Could you survive with just 2 carabiners?

We tested the Garda Hitch or Alpine Clutch since there are many things online that didn’t agree. Do you have to girth hitch the 2 carabiners together? Do you use D shape or oval carabiners? Do you use lockers?
👉 Graphs and spreadsheets are on the downloads page you get when you sign up for emails. If you are already signed up, the "downloads page" is at the bottom of every email we've sent - hownot2.com/si...
WHERE TO USE GARDA HITCH
1-In a haul / belay system
2-Progress capture yourself in a 3:1
3-As a foot loop
👉 Share that you are testing the Garda Hitch and discuss it in our discord forum / discord
GARDA HITCH TEST RESULTS - Summary - IF it held, it would break or desheath higher than if you used an ascender! Ovals work but D shaped are better. Lockers sometimes worked but non lockers are better. Loose carabiners work but girth hitched together is better.
👉 Free Garda Hitch with every rope and 2 carabiners you buy at hownot2.com/ (some assembly required)
Links to videos and blogs referenced:
ALPINE SAVVY www.alpinesavv...
ALPINE SAVVY2 www.alpinesavv...
VDIFF www.vdiffclimb...
JRB • JRB Garda Hitch Footlo...
JRB2 • Engaging the Garda Hitch
ORTOVOX • Selbstrettung via Prus...
CHOCKSTONE www.chockstone....
AAI blog.alpineinst...
ICICLE • Garda Hitch / Alpine C...
👉 10% off ROCKY TALKIE by clicking www.hownot2.co...

[@jglantz08]

"you can find any answer you want to any question you have, whether or not it's correct" - a gentleman and a scholar, Ryan Jenks

[@bryanglezerson3412]

“When you’re done wiping and subscribing” You’re reading me to absolute filth with this one 😂

[@Rancourt762]

This is where learning takes place. There is too much dogma in the climbing world where we heard this one thing from someone once and now it’s gospel. I love that you guys actually test things out.

[@patrickbegley7446]

Sharing an anecdote on this one because I loved the first two minutes of this video and 22:23 in particular. During my AMGA RGC, we were taught ascending a rope with a garda hitch and how it was completely safe to do so as a standalone ascending system when used with any two matching non-lockers. Off I went to ascend a rope (a ~10mm dynamic rope) and about 15 feet off the ground I noticed both non-lockers becoming splayed and one of the gates opening similar to what is happening at 22:23. Welp, the instructors felt it didn't look right but we couldn't exactly figure out why, so I put myself on a grigri and lowered back down. Since then I really haven't liked the garda hitch for any critical application. To your point, it's just too unreliable and has too many random failure modes for me to put my life or my friends life on it.

[@johngo6283]

I agree.

[@bradley3549]

I'm totally looking forward to using this new found knowledge to hold my tent a little more taut!

[@psychosis7325]

I use it to prune my 4m trees and to strap what I cut on the trailer tight enough to play tunes on the ropes.

[@JayCWhiteCloud]

I'm glad your "calling out" specific people, and I hope they are humble enough to reply to this video with their erroneous info. Again, 50 plus years climbing and I'm confident this video (and your standard approach to these matters) will address all the "cow manure" info out their produced by alleged "experts," that too often have more "hubris" than actual broad spectrum time on a vertical (or horizontal...LOL!!!) line...You, your channel and team are a blessing to the "on rope" community...

[@ArbitraryHandleName]

You know I come here to learn how not to do things, but it seems like a lot of the content is geared towards how to do things.

[@DaftyBoi412]

Only by process of elimination though, staying true to the channels namesake. 😉👍

[@GarryNichols]

Ohhh, the irony😅

[@michaelchandler2406]

This is the best climbing video I've seen in a long time! The science is real. I really want to see how reliable "HMS opposite and opposed" is in the real world.

[@michelebrunazzo6203]

In Italian alpinism we have 2 similar hitches which are far superior imo (only 2 carabiners needed). The "Va e Vieni" and the "Edi Lorenzi", they don't pinch the rope between the carabiners and they both are safer as they don't randomly undo as you use them. The "Va e Vieni" is my fav as it allows you to either take rope or give out slack in case you have to lower your partner. I'm wondering also how they perform compared to the garda hitch, maybe in a next video? 😜

[@Zoroff74]

Those are hard to find info on, do you have any links?

