How To Tie a Figure Eight Knot (Mountain Climbing Knot)
In this Hub I'm going to show how to tie a figure eight knot. There are two ways to go about this, and this hub will be dedicated to tying a figure eight that would be used as a line stopper (so a rope isn't pulled through a hole, or can be used to attached to a carabiner for pulling something up a line, etc.
The main use for this knot is to attach something to the end of a rope. Because the figure eight knot has no hard creases in it, but rather slight bends and curves, it retains nearly all of the strength of the rope. It's also a friction knot, so the more pressure that is put on it, the stronger it becomes. It is also easy to move or untie, but has little or no slip.
The figure eight knot is commonly used in mountain climbing to secure a harness to the end of a rope. The way it has been tied here, I would not suggest using to climb, as it won't be able to be tied around the harness but only clipped into place with a carabiner.
I will create a second hub on how to tie a figure knot around a harness or clew on a sail later.
Find out how to tie a bowline knot HERE.
Get some rope
Grab some rope to follow along. Practice will help you remember this knot. If you don't have rope, I've practiced tying knots on electrical cords. The rope shown in this series is from an old cast net, with the end spliced into a hand loop. Be creative and you'll find something to practice with!
Fold over end
Step one: Take one end of rope and double itself over, giving you about 2 feet of doubled rope to work with. Use a longer doubled over section if you need a larger loop.
Create a loop
Step two: Create a loop about midway in the doubled over section.
Fold over
Step three: Take the tail of the loop and go around the base of the rope.
Pull through loop
Step four: Pull the tail through the loop. You'll note the knot looks like a figure eight, thus it's name.
Tighten
Step five: Tighten the knot by pulling on the loop and on the base of the rope.
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