What is your opinion about this hitch?
Silly overknotting & inefficient, not so effective.
There are many variables with such things,
but the
icicle hitch does really perform well,
using a *COIL-AWAY* basis (like the
ProhGrip,
klemheist, and that enables it to grip on even
a tapered smooth object, as (brave) John Smith,
its designer, demonstrated way back when, to IGKT.
And thanks for the
Practical Sailor article (I'd thought
that their stuff was NA but for subscribers?!). After the
appallingly bad "test" they did ca. 2002? of common knots
tied in "high-modulus" cordage --their reaction-to/checking
of Brion Toss's alarming report in SAIL magazine, I was
of course quite dismissive of their wit!! (That article is
really appalling, in many ways.) (I've only quickly scanned
this one re gripping hitches; but surely one should be able
to figure out that these things do NOT have to be taken
in the exact *dosage* that a book might show them :: e.g.,
putting in an extra turn and so on ought to be part of the
game (which to some extent is all that distinguishes the
camel hitch v. rolling h.)**. (And, e.g., J.Smith's advice
for the
icicle is to have sufficient turns such that at
least two remain at the away end (the loaded end pulling
out away from them) --after an initial setting, one might
see one's current knot deficient in this regard and so work
in another 1-2 wraps.
**[Ah, so it's Beth & Evans, well, they are better.]
--dl*
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