#Desmond Doss#Rescue knot#Alternative solutions

[Kost_Greg]

I believe many are familiar with the case of Desmond Doss and the knot he used to lower 75 wounded soldiers down from Hacksaw Ridge to safety,

It was pprobably the bowline with a bight, firstly tied around the legs, using two lines of rope (not sure about the Abok number) for dual loop creation, one for each leg and finally tied a second time around the torso (not sure why double loop is needed).

Anyway, this fellow here describes it more thoroughly in the following video.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5bKvkBraLw

Other options for the starting knot, would be a portuguesse or a spanish bowline (leg knot),  and the next logical step, is to tie another bowline with a bight as Doss did correctly for load distribution, or any other inline knot around the torso, if the double loop was not an essential condition.It could also be the bowline on a bight for a double loop torso tie off.

Some  additional queries.....

1) which solution is geometrically correct,the eyes of both knots in axial alignment tied as end of line loops, or it might be used whatever inline knot (one or double loop, with its eye perpendicular to the soldier's torso) for the torso knot, instead of the bowline on/with a bight?

2) Would the use of a very simple bowlinesque inline knot provide an easier system equalization?

3) I wonder, if it would be possible to construct this type of harness, using only one core knot for rope efficiency,

[mcjtom]

Not that I know the answers, but here is a video by Mike Karash on a similar construct and a related thread with explanation on how the chest loop is tied (with nice sketches by Dennis Pence).  This may be the 'cleanest' and most secure version of rope harnesses.

https://youtu.be/6EyfYyJkZss

https://forum.igkt.net/index.php?topic=7291.msg47546#msg47546

[Kost_Greg]

Thanks a lot for the links mcjtom, the're quite useful and educational.

However, while i'm not in a position to doubt Mike karash expertιse in this domain, i have some misunderstanding  in his demonstration.

At the first part of his video, he shows the method of tying a snap bowline, or a rapid bowline as he calls it, whilst later on during the harness construction, he ends up with two parallel lines from the Karash double loop, where one of them is the main line and the other is the long tail which is wrapped around the waist/ chest and then connected with the rescue line via a sheet bend??

This does not seem like a rapid bowline to me, more like a rapid sheet bend?

[mcjtom]

I also had a problem with understanding how this was done until Dennis explained.  Not that keen on names (but almost sure that Dan Lehman may come up with one :⁠-⁠). I think that both bowline and sheet bend share the same construction, but the former has 3 loaded rope strands coming out from the knot (i.e only one free tail) - the sheet bend has two un-tensioned tails.  I would vote for calling it a bowline-like, but I don't think it matters much now that I know how to tie it.

p.s. For ease of remembering, maybe the WCMESC Bowline? (Waist or Chest Mid-Eye Skewered Cowboy)... :⁠-⁠)

[mcjtom]

In the movie, but perhaps not originally, the protagonist seemed to have tied the real double loop bowline rather than the regular bowline using a bight as in the First Class Amateur video link in the first post.

https://youtu.be/0E6i7G37YP8

[Kost_Greg]

Alright now, the illustrative sketch of Mr. Pence helps a lot, demystifying the mystery around the Karash harness system.

Leaving a long tail component as a continuation from the Karash double loop, seems like a smart maneuver, enabling the additional knotting around the torso, with a sheet bend-like juncture with the Spart.

Since i'm not used to tying the sheet bend starting from a loop (i usually form a bight first), i'd like to think like i am developing a bowline loop, but in an anti-bowline orientation.

Note that, in this particular anti-bowline configuration, the sheet bend operation is fully activated when the tail is placed inside the torso eye, otherwise  a  weaker Lapp bend might appear, therefore one has to be very cautious if he chooses the rapid method of tying, following the Karash demonstration.

I also notice that the tail continuations, are embedded into the sheet bend core knots, under the SPart, probably for security, equalization, or dressing reasons.

The attached image, shows the bowlinesque part that i'm looking at, when it is tied to another person.

[Kost_Greg]

Here is another, improvised, rope made, man harness two (or three knot), system design.

The difference here, is the choice of a tugboat/flash bowline knot, tied in the middle of the line in TIB fashion, around the chest and/or waist.

There is clearly an axial  loop alignment of both leg and torso knots with this configuration, which also sets the SP perpendicular to the human body.

No special account about the leg knot, it could be any double loop.

[Kost_Greg]

Experimental, Gleipnir based, rope made, safety harness

1) In tying this configuration, one has to start from the torso knot to form the gleipnir loops around the waist/chest (a gleipnir at a second stage would probably constrict the torso quite enough).

2) At the SP continuation, a bight is passed through the gleipnir nipping loop due to the long rescue line.

3) The next step is to cinch the gleipnir, and lock its endings (bight, tail) with half hitches around the safety belt.

This is an optional maneuver for the tail, as being well trapped inside the glepnir binder, but essential for the bight, which creates one more access point, for further load distribution.

The gleipnir loops are easily adjusted to fit the size of the body, compared to a fixed loop approach.

4) Last, an anti-bowline on a bight is formed in TIB fashion, on the SP continuation to bind each leg (or a bowline on a bight).

Enlarge the photo to see the details.

[Kost_Greg]

Triple bowline knot, for emergency chest harness with no load distribution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJpa2GBpoCQ

[Kost_Greg]

At the previous reply#8, with the triple bowline, i think it would be better to bind the legs with the double loops, and the tail bight to be fed down through the collar and be hooked on the shoulder area and under the arm, as shown in the video but with a different configuration, using one core knot and load distribution.

Similar example, is the use of a flash bowline on a bight, which places two loops for the legs, and one loop for the torso/waist/shoulder, in axial alignment.

Starting with a double line, the flash bowline on a bight should be formed in TIB fashion as midline loop, with a super easy TIB tying method whereon:

1. Form a bight, a central bight and an S loop from left to right. It's like the three bight scheme, except the last rightmost, which is a loop.All components feature double lines.

2. Pass the right loop down through the left bight.

3. Pass the central bight down through the loop.

The tricky part, is to adjust the size of the loops accordingly.

The tail line, might be strangled around SP for optimal security.