The Farrimond Friction hitch is an 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.
Farrimond Friction Hitch Details
Type: Hitch
Other Names: None
ABoK Reference: NA
How to Tie the Farrimond Hitch Knot
- Pass the rope around the object.
- Form a loop on the working part and place it over the standing end.
- Wrap the loop around the standing end.
- Wrap it one more time.
- Tuck the final bight through the loop.
- Tighten the knot.
That’s it. But 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.
That said, 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.
- Keep the size of the adjustable loop small. Since it slides under pressure, 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 a 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 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 paracords and natural fiber ropes.
When using slippery ropes, add an extra wrap around the standing end.
Quick 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.
Other Friction Hitches
Midshipman’s Hitch
The 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 the 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 it 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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