Icicle Hitch

Directional bite on a standing part — slide-test before you trust it.

• !Turns on the wrong side of the load
• !Failed slide-test, still used
• !A clove where a rolling or icicle third turn was the job

• !The turns run toward the pull instead of away from it, so the hitch slides when loaded.
• !The bight went over the rope parts but missed the end of the spar, so it pulls straight out when tightened.
• !It was loaded along the spar before being pulled tight, or tied with too few turns, and it slides as the load comes on.
• !The pull comes from the other direction along the spar, or the load comes off, and the hitch slides.

• Turns toward the pull

  Hitch will not grip and slides off

  Turns must work away from the direction of pull · step 01

• Bight missed the spar end

  Unfinished icicle — dumps under along-spar load

  The bight must pass over both ends and over the spar end · step 03

• Never set perpendicular, or too few turns

  Walks on the first along-spar load

  Set perpendicular, then load; add a turn if the slide-test fails · step 04

• Hitch slides down the standing part

  Check

  • ?Turns away from the pull
  • ?Bight over both ends and the spar end

  Then

  • →Add a turn
  • →Reset perpendicular, then load

• Turns toward the pull

  Check

  • ?Hitch will not grip and slides off
  • ?Inspect step 01

  Then

  • →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.

• Bight missed the spar end

  Check

  • ?Unfinished icicle — dumps under along-spar load
  • ?Inspect step 03

  Then

  • →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.

• Never set perpendicular, or too few turns

  Check

  • ?Walks on the first along-spar load
  • ?Inspect step 04

  Then

  • →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.

Same failure class, different geometry. Open the plates — Diagnose still starts from the symptom.

• Rolling Hitch
• Midshipman's Hitch
• Constrictor Knot