[@GoTouchGrass]

For the love of god please change your titles to something searchable. The content is fantastic but it's impossible to tell what the video will be about and even harder to find it later when you want to show someone. Even if you just change the title 3 days after posting like Veritasium does to get the clickbait boost and then make the title useful. Again, love what you're doing, it's great. Just please make the titles tolerable.

[@matiascamprubi-soms7719]

This is the way

[@fabiolealvianabones7600]

indeed

[@bjorn9875]

Agreed, searchable videos would be great! So many things from this channel I want to find every now and then. Then again, perhaps it's intentional that it's not searchable, as it's not always meant as actual guides?

[@tophmyster]

+1 on the changing titles once clickbait wave subsides idea

[@andrearea213]

When you type search terms into youtube, it is actually pretty good at finding the video you are looking for, even if the title contains none of the search terms you entered. For example, if you type in "hownot2 microtraxion" it will pull up his falling on a microtraxion video, even though the title is something like "petzl said never do this". This video was exceptionally helpful and I'm super glad I watched it, but since I'd never heard of the garda hitch before, I'm not sure I would've clicked on it, if it was just titled something about the garda hitch. And thus, I learned something I actually wanted to know without first knowing I wanted to know it.

[@Astilath]

Outstanding work. As always dude. I absolutely love the systematic supergoodenoughscience approach to covering everything you can possibly think of. Fantastic. You take this approach a lot and in this video you do it perfectly.

[@jan530]

Hi there... Yes, I heared about this method from a small book as a teenager. There it was described as a rescue method out of a glacier or similar (hopefully, me English makes sense to you). Funny thing is, that I tried it at home just several weeks ago and my impression was, that one should better use non-locking D-shaped Carabiners - also as it was described in my little book. The result was like you told the audience in the video - D-shaped and non-locking Carabiners were adequate in using this method. The carabiners also should be held together like you showed it. Otherwise the carabiners could slip apart. As a rescue method it might be pretty useful, because there is a stopping function applied with it (spoken out of memory, because the little book is sadly lost somewhere). Thank you for this video. I found it very interesting. Wish you all the best :-)

[@leifnyland3767]

I'm so thankful I've finally found a store that sells garda hitches. I've been looking all over, and no one else seems to sell them at all!

[@MajorPotts-i6k]

I'm confused, what do you mean by they sell them? Is there a specific piece of gear you are talking about?

[@DM-sq3jm]

​@MajorPotts-i6k it's intended as humor, "some assembly required."

[@rosebflowin]

Thank you for addressing the issue of the many ways you "have to do" a certain technique when using gear. It can be a little overwhelming when you're researching the safest way to do things and you get many conflicting answers lol

[@ithuri3l]

Love your stuff. Please don't stop all the things you're doing, it's all great.

[@legouroumultifonctionsdufu2697]

Thanks for the lesson. I'll do my best to avoid having to rely on the garda hitch by always having a prussik, a microtrax/rollnlock or at least a sling to serve as a prussik. Thanks !

[@captaincrackhead904]

Yeah watching you girth hitch something that's supposed to be your last resort and then completely dropping it shows how fast things can go south. literally

[@kevinalfano3108]

Oh man, we just alpine climb without devices and girth hitch everything 😅

[@captaincrackhead904]

@@kevinalfano3108 lol yeah, I'm just saying how fast something goes wrong not that its this specific situation, could tie something wrong or make any other mistake just as fast. Shows mistakes happen to anyone at any experience level

[@kevinalfano3108]

​@captaincrackhead904 Definitely, I have dead best friends, dead doctor, dead acquaintances, dead folk we share beta with, and local photographers forgetting to clip stuff at a belay and falling to their death. Every year folk I know die in the Canadian Rockies. You come here to die, not climb

[@Rock_Appreciator]

Free Soloing requires 0 caribiners. In seriousness though, thanks for the video! I've known about this but never truested it, partly because I heard too much conflicting info. Still handy to have in the arsenal though!

[@theraylfamily4520]

4:25 lol you got jokes today! That was awesome!😂

[@AnonYmous-ii4tc]

Wow, I was quite surprised to hear you say "you can Google it," until the next minutes passed. Too funny, and Too True!

