Learn to gather rope and how to tie a overhand knot in a series to make quick work of several knots and make it easier to climb up or down a rope.
In summer of 1973, I was an instructor for a company that operated in the Washington, D.C., area. We offered rope courses, climbing, and white water paddling to affluent young kids who couldn’t get enough. At the largesse of the National Park Service (NPS) and corporate donations, we offered several days of backpacking in Catoctin Mountain Park to under-advantaged inner-city kids. For this trip, instructors had to know a few knots and how to tie them consistently in any environment.
Gathering the Rope
I’d learned a trick for line and rope storage, which I shared at one of our ongoing training sessions. I’ve used this technique for over half a century for rope, line, extension cords, and everything I can get my hands on. (See “Gathering” images below for visual detail.)
A quick review: the “standing end” of a rope is the end of the rope. The “running end” is the opposite end of the standing end. The “bight” is the curve of rope between the ends. To see the butterfly technique, see “Rope Terminology” in Grit March/April 2025.
- Grasp the running end with your left hand, holding it between your thumb and forefinger. With your right hand, stack butterflies or, if you must, coils.
- Holding the butterflies in your left hand, draw the standing end all the way around the butterflies.
- Repeat Step 2 several times, working the coils up toward your left thumb. On the third or fourth such orbit, pause the standing end behind the wrapped butterflies.
- With your right hand, reach through the eyes (holes) of the coils under your thumb and pull through a bight.
- Drop the bight over the tops of the coils and pull the standing end snug.
Paying Out Overhand Knots from Gathered Rope
Later that same summer, I learned another trick from fellow instructor Nelson, who was taking time away from his job as firefighter and paramedic. His trick involved gathering rope in one’s hand and allowing it to play out in a series of overhand knots.
“What good is a series of overhand knots?” I wanted to know. “It makes it easier to climb down or climb up a rope,” Nelson replied. I shuddered at the thought of going up or down a rope without ascenders, a friction device, or a belay. “It makes for a better haul line,” Nelson added. (See “Paying Out” images below for visual detail.)
- Grasp the rope in your left hand between thumb and forefinger. With your right hand, grasp the standing end with your thumb down and fingers away from you.
- Twist your right wrist counterclockwise, and bring a half hitch to your open left palm.
- Repeat until you reach the number of overhand knots you want.
- Reach through with your right hand and pull back through the running end.
- Drop the coils, holding on to the running end with your right hand.
- The overhand knots will emerge from the spaghetti (pile of rope) as you pull the running end.
Saving the Day
In 1975, 13 mostly preventable drownings happened in the Potomac River. Nelson and I were hired the following summer as river rangers working out of Great Falls. We carried throw ropes and frequented areas where slippery rocks, powerful river currents, and recreational drinking intersected.
Since Great Falls was a heavily visited climbing area, a team of volunteers and NPS staff practiced an elaborate cliff rescue technique, which depended upon mechanical advantage to develop lift power. I brooded over the “What if?” game, anticipating what could go wrong, and developed contingency plans. I realized that drowning events in the area didn’t await elaborate setups.
In July, we were training with a haul-line technique in swift water when a 15-year-old girl fell into a maelstrom section of a fish ladder nearby. She clung to a rock just above a water slide that could only end in death by drowning or impalement.
I instantly had a haul team attached to a rope with an overhand every 6 feet. Armed with a bowline-on-a-coil knot that wouldn’t strangle under load, I entered the fish ladder. It was my finest hour. I was the Dope on a Rope! Including my own, I partially saved two lives that day. The folks on the other end of the rope are the big reason I’m able to brag to you about something that happened to me at work 50 years ago.
