UKC

Ashley's stopper knot - thoughts?

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needvert 23 Feb 2014

Generally I use double overhands, though yesterday I thought I'd see how this knot went jamming in an ATC - didn't budge or roll under body weight.

Never actually seen anyone use it, or a climbing book suggest it, but it seems fit for purpose (easier to untie, and bulkier than a double overhand, and presumably doesn't roll if Ashely suggests it(?)).

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashley%27s_stopper_knot )
Post edited at 06:30
 ashley1_scott 23 Feb 2014
In reply to needvert:

for what purpose are you using it.
if its to stop you belaying off the end of the rope, then yes its fit for purpose.
if its for tying to finish your Fo8, then its no easier to tie.

you said about jamming in the atc so guessing the first sentence
 Martin W 23 Feb 2014
I normally use a figure of eight to mitigate the risk of the end of the rope running through the belay device. The issue with Fo8s rolling arises when they are used to join ab ropes. I'm not aware of concerns about or evidence for Fo8s rolling when used to block the end of the rope (if anyone does have access to evidence of this being a problem, I'd be interested to see it). I imagine the forces involved in such an application would be fairly low anyway - the point being that, so long as the rope is routed through the belay device, the friction in the belay device absorbs most of the tension in the rope.

That said, I can't see any reason why Ashley's knot wouldn't work just as well for that purpose, so long as you can reliably tie it correctly.
 knudeNoggin 13 Mar 2014
In reply to needvert:

It is important to take the Wikipedia instruction's "2.Tighten the overhand portion of the knot around the standing part" seriously --*seriously* tighten it in tying, for loading will NOT : the risk is that the noose will fold and pull the tail through (and, yes, that will take much force).

If you tie the overhand in mirror image (i.e., reverse every crossing's over/under of the >>overhand<< itself (but not of the main line it's tied around), you will have a similarly bulked-into-trefoil stopper that cannot pull the tail through (as the part pulling pulls upon not only the tail but around the rim of the trefoil). This knot is less quickly formed than forming the overhand noose (backwards "slip knot", if you will), but hardly difficult.

*kN*

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