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How do you knot the end of a rope on abseil? 28-Oct-2010 At 6:54:51 AM hargs

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On 27/10/2010 freesolo wrote:
>a few points:
>1. Prussik is knot/bend of cord. Not an activity. A true Prussik is normally
>used for going UP, not DOWN (i.e. it is a type of knot/bend which allows
>a specific activity)

First, it's Prusik, after Dr Karl Prusik, and I take "to prusik" to mean 'to use a prusik', so I can happily prusik up, down or sideways. (I can't even believe I'm having this discussion. English borrows nouns all the time, it's part of the normal development of the language, but that's a whole other thread.)

>2. Auto block is a method of stopping an abseil. Not a knot/bend of cord.
>There are various knots/bends that will accomplish this.

An auto-block is a knot, made with a Prusik loop girth hitched to your harness, wrapped around the rope a few times, clipped back to harness with a carabiner. That's as much it's own knot as a Bachman or a Klemheist. They're friction hitches, by the way. A bend is used for joining two ropes together. A hitch is used for attaching a rope to an object, which in this case happens to be another rope.

God help them at work today.