Icicle Hitch
Grip hitch for slick or tapered standing parts. Turns away from the pull.
Advanced · Polyester / Nylon rope / Polypropylene / Natural fibre
Connection card
Icicle Hitch
For load transfer / snubber.
This card does not say how strong the knot is. A retention figure comes from a bench, in one material, at one diameter, tied by somebody who ties it all day — and the line in your hand is none of those. What it does tell you is whether the thing you have just tied is the thing the record describes.
What this plate is telling you
Grip hitch for slick or tapered standing parts. Turns away from the pull.
Save this as a picture and it works with a dead signal and a nearly dead battery, which is when a joint is most often tied badly. The rest of this page — the steps, the seating sequence, the failure modes and the bench — is for the evening before.
Before you start
- ·It holds a pull along the spar in one direction only. Work out which end the load will pull toward, and start the turns beside that end.
- ·Leave enough working end for four or five turns plus a bight long enough to reach over both rope parts and past the end of the spar.
- ·The bight finish needs a spar end you can reach. If you cannot reach it, finish with the working end, passed behind the standing part and over the spar twice.
- ·With no load on it the hitch slides freely, so it can be moved along the spar and reset.
Step 1 of 4. Take four or five turns with the working end around the spar itself, laying each new turn further from the spar's end. The load will pull along the spar toward that end.
No drawing of this exact knot yet. The written steps are the reference.
swipe to step
01
Take four or five turns with the working end around the spar itself, laying each new turn further from the spar's end. The load will pull along the spar toward that end.
Four or five snug turns side by side on the spar, with the standing part leaving from the turn nearest the spar's end.
Laying the turns toward the direction of pull instead of away from it. You will see the working end finishing nearer the spar's end than the standing part, and the hitch slides when loaded.
Fix: Unwind the turns and start again beside the end the load will pull toward, laying each turn further away from it.
Why: Under load the coil is drawn longer and so grips tighter, much like a finger trap. That happens only when the pull comes from the end where the turns started.
- Turns toward the pull — Hitch will not grip and slides off. Turns must work away from the direction of pull.
arrow keys work
Tying procedure — Icicle Hitch
- Diagram in reviewA drawing of the Icicle Hitch itself is being made. Until then, follow the written steps.
Step 01 / 4
Take four or five turns with the working end around the spar itself, laying each new turn further from the spar's end. The load will pull along the spar toward that end.
You should now see: Four or five snug turns side by side on the spar, with the standing part leaving from the turn nearest the spar's end.
If it goes wrong: Laying the turns toward the direction of pull instead of away from it. You will see the working end finishing nearer the spar's end than the standing part, and the hitch slides when loaded.
Fix: Unwind the turns and start again beside the end the load will pull toward, laying each turn further away from it.
Why: Under load the coil is drawn longer and so grips tighter, much like a finger trap. That happens only when the pull comes from the end where the turns started.
If wrong: Turns toward the pull — Hitch will not grip and slides off.
- Diagram in reviewA drawing of the Icicle Hitch itself is being made. Until then, follow the written steps.
Step 02 / 4
Lead the working end back along the spar and bring it round to the front beside the standing part, leaving a long bight of rope hanging behind the spar.
You should now see: The working end and the standing part side by side at the front of the spar, with a slack bight hanging behind it.
If it goes wrong: Pulling the working end tight so no bight is left behind the spar. You then have nothing to pass over the end of the spar in the next step.
Fix: Ease the working end back until the bight behind the spar is long enough to reach over both rope parts and past the end of the spar.
Why: The bight is what locks the turns in place. It needs enough length to go over both rope parts and the end of the spar in one move.
- Diagram in reviewA drawing of the Icicle Hitch itself is being made. Until then, follow the written steps.
Step 03 / 4
Take the bight from behind the spar, bring it over both the standing part and the working end, and pass it off over the end of the spar.
You should now see: The bight now goes right around the spar next to the turns, holding the standing part and the working end down against the spar.
If it goes wrong: Passing the bight over the two rope parts but not over the end of the spar. It hangs loose instead of encircling the spar, and pulls straight out when you tighten.
Fix: Lift the bight back up and carry it all the way over the end of the spar so it goes around the spar.
