Knots

The tying of knots is a learned skill. It requires an ongoing training program to facilitate handling and to eliminate hesitation. The dire consequences of insecurity and faltering can be found in statistics. Each year firefighters die as a direct result of failure of rope evolutions. In many cases the failure of a knot or anchor point is to blame. Knots in the fire service have always been a challenge to the firefighter. It is a dexterity that often converts otherwise skilled fingers into ten indifferent thumbs, especially during a knot tying performance test. In many cases this disconcerting response is the direct result of a fire service tradition which teaches knots with little, or outdated practical application. Knot tying performance, is often graded by how well the firefighter ties the knot. The importance of the knot, as a life saving tool, is rarely analyzed.

Knot tying is a skill that may well be life saving. It should be taught, learned and mastered with seriousness devoted to any survival skill. Considering knots solely as a challenge, or dare, is counterproductive and not in the best interest of the firefighter. When needed in an emergency this invaluable skill may mean the difference between life and death to a civilian in need of rescue, or to the firefighter in need of escape. In either instance, a knot should be taught with a specific function to perform, be simple to learn, and especially, be easy to remember.

In the fire service, knots have always been taught as a means of hoisting and lowering tool, ladders, hose, and miscellaneous equipment. Except for the bowline, and double loop eight, knots for rescue are rarely considered. During training, knots and their application to anchor points must receive the same attention as knots and their application to tools and equipment.

In recent years there has been a great increase in the use of rope for high angle rescue. This type of rescue encompasses workers caught in scaffolding failures, window washers becoming entangled in their safety lines, and fire victims in need of escape from upper floors. As a result, there has been resurgence in firefighters becoming proficient in rope rescue techniques to make these rescues. This interest has also stimulated an awareness for more specific knots for increasingly specific situations.

The need for specificity has forced an acceptance of many "non-traditional" knots into the fire service; most notably the figure eight knot and it's numerous variations, each of which has a particular application in rope rescue evolutions. As much as this open mindedness it has not evolved without complication.

Knots and Hitch Construction 

Knots and hitches utilized in the fire service and in technical rescue operations must be quickly and easily tied and untied, and capable of performing the desired task or evolution.

Hitch.  A knot that attaches to or wraps around an object so that when the object is removed, the knot will fall apart.

Knot.  A fastening made by tying together lengths of rope or webbing in a prescribed way.

Elements of a Knot

Bight.  The open loop in a rope or piece of webbing formed when it is doubled back on itself.

Loop. A loop is formed by crossing the sides of a bight.

Round Turn.  Continuing to bend one side of a loop until the sides are parallel forms a round turn.

To see pictures and discriptions of each of the Knots Click here