Rock Climbing Knots - Italian Hitch

The Italian Hitch is an extremely useful knot as it can be used for Belaying, Abseiling, and rigging. It is a friction device which creates friction by rubbing on the hardware or object, usually a Carabiner, so the descent can be controlled in a belay mechanism. But since this knot leaves a lot of bends in the rope, the Italian Hitch is used only as back-up or for emergency situations.

As a belaying knot, this hitch allows great flexibility in system design and operation. The knot is controlled from the front, as opposed to a belay plate which must be controlled from behind. Maximum breaking is obtained by having the ropes parallel on the load side of the carabiner.




Step 1:
Run the rope through the opened Carabiner.

Step 2:
Make a loop in the rope.

Step 3:
Pass the Carabiner through the loop.

Step 4:
Pull to tighten and close the gate of the biner.

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