Why: If the end of the spar cannot be reached, make the same finish with the working end: pass it behind the standing part and over the spar, then behind the standing part and over the spar again, ending beside the standing part.
If wrong: Bight missed the spar end — Unfinished icicle — dumps under along-spar load.
- Diagram in reviewA drawing of the Icicle Hitch itself is being made. Until then, follow the written steps.
Step 04 / 4
Tighten by pulling the standing part and the working end together at right angles to the spar, then let the load come on the standing part along the spar.
You should now see: Turns packed tight against each other, and a hitch that stays put when the standing part is pulled along the spar toward its end.
If it goes wrong: Loading along the spar before pulling the hitch tight, or tying it with too few turns. The hitch slides along the spar as the load comes on.
Fix: Take the load off, retie with five turns, and pull both ends hard at right angles to the spar before loading again.
Why: The hitch holds a pull along the spar in one direction only, and slides freely when unloaded so it can be moved and reset. It grips smooth spars well enough that it is said to hold on a tapered marlinspike.
If wrong: Never set perpendicular, or too few turns — Walks on the first along-spar load.
Watch the tie
How to Tie an Icicle Hitch (Rope End Method)AnimatedKnots · Opens on YouTubeExternal video from a creator we follow — not produced by us. Nothing on this page loads from YouTube until you follow the link.
Seating sequence — where failures are born
The step list compresses the finish. Run these phases in order, one at a time.
01 Form
Build the structure loose enough to see every turn.
None. Shape first.
02 Dress
Nest every turn. Crossed parts will walk or jam.
Light — hold the shape.
03 Set
Load the standing part so the intended turns take the strain.
Working load, not a snatch.
04 Check
Confirm the lock still breaks or inspects as the job requires.
None extra.
05 Commit
Only load it after the structure reads correct. Wrong means remake.
Working load, not a snatch.
Finished structure — what correct looks like
No drawing of this exact knot yet. The written steps are the reference.
- ·Four or five turns away from the pull, working end back, bight over both ends and over the spar end
- ·Set perpendicular first, then load along the spar; slide-test before you trust it
- ·Bight passed over both ends and the spar end — no bight means unfinished
- ·Turns stacked away from the pull — toward the pull is the wrong hitch
Verify before you load it
Every line is pass or fail. One fail means retie — do not load a knot you argued with.
- 01Four or five turns away from the pull, working end back, bight over both ends and over the spar end
- 02Set perpendicular first, then load along the spar; slide-test before you trust it
- 03Bight passed over both ends and the spar end — no bight means unfinished
- 04Turns stacked away from the pull — toward the pull is the wrong hitch
- 05Turns toward the pull, or a missed spar-end pass, will not grip
- 06Holds a slide-test. If it walks, add a turn
Field notes — dark, cold, gloves
- ·Dress is the lock. A pretty knot that is not dressed is not finished.
- ·HMPE usually wants a splice, not a hitch you learned in polyester.
- ·If you cannot break or inspect it under the load you expect, it is the wrong job.
When this family fails, it fails as these. The recovered end still outranks the name.
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.
Get it right with everything in your favour0/5 clean
Good light, dry hands, a table. Until the sequence is automatic here there is nothing for the harder rungs to test — you would only be learning that difficult conditions are difficult, which you already knew.
How · Tie it, check it against the list, log it. Five clean and the ladder opens.
Nothing marked. Log it clean, or mark what happened first.
Not ideal for
- ×A hitch you will adjust every minute (rolling hitch is faster)
- ×A two-way hold
Strength, and where the number comes from
Not established
A grip hitch whose performance is a function of the surface it grips, and no published test states a rope-break percentage for it.
Percentages come from published tests on their own line, their own knot-tyer and their own pull rate. Yours is a different system. Treat a figure as a reason to test, not as a result you already have.
- Animated Knots — Icicle Hitch (end method)
- AnimatedKnots — How to Tie an Icicle Hitch (Rope End Method)
Cited tying video already attached to this record.
Record reviewed 2026-08-14
Vetted references
- Animated Knots — Icicle Hitch
Animated Knots by Grog
- How to Tie an Icicle Hitch (Rope End Method)
AnimatedKnots
Related knots
Check the finished knot against what correct looks like before you load it.