Vertical caving terminology and methods > Knots > Common knots
Avoid
A bend knot used as a way to join two ropes to make a longer rope, but with limited applications. It reduces the strength of the rope by around 78%, but not because of any weakness in the knot, which is very strong when used as a tape knot. Its weakness lies in the fact that it is essentially a cross loaded version of the overhand on a bight, and when loaded to levels in the region of 480 kg, the knot will deform (it capsizes into the same knot) and start rolling continually down the tails of the ropes, until it falls off the ends and unties. These numbers are even lower if the knot has not been properly set. While this is more than it is likely to experience with normal SRT usage, it is far weaker than the normal safety margin that is expected by rigging knots, and really should be avoided. Sometimes seen as a rigging knot for a pull-through without a Y-hang, where it might be used to join separate ropes (one for loading, and one for derigging the pull-through), while simultaneously jamming against an anchor in order to support the load. There are much better knots for this purpose, such as a flat double overhand bend. When pulling the rope down the pitch, the knot can run over rough surfaces, and usually orients itself facing away from the surface, in a way that avoids snagging, which is why it is sometimes preferred over other bends, but the flat double overhand bend can do that too. Made from a tape knot with the second rope threaded from the same end as the first one.
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