[@MajorPotts-i6k]

If anyone is looking for any non-clinbimg uses for this, you can also use it to make a great truckers hitch. I did it with a 5:1 and a 7:1 ratio using this hitch as a slack holder at the 2nd pulley in the 5:1 and the 2nd pulley in the 7:1 as well.

[@JZ909]

That sounds like a pretty sensible use for this hitch.

[@psychosis7325]

Great video. I use this with opposite facing lockers to pull loads in yard all the time. With multiple carabiners and loops for 3:1s I have lifted 600kg+ easy with a bad back.

[@TimberTrainer]

You can get progress capture on any single carabiner, ring, or loop of rope by passing the working end through twice. Many people use this function for an automatic hold truckers hitch.

[@jeannemare480]

I remember in 1982, when I had no partner, I used this knot a lot for top roping on my Beal 11mm and 2 Pierre Allain carabiner. The knot was at the top. Climbing on one end and pulling the slack on the rope beside. The challenge was that there were no coming back.

[@adamgallimore8905]

I have to say, you are one of the best climbing channels for learning new tricks and about the gear we use

[@matthewjswider]

This is, by far, the best channel for all things climbing, tying, ropes, safety, and fun. Ryan, you’re a national treasure. Which national park do you want renamed after you next year when society collapses? I’ll be sure to add it to my hand drawn maps.

[@DrCrimp-sg5pb]

This channel is pure GOLD 😘

[@Zogg1281]

So, girth hitch with non locking gates. Don't worry, I've already started trying this out, and I love this so much!!!! 😊👍👍👍👍👍

[@Bombad_Dad]

I’m glad you tested this. I’ve been trying to get into saddle hunting and would love to see more of JRB’s knots tested

[@JamesFesteryga]

For the pedants out there, the oval lockers weren't locked on the white rope, you can see the gate open slightly which makes the carabiner shift position, causing the slip. Not that it matters at all XD Love the work Ryan, keep it up!

[@matiascamprubi-soms7719]

I am one of those fools that used to try stuff in the wild without practicing at home. I don't do that anymore because it's just plain dumb. Listen to Ryan.

[@nicomilanes3710]

Oh my, contradiction galore! I love documentation. Documentation is great. Redundancy is great. Redundant documentation is only a quick proof-read away from being wrong. Published contradictory redundant documentation is comedy gold. Oh the incompetence! Good work, friend. I love your videos, dedication, and presentation! Keep being amazing!

[@orblyworbly1357]

This is such a great channel. Really gives excellent data about the equipment I’m using.

[@alexbuilds706]

I still don’t climb but use rope a lot in tree swings and tie downs. Fascinating content. And thx for changing up to the more frequent vids! I like it 🥂

[@AidanMakesStuffIGuess]

doing the lords work as usual Ryan, great vid

[@kadmow]

looks like it is making the carabiners into a form resembling a "double ring belt buckle". - there is another kitsch trinket idea - spring gate carabiner belt buckles - for webbing belts.. If the carabiners are merely in the bight of a sling it may work - BUT they also may fail- if the position shifts - time for Ryan to prove through testing... Great work satirising the google result score... 6knN in a near static scenario is plenty for a friction device. A set of opposite D-s , locking or not, on a girth hitched 8mm loop can't be a bad thing as an accessory - some additional Prusik loops - for a fast Klemheist hitch or 2 - always a great little backup... .

[@JZ909]

I'm a tree climber, and the way we do things is pretty different from the rest of the climbing world, but from my perspective, this technique, while it sort of technically works, begs the question: Why? If you want a backup ascent/decent tool, buy a high temperature prusik/split tail, tie your favorite knot from the prusik family and use a micro pulley to pull up your knot and capture progress. With the right knot/rope combination, it really doesn't slip, and you don't have to depend on sketchy stuff like non-locking carabineers. If you need to descend on a prusik, you can, even on a static/single rope system, as long as you take up some of the friction outside the knot (I.E. a munter, a brake hand with a glove, or, if you're fancy, something like an ISC rope wrench). For reference, I use 30", 10mm Armor-Prus hitch cord, tied to Yale XTC-16 (13mm) with a Distel as my primary life support setup and I can't cause the knot to fail to grab unless I deliberately loosen the knot up manually (and usually it still grabs). If the knot isn't tied well, the rope will occasionally sort of run though the knot a bit while under load, but this results in a very slow decent, a couple inches a second at worst in my experience; annoying, but easily fixed and not dangerous at all. As an alternative to a proper foot ascender, maybe, I guess? But of course, foot ascenders aren't exactly expensive, or particularly heavy.

