Hacker News Reader

Comment by defrost | Hacker News Reader

Fair point re: the Klemheist although the Prussik serves well enough.

For my part I wouldn't use a figure 8 in a bight to get a loop in the middle of a lonf rope that's going to take load - the butterfly knot is far superior.

View on HN

> the butterfly knot is far superior

came here to say

IIRC the 8 on a bight is best for load parallel to the rope, and the butterfly best for load perpendicular to the rope. The butterfly is really fun to tie though :)

What makes it superior? Is it easier to adjust or untie?

It's easier to untie. Has a cool method of tying. When a loop is loaded the knot becomes a bend. The alpine butterfly forms a secure bend, while the flat figure 8 can capsize at low loads.

I would use either for a directional load, but only an alpine butterfly if loading the loop is conceivable. And using the flat 8 as a bend is suicidal.

[1] http://user.xmission.com/~tmoyer/testing/EDK.html [2] https://www.animatedknots.com/alpine-butterfly-bend-knot [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offset_figure-eight_bend

Can you please elaborate as to why it is superior?

Apologies for late reply, busy day - I'm happy to throw in with the dot points made by roessland on this.

I'm a bit confused though, I thought you were referring to a figure 8 on a bight which is often used when cleaning an anchor while roessland seems to talk about using a figure 8 to join two ropes (not tying it on a bight).

Reply on news.ycombinator.com