The essential knots every slackliner and highliner should know
Out of all the hundreds if not thousands of knots out there you only need to learn a few basic ones for slacklining and highlining. These serve as a great base of knots that you can always expand on. Think of these as your basic tools that can do almost anything while there are specialised tools that are capable of doing individual tasks better.
Overhand knot / Granny knot
The overhand knot is probably the easiest knot out there and usually the first knot that anyone learns how to tie.
How to tie an Overhand knot by Animated knots
Water knot
If you know how to tie an overhand knot you can tie a water knot. A water knot is simply an overhand with another piece that traces it. The water knot is a great knot for connecting two pieces of webbing and making slings for climbing or slacklining.
How to tie a Water knot by Animated knots
Figure of 8 Bend
The figure of 8 is one of the most essential knots when it comes to highlining. The follow through figure of 8 is the knot used to tie your highline leash to your harness. This is the same knot that climbers use to tie in as it is both strong and very easy to inspect.
How to tie a Figure 8 by Animated knots
How to tie a Figure 8 bend by Animated knots
How to tie a Figure 8 follow through by Animated knots
How to tie a double figure 8 by Animated knots
Frost knot
The frost knot is one of the best knots for making a fixed loop in webbing. The figure 8 frost knot is commonly used in highlines to connect the backup webbing to your anchor.
This video shows you how to make an overhand frost knot but the same technique is used for the figure 8 version.
How to tie a Frost knot for slacklining by Robinood
Bowline
The bowline, as with many other knots in highlining comes from the sailing industry and is one of the most useful knots out there. If you need a fixed loop that is easy to untie after a heavy load, this is the knot you’re looking for.
How to tie a Bowline by Animated knots
Munter / Munter Mule
The munter mule is a great knot that can be used instead of a belay device or descender when absolutely necessary. It is also a great knot to lower gear or tie off the rope from your pulley system. The munter mule is an easy way to tie off the munter to stop it from slipping.
How to tie a Munter mule by Animated knots
Alpine Butterfly
The alpine butterfly is one of the best knots to tie if you need a fixed loop along a rope and you don’t have access to the ends. The alpine butterfly is usually also quite easy to untie after a high load.
How to tie an Alpine butterfly by Animated knots
Fisherman's bend / scaffold knot / barrel knot / stopper knot / double overhand / poachers knot
This knot almost has as many names as it has uses. It is a really versatile knot, when used to connect two ropes it’s called a fisherman’s bend, when used to tie a rope to a carabiner it’s called a scaffold knot and when it’s tied at the end of a rope it’s called a stopper knot or barrel knot.
How to tie a double fisherman’s bend by Animated knots
How to tie a poachers knot / scaffold knot / barrel knot by Animated knots
Let us know if we’ve missed any other knots that you frequently use when highlining or slacklining. You ca get in touch via our social channels or our Contact page.