| Name | Type | Use | Alternative names | Pictures |
| Figure 8 on a bight | Anchor Knot | Used to tie in to a harness. | Figure 8 follow through
Double Figure 8 |
|
| Bowline | Anchor Knot | A general purpose anchor. | ||
| Double Thumb Knot | Anchor Knot | A general purpose anchor. | ||
| Alpine butterfly | Anchor Knot | Anchor for climbers to clip into while travelling in between the lead climber and end man when roped up. | ||
| Girth Hitch | Anchor Hitch | Used to tie a sling on to the harness to use as a personal anchor. | Lark’s Foot | |
| Fisherman | Joining Knot
End Knot |
Used to join 2 ropes of equal diameter. The single Fisherman can be used alone to tie off ends of ropes to prevent fraying. | The single Fisherman is also known as the single Thumb Knot | |
| Sheep Bend (or Sheet Bend) | Joining Knot | Used to join 2 ropes of unequal diameter. | ||
| Reef Knot | Joining Knot | Used to join 2 ropes of equal diameter. | Square Knot | |
| Tape Knot | Joining Knot | Only used to join tape (otherwise known as un-sewn slings). | Water Knot | |
| Prusiks (Classic, Kleimheist, French, Bachman, NZ/Australian) | Friction Knot | Friction knot which can be used in place of an Ascending device.
French Prusik is also used as an abseil back up. |
The French Prusik is also known as an Autoblock Knot | |
| Clove Hitch | Friction Hitch | Can be used as an anchor | ||
| Munter’s Hitch | Belay Hitch | Can be to belay or abseil in the absence of an appropriate device | Italian Hitch |
Moving on, let’s touch on a little about the ropes used. There are 2 classes of ropes in general, dynamic and static. To put simply, dynamic ropes are well dynamic (like duh…), ok basically they can stretch during a fall while static ropes cannot stretch during a fall. Static ropes sometimes called Korean ropes (I have no idea why, this is some Everest lingo I have been hearing from seniors who have summited Mount Everest, I suppose maybe cause the ropes came from Korea? Hmm…) are rarely used in mountaineering and if used at all, they will only be used to secure fixed lines so I won’t be going further in depth. All together, there are 3 types of dynamic ropes, the single rope, half rope and twin rope. I am not going to be the best reference for this section but I will do my best to explain the different types of ropes in the table below.
| Type | Rope Marking | Diameter | Use |
| Single |  |
9 – 11mm | Probably the most common type of rope used, commonly found in climbing gyms. Can be used for rock climbing where abseils are not required because when used in abseil, the length is halved at the abseil anchor. Strong, durable rope but heavy. |
| Half |  |
8 – 9mm | Preferred type of rope for mountaineering as well as general climbing where abseils are involved. Half ropes are similar to Single ropes but thinner and less durable. 2 half ropes can be knotted together at the abseil anchor so as to use the full length of the rope during abseil. Since both ropes strong enough to be used independently, when using protection, ropes can be clipped in independently to reduce rope drag, ie. Clipping both ropes into one protection is not necessary. |
| Twin |  |
7 – 8mm | Of limited use since the 1 rope on its own is not strong enough to take a fall. However because 2 Twin ropes are still lighter than 1 Single rope, Twin ropes are sometimes preferred over Single ropes for routes with long abseils. This is because like Half ropes, the full length of the Twin rope can be used during abseil. However unlike the Half rope, both Twin ropes have to be clipped into protection due to their reduced strength. Technological advancements are constantly improving Half Ropes, making them lighter while retaining strength, leading to the slow dismiss of Twin Ropes. |
MIR currently uses a 60m Mammut 9.8mm Single Rope.
~pictures to be uploaded soon
