The first knot that all climbers must learn is the Figure Eight Follow Through.
The Figure Eight Follow Through is the most important knot used in rock climbing because it is the knot used to attach the climber to the climbing rope.
Of all the pieces of protective equipment used in climbing, none is more fundamental to safety than the climbing rope. In modern technical climbing, the climber's life is saved by the rope hundreds or thousands of times in his or her climbing career. Hence, it is critical that the climber be attached to the rope with a knot that is completely fail-safe and easy to visually inspect. The Figure Eight Follow-Through fits both of these criteria.
The Figure Eight Follow-Through is a cinch knot, meaning that it gets tighter when it is placed under load. As a result, it may require some work (or even the assistance of a partner!) to untie the figure eight after a severe fall, especially a leader fall. No Matter! Better to struggle for five minutes to loosen the figure eight after a big fall than have a less fail-safe knot come untied at the critical moment!
Now that we understand the motivation behind using the Figure-Eight Follow Through as a tie-in knot, let's examine how to tie it...:
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