RRC Archives

This happened a while back, but it is still fresh in my mind. One of my friends was hanging on a waterknot that was made using 1 inch webbing. These knots are supposed to be virtually impossble to come undone. The knot popped and he fell a couple of feet. I think that the tail wasn't long enough. I was curious if anybody has heard of this happening?

Anytime you don't "finish" your knots or leave sufficient tails, I'd think you're just asking for something to come untied.

well you are supposed to leave a 2 inch tail on a waterknot and we thought we did. but, who knows, a momentary distraction can make you fall.

I don't know how old your knot was, but water knots gradually work themselves loose over an extended period of time while under stress (weight), like slings left around trees as anchors forever

I was just going to say what haas said. Waterknots will eventually work themselves loose. You have to remember to check for adequate amounts of tail (I suggest 2 inches) each time you use the webbing.

Was the sling made out of Spectra? That would cause it to slip. A shock loaded Spectra water knot will come undone!

There was a study that was done using 1 inch webbing with a water knot. (I might still have it at the gym). It showed that a water knot that was not finished actually moved a substantial amount over the course of continuous weight also through a series of falls.

Apparantly a water knot that was finished off on both ends with just a simple overhand knot, kept the water knot from moving a fair amount, but it still moved and over time came out.

If I can locate this study I'll post a link

AHA! I found it...

http://www.xmission.com/~tmoyer/testing ... esting.pdf

A link to the study of the water knot and its failure rate as done by Tom Moyer.

Enjoy!

In my search I also came across the "Beer Knot"...claims to be stronger than the water knot...although I have found nothing to support that claim. Interesting knot - Crazy Canyoneers!

http://www.canyoneering.com/gear/ties_beerknot.html

BTW, it took a bit to get the page to load but it eventually worked.

Interesting. I wonder if it actually works as well as they say it does.