Farrimond Friction Hitch

The Farrimond Friction hitch is a slipped and adjustable friction hitch used to tighten a tent ridge line or a clothesline.

It can be slid up and down the standing part of the rope in order to keep a line at a desired tension.

The best part: you can untie it with one hand by pulling the end of the rope.

Let’s learn this hitch in detail.

History

The Farrimond friction hitch is a new knot in the knotting world. 

It was presented by the British actor Barry Farrimond in 2008 at the Yellow Wood Bush Camp.

How to Tie the Farrimond Hitch Knot

1. Pass the rope around object.
2. Form an underhand loop on the working part and pass it over the standing end.
3. Wrap the loop twice around the standing end.
4. Tuck the final bight through the loop.
5. Tighten the knot.

So, how do you know you have tied this knot correctly? When finished, the adjustable loop shouldn’t move by itself when the rope is pulled and should hold firm. 

But, you should be able to slide the knot to adjust the size of the loop.

PRO TIP

The Farrimond hitch tends to slip when you use slippery ropes like Kevlar or Polyester. 

If you want to add extra friction to this knot to make it bind more, increasing the loop extra times should provide greater security.

Also, try to keep the size of the adjustable loop small.

It slides when put under pressure, so try to keep the knot closer to the object to avoid this situation.

Applications and Uses

The Farrimond friction hitch is used to tie ridge lines or guylines of tarps or tents in camping, scouting and outdoor activities.

It’s also used for making the clothesline.

It can be used as an alternative to the Tautline Hitch or the Adjustable Grip Hitch when you don’t have access to the rope’s free end.

Pros and Cons

The Farrimond hitch is a quick release hitch knot.

Whenever you need to release the knot, just pull on the working end of the rope.

It also increases the possibility of the knot being untied by accident. You can put a barrier like a stick in the loop to prevent it from slipping.

This knot can be tied in the middle of the rope without the end, so you can tie the knot without unrolling the whole coil.

It’s an advantage if you use the longer ropes.

Also, it’s difficult to tighten as you need to pull several ropes to tighten the knot. It does not work well with the slippery ropes but holds well in paracord.

Farrimond Friction Hitch Limitations

The Farrimond hitch is not recommended for critical situations as the knot can slip with a simple pull of the tag end.

It works best with the paracords and natural fiber ropes.

When using slippery ropes, add an extra wrap around the standing end.

Other Friction Hitches

Midshipman’s Hitch

Midshipman’s hitch is a strong friction hitch.

It consists of an Awning hitch that provides the friction so that the rest of the knot can be tied.

It has a grip better than other hitches but is hard to untie.

Adjustable Grip Hitch

The Adjustable grip hitch is similar in strength to Farrimond friction hitch.

It has a better grip than most of the friction hitches.

As the name suggests it keeps its grip under load and can be slid up and down the line to maintain tension.

Tautline Hitch

The Tautline hitch comes undone when it’s not under stress.

Although it’s rare for this hitch to completely untie itself, you’ll need to retie almost every time.

It’s also harder to untie.

Prusik knot

The Prusik knot is tied similar to the Farrimond hitch.

The Prusik is tied onto a separate line, but the Farrimond hitch is tied onto itself.

It has three wraps instead of two in the Farrimond hitch.

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