A question for the TRS folks in the climbing community...
This past Monday I went out and top rope solo'd for the first time. It was a nice experience and I learned a lot. I look forward to honing some of the practices (e.g. refixing strategy, bottom weight, etc.)
One thing that I was not prepared for was a specific knot that Brent Barghahn teaches in his TRS video with Ryan Jenks from How NOT 2. He states that he refixes his rope to prevent rope abrasion (), and this can be done in a number of ways. He now prefers to tie a slipknot with a full twist (instead of a half-twist), instead of something that requires him to stop and untie, like an alpine butterfly.
I attmepted to tie this knot a number of times in preparation (and on site), but it never looked right. I ended up using a butterfly.
Later I rewatched the video and practiced the knot for a full half hour before I figured out exactly why it didn't look right. Can you figure it out?
Here is the knot tied correctly, and then incorrectly. Can you spot which is which?
[image: 1741924974063-pxl_20250313_143739970.mp-resized.jpg]
[image: 1741924980472-pxl_20250314_015542239-resized.jpg]
