Frictions for Hard Points

"Frictions" are the techniques used to "tie off" load-baring suspension support lines so they will not slip when holding the weight of an entire person.

This tutorial show several very effective frictions:

• the Vine
• the Munter Hitch
• the Chain Stitch Lock

There are a number of others out there that some people favor, but my favorite is to start with the Munter Hitch for the added control and then use up the extra rope with the Chain Stitch.  With practice, this combination can give you the ability to get someone down very quickly in an emergency.

But for important information on emergency release, see the Emergency Munter tutorial.Notes

• The Vine is attractive ... but it has a major disadvantage:  It is slow--in an emergency, you pretty much have to cut your rope; there is no fast way to take it down.  Even in a non-emergency, it can take a long time to apply if you have a lot of rope to use up.  That said, this can be good if you only have 1-2' of rope, but consider combining it with other techniques
• The Munter is an awesome way to help add a lot of control when you are letting someone down, but it uses almost no rope, so it needs to be combined with other techniques to use up extra rope.  I like combining in with...
• The Chain Stitch Lock.  This is a great way to use up rope very quickly, but is a little bulky and some people may find it unattractive.

For this tie, I used one 30' (10m) piece of Natural 6mm (1/4") hemp provided by my affiliate Twisted Monk.  Check them out for some amazing hemp rope!