The Armageddon Blog

Tag: knots

  • How to Cross a Rope Bridge

    Just being able to make a rope bridge doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily be able to cross it.  The less crossing ropes to your rope bridge, the more complicated the crossing will be.  For suspension bridges and any other bridge where you can plant your feet firmly and walk forward, that’s exactly how you cross.  Just be cautious of your footing.

    For either a one or two rope bridge you will want to attach yourself to one of the ropes via a safety harness.  There are safety harnesses commercially available, but here at The Armageddon Blog, we like to assume the worst.  You can tie a Swiss Seat using a 6-10 foot length of rope.  This will prevent you from falling while crossing.

    Postman’s Bridge (Two Ropes)

    For a Postman’s Bridge you will need to devise a safety rope to tie your safety harness to the top rope of the bridge. I would suggest tying a bowline knot to a carabiner attached to the top rope, and another bowline knot tied to the carabiner attached to your harness.

    Once you are attached, you will use the following system of movements in order to cross the bridge.

    1. Shift all your weight to your back hand and leg.
    2. Move your lead leg as far forward on the bottom rope as possible.
    3. Shift your weight equally between your legs and move your lead hand above your lead leg on the top rope.
    4. Shift your weight onto your lead hand and leg.
    5. Move your back hand up to your lead hand (move the carabiner for the safety rope up with this step).
    6. Move your back leg up to your lead leg.
    7. Repeat

    This seems fairly easy, but there are a few things to be wary of. 

    • No matter how tight the bridge lines are, there will still be some wiggle in the rope.  Move slowly to avoid losing your balance.
    • If you’re crossing a river, it is entirely likely that the rope will absorb some moisture.  If this happens the rope will be slick: Make sure you have solid footing before shifting your weight.

    Commando Bridge (One Rope)

    There are two ways to go about this.  You can either cross on top of the rope or below the rope, either way will be equally taxing. 

    Commando Crawl (On Top of the Rope)

    For this, you lay on top of the rope with one leg bent, foot hooked on the rope and as close to the butt as possible.  The other leg dangles to maintain balance.  You move across the rope using the hooked foot and your arms to drag you across.  While it is harder to maintain your balance with this technique, it is a lot easier to stop and rest your muscles should they become fatigued.

    Monkey Crawl (Beneath the Rope)

    Grab on to the rope with both hands and hook both heels over the rope.  Move by crawling forward.  This is a simpler method to maintain, however it is much more taxing and nearly impossible to stop and recover should you become fatigued.  On the other hand, if you are using a safety rope you can simply let go with your arms or feet (but not both at the same time) to give them a break.

    Crossing with Gear

    Should you need to cross with any equipment, hopefully it is in bags.  Attach the bags to the line via carabiner and drag it along behind you.  You can attach the equipment carabiner to a rope and attach it to your safety line carabiner to make it easier to keep track of.

  • How to Tie a Swiss Seat

    There are plenty of knots you can learn that will have much more use and be of more value than the Swiss Seat.  That is, until you need to go climbing or rope crossing.  The Swiss Seat is a makeshift harness that you can use to attach yourself to a rappel or bridge rope in case you don’t have a climbing harness.

    1. First of all, you need a length of rope 6-10 feet in length.
    2. Fold the rope in half, grasping the midpoint.
    3. Place the bight on your left hip.
    4. Wrap the rope around your waist on both sides, ensuring that the midpoint stays over the left hip.
    5. Pull one side under the other to make a half hitch. Repeat so that the rope turns twice around itself. This will eventually be where the carabiner is placed.
    6. Let the free ends of the rope fall to the ground, dangling in front of you.
    7. Reach between your legs from behind and grab each end of the rope in the adjacent hand.
    8. Bring the ends up to the outside edges of your back and tuck the ends under the rope at your waist from the bottom and over.
    9. Simultaneously squat and pull on the rope ends to tighten the seat as much as possible.  Repeat this step until the seat is sufficiently tight.
    10. To maintain the tension, run the ends under themselves from back to front, creating a loop around the waist rope directed back to the front.
    11. Tie the two rope ends into a square knot off-center to the left (to avoid snagging the line you are attaching to).

    This should be uncomfortably tight around your body but not cutting off circulation, and certainly not squeezing… sensitive… regions.  After you’re all tied up, attach a carabiner to the wrap of ropes at the front of your body and then attach it to the line and your ready to go.

  • How to Tie a Wireman’s Knot

    There are many knots that fall into the loop-on-the-bight category, but this one is particularly helpful when building a rope bridge (as described in an upcoming post).  This knot is basically tied by reverse french braiding the loops.

    1. Wrap two turns around the left hand (palm up) from left to right.
    2. Name the wraps from the palm to the fingertips: #1 (heel), #2 (palm), and #3 (fingertip).  Grab the #2 wrap (middle) and place it over the #1 wrap (heel).
    3. Grab the #1 wrap (now in the middle) and place it over the #3 wrap (fingertip).
    4. Grab the #3 wrap (now in the middle) and place it over the #2 wrap (heel).
    5. Grab the #2 wrap (now in the middle) and pull up to form a fixed loop.
    6. Dress the knot down by pulling on the fixed loop and the two working ends.  Pull the working ends apart to finish the knot.

  • How to Tie a Round Turn and Two Half Hitches

    Knots are pretty important in survival.  Most people don’t realize it until they suddenly have to tie a rope and the knot collapses and they have no idea why.  One of the best knots for tying the end of a rope to a static object is called the Round Turn and Two Half Hitches.  Called this because of the components that go into tying it.  You turn the rope ’round the object and secure it with two half hitch knots.

    1. First, wrap the rope around your static object.
    2. Then loop the running end of the rope over the standing end.
    3. Tuck the running end of the rope through the loop created by the last step.  Pull to tighten the knot and push it back close to the anchor object.
    4. Wrap the running end of the rope over the top of the standing end again.
    5. Tuck the running end of the rope through the loop create by the last step (again).  Pull to tighten the knot and push it back close to the first half hitch.

    This will create a stable knot that can take a fair amount of weight without weakening.