though the original figure eight, this produces the double in the double figure eight. Essentially you simply follow the line of the original loops.

First off pass the loose end back up though loop nearest whatever your attached to:

enter image description here

Follow the rope around the first loop:

enter image description here

Then around the top of the rope and back down, going though the loop nearest the attachment point:

enter image description here

now loop back around the base of the knot and back up though the top loop: enter image description here

Pull tight:

enter image description here

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    Your step titled "First off pass the loose end back up through loop nearest whatever your attached to:" you should follow on the right side, see step 6 of this link, currently your final knot under load will have an overlap(top left of final knot). Does anyone see what I see? – AM_Hawk Dec 17 '13 at 20:30
  • I think I just twisted the crab, seems ok in the next photo? –  Dec 17 '13 at 20:33
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    I agree with @AM_Hawk and also in the last photo the upper two loops are not lying well. You need to pass the running end between the existing strand and the loop either at the beginning or at the end (the lower or upper loop) if you want a perfectly dressed knot. – Mr.Wizard Dec 18 '13 at 12:06
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    your both welcome to add another answer to this question if you feel it needs one? –  Dec 18 '13 at 13:06
  • I feel this is already better addressed in other places such as Animated Knots by Grog. (Note there the extra step I mentioned.) I also feel that outside of animations knots are better learned in person. Nevertheless I may post an image if I can find one that is not copyrighted. – Mr.Wizard Dec 19 '13 at 08:03
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    You can do this knot in half as many steps by doubling back the rope in the first step. – Andrew Dec 20 '13 at 17:49
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    @Andrew That's a figure-8 on a bight. It cannot be used to tie the rope to a closed loop (on a harness) which is why the follow through or retrace is used. – Mr.Wizard Dec 21 '13 at 15:46
  • @ Mr Wizard You are correct - I didn't consider that issue. – Andrew Dec 22 '13 at 03:14