The Münter hitch

Excerpt from Stewart Green, a senior guide for Front Range Climbing Company

The Münter hitch works by creating friction from several bends in the climbing rope which threads through a carabiner. It’s best to use a large pear-shaped locking carabiner since the hitch inverts when you either take in or give out rope. Only use the knot with a locking carabiner, preferably an auto-locking one, since the action of the knot pulling in the carabiner can cause a screw-gate carabiner to come undone. If you do use a screw-gate, tighten it down and check it often. The knot is easy to tie with practice and works well.

The primary drawback to the Münter hitch is that it kinks and twists the rope. If you use a Münter hitch for rappelling, it’s recommended to use it mostly for short rappels because as the rope runs across itself, it can create excessive friction that could damage the rope’s sheath.



I have used the Münter on many occasions without issue. Nevertheless, the caution to use with a locking or auto-locking carabiner, to check it often and (I might add) to tie the hitch so the live end is opposite of the gate (as shown in Green's image) all of which should not be taken lightly. Unfortunately, I was educated on this at the school of hard-knocks a few years back when, on a 20’ nuisance drop, the feeding motion of the rope moved the hitch around the biner while simultaneously unlocking the gate (which may or may not have been very tight). I did not actually see it happen but I did hear the distinctive sound of the gate click open followed by a hasty descent. At the bottom the rope was looped around the biner, but no friction hitch.

Reminded again that nylon is a fairly effective abrasive on human flesh...second lesson learned that day.

Sure, it's a little hard on the rope sheath, but rap length is irrelevant; rope-on-rope friction happens on any length rappel (by design).

Ouch - glad you survived. Was that the nuisance drop in Ellison's, just below the 'rectum'?

It doesn't twist or kink the rope if you hold the rope in a certain direction.

Unlike most rap devices where you pull down (away from the anchor) you get most friction pulling up, not down.

Also, look into the super Munter, basically a Munter on top of a Munter which you can use to rap on very low-diameter cord. I've rapped on 6mm with it comfortably. Though I don't recommend it, it is a good trick to have in the toolbox.

Uh, yes it does. It does not matter how you hold the rope, unless you hold the rope straight, in which case, there is no Munter Hitch.

A twisting force is created when there is a change in tension across a rope that is curved in more than one direction. On an ATC, the rope is in one place, and the change in tension between the top and the bottom does not create a twisting force. On a Pirana, all the action does not take place in a plane, therefore there is a twisting force. On a regular figure8, figure-8 mode, there are tighter twists off the plane which yields greater twisting forces. A munter hitch has the tightest twists possible, thus creates the most twisting force of any method. On SHORT rappels, it makes a mess of the rope - on long rappels it would be horrendous.

Now, on a 6mm cord (eeek!) using a super munter back and forth, the twists one way are somewhat cancelled out by the twists in the other direction. But on any real rappelling rope, the super munter would provide way too much friction.

Your experience may be different, of course. Mine is that the munter always messes up the rope.

Tom

Fortunately it wasn't "the nuisance" drop in Ellison's, that would have made for a very bad day. I don't usually take any diversions from standard practice in there.

Embarrassed to admit it was after a training session when I was cleaning up gear, tired and apparently not very observant; the recipe for an accident. No gloves to boot; which is not my style. Some of my fingers had burns in two places; one for each side of the rope during the failed grip brake.

As far as twisting goes, you only have to observe the tail end of a rope after a few munters or std 8s to see what's happening under the covers...usually you will observe a gnarled rat's nest.

Even with its limitations the munter can be a useful utility hitch when the time is right and or gear is in short supply.

True that. I always use it for Fat Man's Misery to minimize weight on a long day. short drops, no rope probs.

If you hold the munter in the maximum braking direction, then there is little to no risk of unscrewing your biner. A little thought about how you tie your munter, will actually screw the carabiner up rather than down.

I don't know what everyone else does, but I always tie my munter with the tail end on the side of the gate (opposite of the photo in Kuenn's post). I think it makes little difference which way you tie it, but it may have advantages to tie it with the tail end out, such as easily converting the munter to a clove hitch.

And yes, munter's always twist the core of the rope. Let's debunk this myth about holding your rappel strand in different directions.

Andrew Humphreys
Operations Manager
Canyoning.co.nz

I agree; depending on the orientation of the biner and how it is tied the descent may actually tightening and not loosen the gate lock.

To clarify my particular unfortunate incident with the munter a bit more, it came not while actively descending. I had stopped, moved laterally to clean some protection during which, I can only assume, the hitch most likely inverted and or relocated on the biner (again, I didn't actually see what happened only heard and ultimately experienced the results). The feeding motion to restart the descent was when it all hit-the-fan.

I've tried to evaluate the different scenarios from several angles of how this may have happened, including that the hitch was not tied correctly to begin with. The fact that I had descended about 5' before the incident occurred lends me to think that was not the case.

Everyone should know this knot and be able to tie it, it is the ultimate 'get out of trouble' knot should you drop a belay device, need to belay someone else or lose a bag. I always carry an HMS / pear shaped krab, 20m of 9mm and a long sling so that I can make a harness and ab / rap to self rescue or belay another. It is also a knot you can 'hang up' away from yourself so that escape from a belay system is easy.

Consider also how you might tie a very long sling around your body to make a harness and cows tail in one piece!