Mastering The Figure Eight Retrace Knot, Perfect EVERY Time

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Most of the time we wear helmets when we go vertical climbing on routes. But there are times we do not. Much gym climbing doesn’t require a helmet. Outside, there are the odd off-width climbs that are just the right size that a helmet could get you stuck in the crack.

Most of the time we climb these routes, we wear climbing shoes, but some more moderate climbs - think an multi-pitch, all-day 5.6 or 5.7 - can be climbed in approach shoes without adding significant fall risk while significantly increasing comfort.

Most of the time we climb these routes, we do a lot of things, but there is always a few exceptions.

The only exception I can think of to tying the rope into our harness that I can think of is free soloing. I don’t choose to free solo much, the occasional class 4 or 5.0-ish short climb. I can probably count the number of times on my fingers.

So, it seems that tying the rope to our harness happens an awful lot, more than helmets (if we count the gym) and more than climbing shoes for me (since I almost always solo on terrain in which approach shoes actually work better).

My point is that we tie a figure eight retrace knot almost every time we go climbing. If we go to a crag, doing multiple routes, we tie that knot multiple times. If we are to do something that is so fundamental to our safety so frequently, it seems a worthwhile exercise to get really good at it. At the crags, I’ve seen many a figure eight retrace that ended up being tied less than ideally (say an unnecessary cross). I’ve seen super long tails on the knot which could get in the climber’s way. I’ve seen little-to-no room at the connecting loop: hardpoints pinched hard together and a knot that won’t rotate freely into a vertical orientation should a fall happen. But most frequently I’ve seen people flail and eat up time that would be better spent climbing.

If we had a system for thinking through the knot, a system that we could repeat every time - even while adjusting it to different diameter ropes that use up more or less rope length within the knot - it would likely help our immediate safety as well as help with efficiency that can lead to more fun (or potentially more safety on big alpine routes).

So, here is such a system. I hope it helps.