Girth Hitch Strength

joedietz

joedietz

Location
Milwaukee, WI
What percentage of the ropes strength is lost when you girth hitch it to a carabiner or ring? How does that compare to connecting directly to a spliced end of the same rope with no girth hitch? Is the strength loss the same with webbing?

Example: The Glide lite has a Warp Speed rope bridge girth hitched to the rings. You can also buy a replacement Spectra Webbing Bridge for the Glide lite which also girth hitches to the rings. The sequoia also uses a webbing bridge which is not girth hitched. Is one stronger than the other?
 
Intuition would tell me yes. You are disturbing the alignment of the fibers and creating points of tension and compression. Isn't general knowledge that knots decrease the wll of ropes/webbing?
 
I guess I'm wondering if any tests were done and what the percentage of strength loss is.

Also, is the percentage the same for webbing as it is for rope?

Also, I've never found a tensile strength listed for the Sequoia bridge. I know the Warp Speed is 9,000 lb and the Spectra Webbing is 5,400 lb.
 
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the webbing for bridges is usually 2-3 spectra webbing stitched together. so its more like 10,000 brk str.

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The sequoia is tripled over in the bridge area, but there is really only one section of webbing passing over the rings, so personally I'd base the strength rating on what a single length of the webbing material is.
 
Ive been told by someone who's been splicing for a long time that doubling and girth hitching is about the same strength as a regular splice directly connected.
 
"NOTE: a girth hitch will downgrade sling strength by at least 25%"

Straight out of Jeff Jepson's Tree Climber's Companion. I know thats for webbing, but I think rope strength is most likely similar.
 
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