How to Tie a Rappelling Harness
A repelling harness is your lifeline while climbing. This length of rope is the one thing that will keep you alive in the case of falling from a high distance. Therefore, it’s incredibly important to be able to securely tie your harness in order to be properly rescued by your partner. Here are some steps to tie a rappelling harness that may someday save your life.
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Instructions
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Separate the two ropes that hang from the wall. Look up and locate the one that is closest to the wall. This will be the climber’s rope. The other will be used by someone on the ground to belay you. Run the end of the climber’s rope through your harness with plenty of slack.
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Locate the end of the climber’s rope and hold it in your hand. Hold the rope with your arm fully extended. With your opposite hand find where the rope meets your elbow and hold that spot. You can drop the end of the rope now and prepare for the next step.
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Pinch the rope between your two fingers. Using your free hand create a small loop a few inches wide, and run the rope next to the pinched fingers. Now both pieces of rope should be pinched together and a small loop should be above your hand.
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Take your free hand and grasp the end of the climber’s rope. Take this loose strand of rope and wrap it above your pinch and around the loop you have created. Wrap it only once so that the rope is hanging in the same place as before but wrap it around the upper part.
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Run the end of the climber’s rope through the loop you have made above your pinching fingers. Pull both ends around the knot until the rope is tight.
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Comments
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sidelclimbing
Sep 20, 2009
The above is not a "rappelling harness" - It is a confusing description of tying a "figure-eight" knot which is the first step of the "figure-eight-follow-through" that is used to attach the belayed safety rope to the climber's harness. There are some good descriptions of tying a harness - i.e., using rope or webbing to construct a harness for climbing or rappelling - on this forum. Go to them. Better descriptions of tying onto your climbing rope using the figure-eight-follow-through abound. It is the first knot climbers are expected to learn, and for some it is the only one they ever have to learn. There are numerous ways of tying it, but the requirements of the final knot are specific.
