How to use the Double Bowline to tie in to a rock climbing harness

I use the double bowline to tie into my climbing harness and this is how I tie it. The double bowline is an alternative to the standard "Figure 8 Follow Through). This video is for demonstration purposes. The Figure 8 is widely regarded as the "safest" method to tie in because it is easily inspected and hard to screw up. It's main problem though is that the Figure 8 follow through can load up during a fall and be very hard to untie afterwards. The Double Bowline is safe for climbing when tied properly and is a LOT easier to untie after being loaded. The Double Bowline is also faster to tie than the figure eight.

[floewqua]

This is the clearest video I've seen about the bowline. No change of perspective, nice tempo, this is the way it's supposed to be done.

[stephanddd]

Your demonstration of how to wrap the two loops around your hand was very useful. I have avoided the double bowline because other methods of creating the second loop just don't feel as reliable.

[Stan_in_Shelton_WA]

As an arborist I used a single bowline with a long tail of which is used to make a prusik style knot the the other side of the rope, the standing side opposite of the ginning location in the tree. A rope and a saddle is all you really need, climbing spurs optional. So many arborist and rock climbers have clip in style hardware between them and the dirt. Hundreds of hours on a rope and never any hardware between me and gravity and I trained all my employees the same.

[OldArmyZeke]

Thank you for a superb video. There are so many knot videos that are poorly produced, unclear, confusing, and painful to watch. I see that you have produced several knot tying videos; and all that I viewed were of the same high quality. They are all well edited with a mixture of video and still pix with voice over. Keep up the good work; and keep posting more videos.

[JeffHoots]

Well done. I used this to tie my daughter's rope swing!

[lloydwhite]

Thank you sir. Just subscribed. Looking forward to seeing more of your videos. Stay safe and Godspeed.

[Sherpaful]

As someone said below, the bowline is the granddaddy of all loop knots

[WheeliePete]

The biggest advantage for me is speed of tying. I can tie this not much faster than a figure 8, not that big a deal outdoors, but in a gym where they require you to tie directly into your harness (not just to a biner') 30-40 changes a session with a climbing partner makes tying the knot fast a bonus.

[bowlineobama]

Bowline is the King of Knots. Thanks.

[WheeliePete]

@wackoguywatch The stopper needs to be on the main line because the knot will contract under load. It makes it easy to untie and inspect visually if you tie the stopper to the main line.

[kincheng]

the retraced bowline is a nice version for climbing as well

[hot]

very good video. I will still use my figure of 8 for now but great know too know

[mikenorman]

The bottom of the knot came over the top of the knot. It resulted in a knot that's equivalent to a rethreaded figure-eight, but without the final thread. Try it at home. It's kind of an eye-opener! Just keep pulling the bottom of the knot over the top, until you have a slipknot.

It's just food for thought.

[louisebooth]

Whilst it's always good to know how to tie a bowling knot, I think I 'll stick with the figure eight follow through knot as I find it easier to do, and you can check the knots correct- you carnt check a bowline knots correct visually. Im more comfortable with the figure eight and with the knowledge that the figure eight is a hell of a lot harder to come undone so it ll never fail to stop any falls I might have.

[WheeliePete]

True, but if you're sport climbing short routes and you keep popping off, or if you are swapping the rope every other turn with your climbing partner, untying the figure eight follow through gets old in a hurry.

[drewspaulding]

I switched to the double Bowline knot to tie into my harness years(10+) ago after not being able to untie my figure8 knot after a big fall. It was a friends rope and I nearly had to cut the fucker to get the 8 off my harness. INSTEAD of following the end through the  DB-Bowline and ending up with a cumbesome "stopper" knot above the Bowline(that gets in the way sometimes), I use the "stopper" knot below the Bowline on the loop and cinch it up tight to the bottom of the DB-Bowline. Now your tail gets tucked into your harness along side the loop of rope and you never have to see the tail while your climbing. This makes a much smaller knot than the 8 with a back-up or the DB-Bowline with the "stopper" knot on the top. I can tie this knot with my eyes closed and it is very quick and easy. As with any knot, tightening each leg of the knot if very important. Figure 8 has 4 legs to tighten and the Bowline has only 3 legs...
People will leave the starter 8 on the end of the rope for courtesy and I will untie it and tie the DB-Bowline because that's what I'm used to now. Tying a figure 8 is a pain in the ass and I believe there is a proper way to dress the figure 8 KNOT. Just "following through" any old way is improper! Your life line should always be the bottom of the figure 8 knot. So when you fall, your lifeline cinch's the entire 8. 95% of people I see tie the 8 do not know this fact and do not dress the 8 properly. Usually their lifeline is not the bottom of the 8 but the next level up from the bottom of the 8. NOW the bottom of the 8 doesn't do jack shit...  

[mirricano]

I always use a bowline to tie in my climbing rope, but instead of a double bowline i tie a single one and instead of pulling up the through the loop I re-thread the hole thing.

[YManCyberDude]

What do you call that finish ? A short Yosemite ?

[pauldavies]

I've seen this done with a clove hitch at the start rather than a double wrap.

[lifeisgood]

Also - double bowline weakens rope more 25%-30% vs. 20%-25% for the fig 8. Reports of bowlines coming untied, but no reports of fig 8's ever coming untied.
Still incredibly easy knot to loosen comparatively when taking a 20ft fall or w\e