[@ikkeni1295]

Not sure if high temp resistant prusik rope will last on climbing rope meant for rocks. Arborists use climbing rope that is a lot softer to protect the cambium of the trees. On these kind of ropes you can decend with high temp prusiks.

[@theraylfamily4520]

1:51 ahh the google… works that way for anything you search lol including faith questions and political.. we need more smart posts like this that put it all together and test it. Thanks for all your hard work !🎉

[@PietroBaroniPhotography]

Great content, as always! I suspect another big factor in how well this system works might be the actual shape of the karabinier, meaning the cross section of it. Specifically where the rope is pinched! I would be curious to see the difference between same shaped (HMS, D, oval) with different profiles (H, round, etc). This will probably also affect how well the two biniers will sit together.

[@brendonwest-m1n]

The best intro ever!!! 🤣 Thanks Ryan.

[@dankozianski7943]

So good! I was waiting for you to do a video on this. Thanks!

[@vanessaxoax7646]

The video showing the self rescue from the crevasse recommends the garda hitch for a specific purpose where you are still attached to a dynamic rope (with a prusic which is rather short) and tied into the rope with a figure of 8. If the garda hitch fails (which ive never encountered in numerous attempts from me and others) it wouldnt be a major concern. The biggest concern is that you might end up with a huge entangled mess of ropes, prusics and carabiners, and you need to either very careful or very experienced how to fix that situation.

[@bpfoley89]

Looking at this, I feel like I'd want non-locking D carabiners for this. They worked universally regardless of the rope or if they were hitched or on a carabiner. This kinda works out well then, because you can usually take those off a quickdraw in an emergency.

[@BryanHaddon]

It's gonna be hard to remember all this on the crag. Or else I'm going to fuss about it.

[@luciano.a]

Thank you for doing this video, I had the same question on these multiple recomendations :) One thing I didn't find on the internet, be that pro or against is to use a garda to ascend two ropes (as progress capture device). I tested in a safe environment and worked on my case (2 non-locking Ds from my quickdraw on my belay loop with 10mm fuzy nylon rope) but would love to see at least a short from you testing out this case.

[@CaveSkiSAR]

Great video showing thinking outside the box. How knowing about concepts can help you reason through issues. Just harder to do when cold, wet, and hanging off a rock face. Keeping the biners together - this is why you carry duct tape. Just duct tape the biners together as a back-up. grin I wonder what would happen with lockers if you offset them - a gate on each side. Like with the biner brake bar - 4 biners at right angles to create a brake bar for rappelling. Maybe provide a link to the adjustable sling that you are using.

[@Thek0um4k]

And as always perfect video! Thanks for doing this stuff. It has tremendous value for everyone that wants to understand things an keep with current methodology. And not just use it because it was written somewhere or taught by someone 15 years ago. :))) During watching your video one question came to my mind: What slippage can be considered as "safe" for lowering someone lets say 80kgs? How much can be safely held by hand? How much slippage has Munter hitch / ATC in belay loop? Thank you!

[@stephenbesch5331]

Thanks, Ryan. One of your most interesting videos - in a sea of very interesting videos. :-)

[@Simon-80]

Jrb is my Master of Knot and Innovation!

[@rosebflowin]

Cracking up at the "free Garda hitch" in your description 😂

[@necro0fn0butcher]

Every Video a banger. Thanks for all the work ❤

[@Deckzwabber]

I'm going to practice this! Feels like I've been living under a rock. I'd never heard of the garda hitch.

[@kevinalfano3108]

Ye, this is my jams!!! Thank you for this!

[@kevinalfano3108]

Lol, definitely 2 matching wire gates! 😅 A guide taught me during crevasse rescue course, and was already doing it!

[@kevinalfano3108]

D shaped, not oval, not HMS. You need to be picky on your 2 matching biners. Some don't like this hitch, some do.

