Bowline Vs. Figure-8

It's the fixie of climbing. No matter what you say, you really can't justify it over a fig 8. Well, you can, but we all know that it's just excuses. Same thing with fixies.

Like I said upthread though, I use one quite a bit. I also ride a fixed gear quite a bit. I feel fine about doing it but wouldn't want my mom to walk in on me while I'm "tying in".

bearbreeder wrote: ive noticed a trend among newer climbers to use the bowline because its "cooler" and shows you are a more "advanced climber" ;)

I'm cool as shi*t! I'll tie in sometimes using a bowline just to practice the knot. I'll use the figure 8 if I think I'm going to fall though. You might be on to something..

I definitely thought I was cool when I forgot my wife's helmet and lent her mine. So no helmet, a flannel, rolled up corduroys AND a beanie. I was like hell ya until I remembered I'm fat.

Brian12345 wrote:Hey guys, I'm doing a research paper on tying in with a Figure-8 follow through vs. a bowline with various finishes. I'm not looking for any rants as to why one is better than another. I just want to know what knot do you consistently tie in with at the crag? If you use a different knot? a variation? and what finish you use on a bowline?

Bowline rethread with the Yosemite finish. The bowline rethread, as I call it, is when you tie a singe bowline, then take the tail and thread it back through the tiein points and retrace the bowline a second time, then do the Yosemite finish.

For multipitch climbs I used the figure eight.

Tying a figure 8 incorrectly could result in failure as well (i.e. someone doesn't finish the knot)

A figure 8 is an easier knot to tie, so less likely to be incorrectly tied.

But, that's not the main point I made. The main point is if someone fails to tie a bowline correctly their partner is unlikely to be able to catch this. But if someone fails to tie a figure 8 correctly, their climbing partner is likely to catch this. Assuming both are tied incorrectly at the same rate, most of the figure-8 incorrect tie-ins will not result in a disaster if loaded, but most of the bow-line ones will.

Someone mentions giving their tie-in a weight test, like weighting a rap setup before committing to it. This will catch the case of not doing the tie-in at all, but I don't expect it would catch a poorly tied bowline.

Ahmed IbnHabibjan wrote:

Ebowline... damn, do you have any idea how much it hurts to blow Malbec out your nose?

Brian12345 wrote:I just want to know what knot do you consistently tie in with at the crag? If you use a different knot? a variation? and what finish you use on a bowline?

Retraced figure-8 100% of the time.

It's funny how people on mp.com can't answer a simple yes or no question without ranting or putting there 2 cents in. see what i did there.

figure 8. 100% of the time.

Without hard based evidence, aside from some rock and ice isolated incidents, the difference in the two knots can be pretty subjective. I Personally use the double B and ensure its snug and finished with double fisherman's knot. I particularly like it after I am falling or hang doggin and I can easily release the knot.

Single pitch: double bowline with Yosemite finish.
Multi-pitch, off-widths, and lowering: figure 8