i think ye olde Tautline, or dropping a ring off the top coil (making from a round turn to a simple turn on top) is more like a Midshipman's knot, more for utility, but was used for 'live' cargo too aboard ship. A Tarbuck was similar and used in tree werk.
i think that the 'newer' hitches and the Blake's work more on a 'sock' grip through the coils covering over the host lifeline and pulling long ways down it; this grip is so intense, that something is done to the bottom coils generally to disturb them or precede them so that slide and not just hold is possible with the friction hitch. This arrangement also seems to pull more in line with the host line, rather than leveraged across, especially in VT.
i think a Tautline, Midshipman's, Tarbuck as a family of hitches, work more on the mechanics of the primary/active pull coming from a 2nd tier up, giving more of a leverage to bend the host line, make a bigger dent to affect grip/hold. A different strategy of hold/slide i think. Thus more leveraged weakness (bend) to host lifeline (with tautline), as more dent across if that is chosen rather than a 'sock' strategy over the line pulled directly down/ inline with host line(less bend to host lifeline) with 'newer' hitches?
i think that the 'newer' hitches and the Blake's work more on a 'sock' grip through the coils covering over the host lifeline and pulling long ways down it; this grip is so intense, that something is done to the bottom coils generally to disturb them or precede them so that slide and not just hold is possible with the friction hitch. This arrangement also seems to pull more in line with the host line, rather than leveraged across, especially in VT.
i think a Tautline, Midshipman's, Tarbuck as a family of hitches, work more on the mechanics of the primary/active pull coming from a 2nd tier up, giving more of a leverage to bend the host line, make a bigger dent to affect grip/hold. A different strategy of hold/slide i think. Thus more leveraged weakness (bend) to host lifeline (with tautline), as more dent across if that is chosen rather than a 'sock' strategy over the line pulled directly down/ inline with host line(less bend to host lifeline) with 'newer' hitches?