There are too many sources on the bowline on a biner topic to list. A quick search should render lots of results. Treeco is correct, any attachment knot used for life support needs to cinch up tight on the biner or snap. I use the scaffold knot as well.
PDQDL,
I found my TCC. It says quote:
"Unless the hitch is proceeded by a half hitch this knot is not recommended for tying off limbs for lowering because of it's potential to 'roll out'. Even still, the clove hitch and running bowline perform this latter function better".
I also found this quote worthwhile and thought it would be educational for this thread:
"It is recommended that at least five tucks or turns be made around the standing part for this hitch to function properly".
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Good! I'm glad you found your reference. I recall reading the five tucks, but I have apparently missed the other comments.
Thanks for nailing me with that one.
Well...All I can say is that the TCC is a good book, but it certainly isn't the final word. The author clearly is not fond of the timber hitch. Myself, I don't think I have ever used five tucks, and I have never had a timber hitch pull out.
I suspect that the author is one of those experienced climbers who never learned to use this knot. As I have already pointed out, it is rather sensitive to being tied and set correctly. Done wrong, and it will pull out in a heartbeat. For an inexperienced climber, I would strongly recommend learning the running bowline as a primary knot, then learning to use other methods for improved convenience and safety.
I don't like the timber hitch best because it is more reliable, I am fond of it because it cannot be made hard to untie, and it is faster for my groundies to untie. So far, nearly all of the tree climbers that I have trained over the past 25 years have graduated to
preferring the timber hitch for rigging, after I almost choked them by the neck making them learn how to use it. As we can see from almost every thread hear at AS, many tree workers are not terribly inclined to changing their methods or learning new ways.
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I still wish to take exception to the "roll out" comment. I think that the phrase is misleading. A clove hitch will literally roll out, if attached to a post that is not anchored, much like a log that is dropping. If the log, branch, or post is firmly anchored, the clove hitch holds pretty darned well. A slick surface is much more likely to have this problem than a rough textured log.
The timber hitch literally cannot "roll" out, since the tail turns back on itself. Of course, that tail can be pulled out, but that would be a knot "failure to hold", not "rolling out". This same logic applies to bowline, taut line hitch, or any other knot that is accused of being prone to failure. They are pulling out under load, not unwinding from their attachment point.
I know. It's all just semantics.