[@kevinalfano3108]

Nailed it with the foot loop! Criss cross apple sauce 😅😅😅

[@kevinalfano3108]

14min in, you can't use this on a biner, it typically messes up with that roll. Girth hitching your 2 biners is ideal, with a sling or cord.

[@kevinalfano3108]

2 matching wire gates, 1 HMS locker, 1 smaller locker, a sling of each size, half, single, double, triple, a hollow block loop, 10 to 15m of cord chopped into 5m sections, a half rope, and a harness, maybe a few pitons, and that is a soloing rack in the alpine. 😅 Make sure your axe has a hammer that hasn't been broken smashing pins - No device necessary, silly extra weight. Girth hitch raps. Just flip your rope if you run it girthed the whole length to hopefully undo twisting in the core. Harness optional, when we simul-solo'd Hungabee, bro brought a nylon sling to diaper harness his raps down 😂 And I have also done that, harnesses are heavy and take up room in your pack, or you just forget it.

[@stevephillips8719]

Excellent video and excellent advice.👌

[@corbindallas3220]

in relation to your repeated comments about practice something before you do it on the wall. I’d like to say that your videos about gear anchors and other people videos I’ve watched. Really came in handy on pitch 4 of a trad climbing I did in Squamish BC when having to do my first one ever never practiced it before lol. It went well took a video sent to a friend who is a guide there opinion I did well.

[@cathiepixie]

I don't even climb and I LOVE these videos! :-) Thanks... should I ever climb, I'm gonna feel a teeny bit of inner smugness and hopefully a teeny bit safer!

[@carolinafrog4365]

jeez dude! i miss climbing, i learned in summer camp 40yrs ago, broke my back 11yrs ago.... really wish i could dork around with a harness and a rope!

[@cern1999sb]

Looking forward to the video on how to treat the end of your rope. I cut mine after it took a particularly big fall, but I've never been super happy with the new ends

[@jrbtc]

Here's a 60 second demo of using a Garda in conjunction with the Longhorn Agile to climb. Friends don't let friends use Prusiks to climb.... We simply don't need something that holds both ways and there's many better friction hitches. kzbin.info4vZWCDcNYCY?si=ntl5H-FCLIA3ZZxA

[@josephwinkelbauer6901]

Awesome stuff, this one was on my mind recently

[@user-bn6rl1vt9z]

Best intro!

[@AlwayzPr0]

you pretty much made a DIY foot ascender like what we use in tree climbing, nice!

[@NotEnoughKit]

I prefer the one-way Munter over the Garda. Less friction, more piece of mind using 2 lockers and no backup for it (other than your hand). Nice tool to know when you are climbing multipitch in a party of 3, just lead a pitch and forgot to grab the Gigi / Ovo from the last leader, and all you have is a GriGri... and you want to belay both followers up at the same time.

[@jeremiahjahn]

I'm going to experiment with these on rope solo redirects. The slipknots and clove hitches are too difficult to untie if they've taken a number of falls. I think if I clove or do a slip above this one and then take some falls I can see if it keeps the above knot from over tightening. If it slips, no big deal, not going to have a lot of slack in it anyway.

[@chrystalenebuhler173]

This is fantastic. Thank you.

[@sensorpixel]

To be fair, at 10:00 you could also just skip the carabiners and attach your foot loop sling by tying a friction hitch around your line, e.g., the FB-Kreuzklemm knot.

[@Baum17]

Also in a crevasse rescue scenario we swap the foot loop for a 3 to 1 with a progress capture to get over the lip of the crevasse not because we think it's more efficient.

[@germangamekiller]

Hey Ryan, I dont know if you remember that Email, but I'm that guy from germany, with the rope braking system for gyms. If you're interested and settled with the on site store, just hit me up! I'll make sure to convince my boss that its worth it. :D

[@yutoobe123]

Stress changes everything. I practiced Munter hitch a lot at home. First time I had to use it on a multipitch, it took me FOREVER to make it, and I still wasn't sure it was correct. Very hard to remember stuff in a real stress situation, brain just doesn't work.

[@loganwendel3032]

This video taught me that I need to mess around with the carabiners I own to find the best for a garda hitch

[@brandondone2888]

Thanks for flipping those locking gates. I had the same thought.

