Joining anchor rodes

[billknny]

I'm not somebody who is often going to argue with Ian, he knows a lot more than I... but in this case before I agreed with him I would want to know if he has data supporting his skepticism about this kind of connection or is just going by his gut.

Cowhitching two spliced loops certainly seems to me to be a valid way of attaching two lines of different diameters, or for semi-permenant connections where a splice is impractical.

This kind of connection would seem to have certain advantages over most knots, in that the load is well distributed over all parts of the connection, with no single point carrying more than 1/2 the total load. Knots have a single lead back to the load, so there must be a higher concentration of forces at at least some of the knots turns. The carrick bend with siezed ends might just be the exception....

Of course, my comments are based on MY gut, so they are worth no more than you paid for them.

Obviously all his comments about this being potentially awkward stand.

Bill