All of the safety lines I have seen have the Prusik Knot with the tied end out where the carabiner is attached. Is there any reason why this knot cannot be next to the safety line and not interfere with the carabiner?
I'm new to this knot, but I made 2 lineman's belts and 1 lifeline using this knot. My thoughts are that the part of the Prussik that wraps around the safety line needs to be able to tighten against the safety line as well as tighten against itself in order to prove the clinching action that makes the knot work. The part of the knot where the carabiner attaches is inconsequential to the knot working, as long as it stays intact and allows the carabiner to clip on and lock in place. I adjusted my Prussik so that the carabiner is below the double fisherman's knot. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Planopurist is right. The child tighten around the rope to stop your fall. If the know was within the coils it may prevent them from grabbing the line. You could make the loop longer and tie the knot about an inch from the loops though.
Let me know if you need a photo. I'm making another belt to leave up one of my ladder stands anyway. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I agree with you guys on the way the knot functions and one would not want the knot within the wraps or coils around the safety line. I was thinking of having the knot near the coils or wraps. Would not interfere with the carabiner and would give a good hold to slide the knot up the safety line. Never used one before, not used a tree stand. Had one up last year with sticks but never hunted from it due to the deer changed their travel route after the shotgun season. I have the stand safety line, etc. but none to reach from the stand to the ground, yet. Have 75' of camo rope rated at 300 lbs. so should have enough for two set ups. Stands will be at the top of 16' ladders, about 15' above the ground. Thanks for the information. If I could figure out how to post photos on this site I would post one to show what I mean. Took forever to get my avatar and have no idea how I did it.
Here's how mine looks. Notice the carabiner falls below the Prussik. I'm using 11mm for the safety and about 7-8mm for the Prussik. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
That is about what I was thing but possibly a little longer loop. Haven't made anything as yet. May get to it tomorrow watching the race. Thanks much for the photo Planopurist. I plan to use 3/8" rope for both the knot and the safety line. Thanks much for the suggestions.
Don't use rope only rated for 300 lbs! If you fall the force will be way higher then that and will fail. Get a good static line made for falls, it's made for that. Also use a smaller line for your knot then the main line. It is need so it will grab under force. The picture above that Planopurist, posted above is what it should look like.
You're quite welcome. Safety lines should be in the range of 11mm, 12mm, 1/2" or so static line. Reference what rock climbers use. I believe the rope for the Prussik has to be reasonably smaller than the safety line in order for the knot to work properly. I'm no expert, but I think I looked around for this information somewhere, but I have a friend that used to rock climb and run a small outdoors adventure sports store. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The Prussia knot is actually the coils made around the main line. The knot you're referring to is the fisherman bwnd. It has to remain between the Prussia and the ' Biner to be effective. There is no chance that will fail if tied right. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The rope that Prusik's know is made of should be a fair amount smaller than your main line. This will allow it to "bite" when pressure is applied to it and remember a minimum of 6 loops. Source high angle search and rescue team member Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
These guys are right about having a smaller diameter rope for the prusik knot than the main line. Otherwise it won't grab correctly. The general recommendation seems to be 60-80% smaller diameter rope for the prusik than the main safety line. Most guys I read about use around 80%. Too small and it won't slide up the rope easily (lower break strength also), too large and it won't grab the main line fast enough. I also read a few times that the caribiner should not be on the knot itself so as not to put any pressure on it repeatedly at odd angles which its really not designed for possibly causing it to loosen. The prusik can be loosened slightly and then readjusted to move the knot just off to the side slightly as Planopurist showed in his pic. I made the mistake of buying a name brand linemans rope rated for 300 pounds and thinking I could also use it for my safety tree strap. Nothing on the package indicated not to do this, but at the same time nothing stated I could do this so it got me thinking maybe there's a reason why it wasn't mentioned. After some research into climbing rope I found out that the main safety line itself it needs to be rated much higher because the force caused from a fall (impact force) is many times greater than your body weight. This is where your typical Home Depot 300 or 400lb rated rope gets people into trouble. It typically doesn't have an impact force "kN" rating on it. Oddly enough neither does my name brand hunting linemans rope or name brand safety strap which makes me wonder. Typical climbers rope is rated for thousands of pounds and they never rely on just one knot, prusik, caribiner, etc....they always have a backup in the event of equipment failure. The prusik is a great knot but it's a friction knot and doesn't work as well when it's icy ....something to keep in mind during late season.
