Old timer showed me the 'tie it twice' trick for tree cabling 10 years ago and it still saves my butt

Back when I first started doing cabling installs I kept having these cables slip a little after a few months. Nothing catastrophic but not great either. This guy named Frank who had been climbing since the 70s walked me through how he does his termination knots. He ties a half hitch first then does the actual knot on top of it. Said it locks the cable in place way better than just one knot alone. Tried it on a big red oak last spring and the cable hasnt budged an inch since. Anyone else have an old school trick that just works better than the modern way?

3 comments

3 Comments

margaret_singh11mo ago

Friend of mine tried to string up a big limb on a silver maple last fall using just a regular figure eight knot like he saw on a youtube video. Couple months later we had a windstorm and that cable slipped clean off the bolt. He called me all frustrated so I told him about this trick. We went back out and he re-did it with the half hitch first then the main knot on top. That cable has been solid through snow and ice this whole winter. Now he swears by it and wont do a single termination any other way.

the_jana1mo ago

Funny how that works, right? You see something on a screen and think it’s gospel, then Mother Nature comes along and reminds you who's really in charge. One of my neighbors had a similar wake up call with a load binder on a trailer, watched some influencer show a "quick release" method and it damn near dumped his ATV on the highway. Old Frank sounds like the kind of guy who learned his knots from tying hay bales in a barn, not from a studio with ring lights. Did he have any other tips for preventing that cable from twisting up over time?

spencerl321mo ago

Frank probably climbed trees before most of us even knew what carabiners were. Sounds like his trick is the real deal. Your buddy must have felt pretty dumb watching a youtube video fail on the first real storm. Should have just asked an old timer instead of trusting internet know-it-alls. Now he's got two knots holding it all together like a belt and suspenders situation. Better to learn from Frank than from a broken branch in your driveway.