[@cjr4497]

There isn't a bigger knot nerd than JRB, lol. Cool to see him mentioned here.

[@AbsolutelyNoOne251]

Can you test the nodo a cuore? It’s basically a variant of it that shouldn’t have any problem with the carabiners, and is basically the knot that you found nothing about on the internet…

[@BushCampingTools]

so many experts out there...........

[@niceguy191]

With the ovals they're symmetrical right? Oval lockers but with gates opposed might prevent that offset failure

[@PickledShark]

Because the locking gates reduce the pinching effect of the hitch, I wonder what would happen if we did the opposite of girth hitching the anchored side of the carabiners, rather, we try intentionally spacing the anchored sides apart so the gates can’t touch. Try adjacent holes on a rigging plate

[@TheHam100]

Seems you have stumbled on a new config with the HMS. Some folks might spend time in the alpine with nothing but 3 HMS carabiners, 20m of rope, and a sling for steep ski touring, this might actually have a use case.

[@heli400]

When I first learned about the Garda hitch, I was told the most important thing to remember was any 2 were good but they had to be MATCHING non-lockers. - I love learning all the different techniques to do stuff, but I find I don’t really use anything else but the basics because its all you need. KISS all the way! (Keep It simple stupid)

[@BushCampingTools]

Always used these for belaying and they work just fine and sometimes much better than belay devices which have too much friction.

[@treeobservation3089]

Gaddia with opposite locking binas was what I was taught 30 years ago as a caver.

[@Captaraknospider]

great video like usual 👌

[@adamg6704]

Got to see the store where my quicklinks came from this week.

[@ellerybice3787]

Yes! I would stay on the ground, and use the carabiners for Christmas tree decorations.

[@raarsnafu]

Nice JRB callout! He is an awesome resource for tree climbers.

[@JippaJ]

Love the intro.

[@andreadigallo8791]

What about doing a short where you test this with a Petzl Freino carabiner (the one with a small carabiner on the back of the spine)? Interesting subject

[@tomasharviemudrunka3168]

There is way to clip second carabiner into munter hitch to make it one way. Maybe it would work better, since it can be done with two locking carabiners and serves same purpose.

[@mattriney6072]

I use this hitch to tension my hammock. Works great

[@ISOSAILING]

going to have to try this out on sling mountan, 4ox3mm steel box with plate's welded to it to stop it moving that i do extreem dangaling from the loft hatch in my house it's awesome for trying stuff like this out it's also where i lernt how to swap to assending to desending a rope and vice versa.

[@TheMegaMrMe]

why not do a munter with the extra carabiner as a blocker?

[@ggs4989]

Rope friction

[@juliliebtbmx]

That was really cool, i would like to see a comparsion of it withthe edi/lorenzi/Stuflesser ( however you want to call it)or the french backstop which ist able to be unloaded under tension. greats from germany

[@Govanification]

A couple edelrid sliders works great for a locking garda since the gate is the same size as a regular solid non-locking gate. But even so, what situation would you have two matching slider lockers but no other means of ascension? Niche, but possible I guess.

[@macman231]

Would definitely never use this in a cave where ascending over a longer distance and obviously in the dark you don't keep a constant light and eyeball on each of multiple ascenders...thanks for your testing.

[@intosiberiaadventures1217]

As always, very cool! What about Lorenzo hitch?

[@Aranwes]

Could you add a test of 2 wire-lock skinny quickdraw carabiners? :) wondering if you could use it in case you f*ed up big time and all you are left with is a quickdraw :)

[@kayzinti4452]

Using a guarda hitch as a prussik foot loop with 2 'biners & a sling loop (at 10:00): What advantage would this have over just using the sling loop as a prussik directly??

[@funtimes237]

I love the first few minutes 😂

[@reneeschke]

How about opposing gates with locker ovals? That should minimize the screwing mechanism interference enough to make it work more reliably, right?

[@nadelcnu]

What Tripod is that? It looks really nice

[@thedolt9215]

Love all the confusion! But, as we know, the proof is in the pulling!

[@lucasmendonck7101]

I use the garda hitch as a cache loop progress capture for lead rope soloing. saves me having to buy a $80 micro traxion

[@Collin31415]

"when you're done wiping and subscribing" 🤣🤣🤣