Icicle hitch

Icicle hitch

Category	Hitch
Origin	John Smith, 1990
Related	Prusik, Klemheist knot, tautline hitch, gripping sailor's hitch
Releasing	Unload the working end
Typical use	Tying to a post when weight is applied parallel to the post Tying to a rope when load is applied parallel to that rope
Caveat	The Kleimheist knot will look almost identical, but the load with the klemheist should be applied with the bight lying across the turns on the post/rope the knot is tied to

An icicle hitch is a knot that is excellent for connecting to a post when weight is applied to an end running parallel to the post in a specific direction. This type of hitch will hold its place even when holding a substantial load on a smooth surface. One can even suspend from a tapered post (such as a marlinspike) with this knot (hence the name "icicle hitch").^[1]

To tie an icicle hitch, bring the working end over the post, front to back, four or five times, working away from the end of the post (and the direction of expected pull). Bring the working end, back to front, alongside the standing end, leaving a substantial bight hanging behind the post. Bring this bight over both ends and over the end of the post. Tighten by pulling both ends perpendicular to the post. The pull on the standing end (running the direction of the post) will tighten the knot as more pull is given.

This knot is similar to the Prusik knot and the Klemheist knot. This class of knots is a "slip-and-grip" friction type that will pull tight when the load is applied in the correct direction and slide easily for placement with no load. The Prusik knot can withstand load in both directions, making it ideal for climbing situations. Upon examination of the icicle hitch, one finds that it operates under the same principle as the Klemheist knot and is in fact the same knot tied only with a bight in the end instead of the more common short loop used for climbing.

This knot was first demonstrated at the eighth Annual General Meeting of the International Guild of Knot Tyers in 1990.

Tying

Pull direction is LEFT, so make 5 turns to the RIGHT...
Drape working end over rod so it hangs beside standing part...
Loop the bight created around working and standing parts and over end of rod.
Set up tight...
Now pull to LEFT with confidence!

External links

References

↑ Brion Toss, The Complete Rigger's Apprentice (Camden: International Marine, 1998), 55–56.

Knots

By type

Bends	Adjustable bend Albright special Ashley's bend Alpine butterfly bend Basket weave knot Beer knot Blood knot Carrick bend Double fisherman's knot Fisherman's knot Flemish bend Grief knot Halyard bend Harness bend Heaving line bend Hunter's bend Nail knot One-sided overhand bend Racking bend Sheet bend Shoelace knot Shroud knot Simple Simon under Single carrick bend Surgeon's knot Surgeon's loop Triple fisherman's knot True lover's knot Water knot Zeppelin bend Zeppelin loop

Binding	Boa knot Bottle sling Constrictor knot Corned beef knot Granny knot Ground-line hitch Jamming knot Miller's knot Packer's knot Reef knot Strangle knot Thief knot Transom knot

Climbing	Autoblock Bachmann knot Beer knot Bowline on a bight Alpine butterfly knot Directional figure eight Double anchorman knot Double bowline Farmer's loop Figure-eight knot Figure-eight loop Figure-of-nine loop Friction hitch Klemheist knot Munter hitch Overhand loop Prusik Trident loop Yosemite bowline

Coils	Butterfly coil Alpine coil

Decorative	Carrick mat Chinese button knot Celtic button knot Diamond knot Fiador knot Friendship knot Matthew Walker knot Turk's head knot Wall and crown knot

Fishing (angling)	Angler's loop Arbor knot Bimini twist Blood knot Fisherman's knot Half blood knot Improved clinch knot Knotless knot Nail knot Palomar knot Snell knot Trilene knot Triple fisherman's knot Turle knot Uni knot

Hitches	Adjustable grip hitch Anchor bend Axle hitch Bachmann knot Bale sling hitch Barrel hitch Becket hitch Blackwall hitch Blake's hitch Boom hitch Buntline hitch Cat's paw Clove hitch Cow hitch Double overhand noose Falconer's knot Farrimond friction hitch Friction hitch Garda hitch Gripping Sailor's hitch Ground-line hitch Half hitch Halter hitch Highpoint hitch Highwayman's hitch Hitching tie Icicle hitch Improved clinch knot Killick hitch Knute hitch Lobster buoy hitch Marlinespike hitch Munter hitch Ossel hitch Pile hitch Snuggle hitch Swing hitch Taut-line hitch Timber hitch

Loop	Angler's loop Artillery loop Bale sling hitch Bowline Bumper knot Carrick bend loop Cowboy bowline Diamond knot Double bowline Dropper loop Eskimo bowline Fiador knot Fireman's chair knot Friendship knot loop Halter hitch Handcuff knot Honda knot Jury mast knot Overhand loop Portuguese bowline Rigid double splayed loop in the bight Slippery eight loop Span loop Spanish bowline Tom fool's knot Trident loop Triple bowline Triple crown knot Water bowline Yosemite bowline Zeppelin loop

Running (slip)	Hangman's knot Running bowline Running highwayman's hitch Slip knot Tarbuck knot

Shanks	Catshank Dogshank Sheepshank

Stopper	Ashley's stopper knot Button knot Double overhand knot Monkey's fist Overhand knot Stevedore knot

Whipping	Common whipping Overhand knot with draw-loop Portuguese whipping Sailmaker's whipping West Country whipping

Lists of knots
Related topics

Lists of knots	Bends Bindings Decorative knots Hitches (friction) Macramé Mathematical

Related topics	Chinese knotting International Guild of Knot Tyers Lashing Rope splicing Seizing

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Icicle hitch

Tying

See also

External links

References