Dead Eye Sling

It's always nice to have other options. I don't see any problem with it, especially since the block up in the tree is going to see twice the load that the portawrap is. Thanks for posting.

I have, what I believe to be, a much faster way to attach a Block. One of these days I will get around to posting up a video.
 
I would agree with your theory. And I use this any time my sling is too short to use the cow hitch. Many guys like to use the timber hitch in this spot, and that is just a personal preference, I don't like it at all. Thanks for taking the time to video this and post it.

Merry Christmas to all!!!
 
Nice I really like the quick adjustability for repositioning. It's like a woopie sling in that cense. If you forget the woopie, or if it's on another tree, you have an alternative.
 
I respectfully disagree with your statement on using if one is using a knot that needs a half hitch, the wrong knot is being used. Just don't feel the same way. I would also use a timber hitch myself.
BUT I would love to hear your reason for that statement, so if you get a chance, please explain.

that's a neat idea with the bowline tho man
 
Muggs said:
I explain my position regarding half hitch backups here:

http://educatedclimber.com/the-proper-use-of-a-clove-hitch/

This article is about the clove hitch but the same logic applies to the cow hitch and any other knot that "requires" half hitch backups.
Click to expand...

My issue with your terminology there is that the cow hitch doesn't have backups as much as the hitch finishes with half hitches. I have never used or seen one for load bearing without that portion of the hitch. It would just be a larkshead at that point, right?
 
Actually, a quick search to see just how much smome I'm blowing leads me to believe that they are synonyms.
I was shown (and have seen ever since then) that that half hitch is the distinction, and that a girth hitch is tied with a loop.
 
Make no mistake, any time a knot ends with a half hitch, it is being thrown in there as a backup. If it didn't need the backup, then it wouldn't be there. I could point to hundreds of useful knots that do not end with half hitches. I struggled with this issue of logical consistency for years until I figured out how to tie the running bow tight enough to replace the cow hitch. That is all I'm trying to present in this video.

Anyone and their brother can tie half hitches. If you don't know knots, tie lots! Half hitches should not be the basis for good ropework. We are supposed to be professionals. We are supposed to have a repertoire of highly specialized, bomber knots that just work – period. We shouldn’t be adding half-hitch backups to our knots and praying that they hold. It's nothing personal. None of us can say that we invented any of these knots. It is simple logic. If you told me that the zeppelin bend or the running bow required a backup, then I wouldn't be using them either.

All I'm saying is that a bomber knot doesn't need a backup - it just works. To paraphrase Brian Fantana from Anchorman - "100% of the time, it works every time."
 
Muggs said:
Make no mistake, any time a knot ends with a half hitch, it is being thrown in there as a backup. If it didn't need the backup, then it wouldn't be there. I could point to hundreds of useful knots that do not end with half hitches. I struggled with this issue of logical consistency for years until I figured out how to tie the running bow tight enough to replace the cow hitch. That is all I'm trying to present in this video.

Anyone and their brother can tie half hitches. If you don't know knots, tie lots! Half hitches should not be the basis for good ropework. We are supposed to be professionals. We are supposed to have a repertoire of highly specialized, bomber knots that just work – period. We shouldn’t be adding half-hitch backups to our knots and praying that they hold. It's nothing personal. None of us can say that we invented any of these knots. It is simple logic. If you told me that the zeppelin bend or the running bow required a backup, then I wouldn't be using them either.

All I'm saying is that a bomber knot doesn't need a backup - it just works. To paraphrase Brian Fantana from Anchorman - "100% of the time, it works every time."
Click to expand...


But the cow hitch does work every time, as long as it is tied the way I have always seen it tied. Your point there is clear, but I feel it is misguided, or at least being imposed in areas where it is less valid than with the endline clove. You're saying that a knot doesn't belong on job even as part of a more complex setup simply because anyone can tie it? I have always been fond of making things as complex as they need to be, but no more.
The running bowline requires a backup if you're putting your life on it or loading and unloading it in any sort of repetitive fashion...

I like the bowline cinch for a deadeye. It is clever. I also dislike the use of the clove hitch as an endline knot, but that is because of the way that backing it up destroys the tensions that make it perform properly.
The cow hitch, however, is basically creating a looped girth when you add at least one half hitch in the place that it goes as you naturally finish this knot properly. The hitch performs similarly to how it does when tied with a closed loop once set. It is a great sling hitch if there is enough cord to accommodate it.
 
A bowline is recommended to be backed with a stopper knot(figure of 8)

I used a bowline to secure slings in my green days,it was all I could think of.
I've only recently started backing it with a stopper.
The fact that you are losing at least %30 rope tensile capacity with a bowline,in a best case scenario,should be a deciding factor imo
 
I'm not suggesting that the cow hitch with a backup doesn't work every time. I know for a fact that it works every time because I used it for years.

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I'm just saying that I could make up 50 knots that, when finished with half hitch backups, could hold a load. That doesn't mean they are good knots.

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Muggs said:
I'm just saying that I could make up 50 knots that, when finished with half hitch backups, could hold a load. That doesn't mean they are good knots.

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

So all poor knots can be made more effective with half hitches, but not all half hitches indicate poor knots?
 
I'm not against half hitches in general, I use them everyday. I am against half hitch backups thrown onto the end of otherwise untrustworthy knots. If a knot requires a half hitch backup, then it is, by definition, untrustworthy, otherwise the half hitch wouldn't be thrown onto the end of it. I really don't see why this position should be so controversial. I strive for logical consistency in my reasoning and this is just where my train of thought leads.

Anyway, this really isn't the point of my video. I was just looking for feedback on this particular technique with a dead eye sling.

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Hey man, I appreciate your response. I don't really agree with what your saying simply because, to me, a clove hitch is always used with half hitches, eliminating my need to "pray it works". Nor do I feel less professional using knots with a half hitch on them. I feel like this comes down to preference, not one is wrong and one is right.
I can tie it wicked easy with one hand, it's easy to untie after its used, and I've never seen or heard of a problem with it when tied right.
Ive had a climbing accident due to not dressing and setting a bowline. Not the bowlines fault I didn't tie it right. It's also not the fault of the clove hitch that people don't think before loading it up without half hitches.
 
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