How To Tie A Prusik Knot For Climbing

Do you want to learn how to tie a Prusik knot for climbing? Prusik knots are great for climbers and used in different situations, including ascending a rope to rigging a z-pulley to haul up an injured climber. It is a friction knot, also called a slide and grip knot, and is named after Dr. Karl Prusik, former president of the Austrian Mountaineering Club, who developed this knot in 1931.

The first part of tying a Prusik knot is to form a loop with a cord or smaller rope by joining the two ends using a double fisherman's knot. This looped cord is called a Prusik loop. The second part is to take the looped cord and tie it around a larger rope in such a way that completes the Prusik knot.  To tie a Prusik knot you will follow three sets of instructions.

Here are instructions for making a double fisherman's knot used to tie the cord into a Prusik loop:

1. Take the 2 ends of cord so they are parallel to each other, going opposite directions. Take one end and  wrap it around the other piece of cord from front to back.
2. The cord should be under or behind itself.  Once the end comes around to the front, the wrap has completed a circle. 
3. Repeat by making a second wrap.  This wrap is below the first one.
4.  Take the working end of the cord and thread it under, or behind, both wraps.
5. Tighten by pulling the cord.  This completes the first part of the double fisherman's knot.

 To complete the knot, the same steps are repeated only in the opposite direction:

1. Wrap the end of the cord that hasn’t been knotted yet around the other end from back to front.
2. The wrap should be in front or on top of itself.  When finished, this has completed a circle.
3.  Wrap the cord again.  This wrap is above the first one.
4. Thread the working end of the cord and thread it through both wraps.
5. Pull so that both knots are snug against each other.
6. Pull to tighten. This completes the double fisherman's knot.  

Here are the instructions for tying the looped cord around a larger rope to form a Prusik knot:

1. Take a piece of cord tied into a loop using a double fisherman's knot and wrap it around a rope.
2. Wrap the cord around the rope at least three times, each time passing the cord inside the previous loop.
3. Pull the knot tight, making sure all the wraps are next to each other, not bunched up or crisscrossed.
4. The knot can slide up and down a rope better if it is slightly loose.