UKC

My friend and I did a video on the euro death knot; we put a lot of time and research into making it, any constructive criticism would be great. We want to make our videos better, any suggestions for future vids would also be great!

youtube.com/watch?v=Dy3Pi8ROlAM&

In reply to brunchman:

Nice video. I would have liked to have seen an example of a 'capsized' knot, as well as maybe some examples of the other knots you refer to at the end.

But clearly put overall.

Alan

In reply to brunchman:

If I was being hypercritical:

The Euro Death Knot tag has been applied to a few different knots (some of which are unsafe) so giving the impression that the EDK is safe is not necessarily interpreted as the same as the overhand being safe.

600 pounds ? its a euro knot ! 300kg please ! also, I think most brits use the term abseil rather than rappel, don't they ?

In reply to brunchman:
As you asked- a couple of points
pounds of pressure? Surely it is force not pressure, and we went metric in the 1970's so kN's.
At the end you mention the re-threaded figure of eight as a danger but not the figure of eight tied with two strands. Which did you mean?

In reply to brunchman:

Good effort.

Comments:

Think about the skill level of the audience. By definition they don’t know what a overhand knot is and how to tie one for abseiling. So will they understand what capsize means? (demonstrate it) This is true at several other points (what is a fisherman’s, and why not show a ready made fisherman's.)

Colours of ropes similar to each other and to table.

I would do the knot etc. and show benefits, only then mention any issues.

What do I do if the ropes are different diameters?

List benefits of possible knots in a table – with pull strengths

Why not show how easily the knot passes over and edge. And how quick to tie and untie compared to other knots.

Vid doesn’t show how you use it, i.e. threaded in a rap

Count how many seconds of the vid is a vid, not a radio transmission. i.e. in what fraction do we gain from it being a video. 90% is just talking and the video doesn’t add. Asking someone to watch your hands in motion but not doing anything for 4 mins is a big ask. This could be filled with the knot in use. Or some the stuff mentioned above.

Units: pounds/feet? Is this for a US audience?

Embed text and arrows on the video. E.g. tail length a two headed arrow showing the length <------40cm-------> so those who don’t have English as a first language can all benefit.

I think you will need so of it shot outside, in use, then back at the table.

Hope that helps and good luck with the project.

In reply to brunchman:

it's well done and clear

a few devils advocate things (agree with alan suggested show what capsized means)

1) loose the quote marks fingers !
2) use differing coloured ropes dark/light (a person with poor colour vision might struggle with the 2 you have chosen)
3) use some titles/words to emphasise key points (and maybe a picture of the knots you are talking about eg fisherman's, square etc included in the frame)
4) explain any non common terms ('dressed' , in-axis) with graphics if required
5) use Kg in the UK - the yanks use lbs (personal opinion)
6) could show an example of the fisherman's snagging and the flat side presented by the oh
7) fo8 strong enough vs capsize potential ?


well done though

In reply to brunchman:

I am somewhat colour blind (have a driving license but struggle at the climbing wall sometimes), but ropes and the table were distinguishable enough. I would agree to use something a little bit more different ropes, let's say blue and red.

As David Coley said, try to talk about background a little bit more. You assume you use the same diameter ropes (given from the weave pattern, these ropes are not from the same brand), but you don't tell anything about that. You are teaching and you don't know what it's going to be used for, maybe someone will take a 6.9mm twin rope and 10.5mm single rope, tie them together and will assume that it's fine? However, I am fairly sure people owning 6.9mm twin rope is not in the targeted audience.

As other people said, it would be better to use metric. Honestly, I just estimate that 2 pounds is 1 kilo and 1 foot is 30cm, but I am from scientific background, so I spend more time dealing with numbers.

Finally, you said you would personally recommend EDK, but how can someone trust you? It might sound more arrogant, but if you said "I have been regularly climbing for 15 years, hold SPA and done over 1000 abseils. I would recommend EDK over double fisherman's or flemish bend <because of that and that>". That would sound like you know what you are talking about - otherwise, I could make a similar video of some rubbish knot saying that it's a better one. Don't forget that we're on the internet and some people (like me) talk nonsense the way they understand the subject.