Hey,

This is just a quick little post about something I was thinking lately. In recent times the latest bit of kit that has become a white water essential is the “open sling” and is in fact a mandatory part of the Irish Canoe Union kit list for some awards. I for one reckon its such a versatile / inexpensive / robust bit of kit there is almost no reason anyone can argue against it.

I favour the Nylon tubular webbing sort but traditional climbing tape or even Palm’s “Safety Line” all work the same. More often than not most of us end up having to tie the tape into a loop as part of an anchor system, this is where us as boaters get things a little bit more mixed up.

Nine times out of ten people will tie an overhand knot or figure of eight which are fine for most situations with ropes but this isn’t true when it comes to tape / webbing. The problem with both these knots in tape is that under a high load these will separate and come apart.

If you ask any seasoned Climber to tie you a two ends of tape together they will straight away do the very aptly named “Tape Knot”.

So here is how…

I just used two different colours of webbing so you would be able to follow what was happening, obviously if you are making a loop in a single tape it will be all the same colour (and not use roof rack strap).

This method is by far the safest and best way to attach two ends of tape. Learn it, Practice it and teach your mates.

Adrian