The one handed clove (and munter) hitch
Big picture comment: When you’re getting started in climbing, a good approach to knots is learning ONE, and one way only, to tie all the important ones. It's much better to learn one method 110%, than to partially know several. After you've learned the basics inside and out, then you can get into variations like these.
I’ll admit, for many years I thought tying one handed climbing knots was pretty much a party trick. Like most climbers, I learned to tie the clove in a standard two handed manner (aka the “air clove”, because you tie it “in the air”). 90% of the time, I had some kind of a realistic stance where I could use both hands, or if not, I would clip a tether into the anchor. So, the air clove worked fine.
However, there are times when you’re at a precarious stance, getting pumped/scared, and can JUST get in a good piece of rock pro or clip an anchor bolt. Here, momentarily grabbing the carabiner / quickdraw and securing yourself in two seconds with a one-handed clove hitch is pretty damn handy! And, I have to say, now that the one hand version is firmly in my muscle memory, it’s pretty hard to go back to the two handed method.
Why learn the one-handed clove hitch?
It keeps you safely on belay while you are tying the knot.
It lets you dial in the correct length between your body and the carabiner.
It doesn’t twist the rope, such as the “air clove” does.
There are lots of YouTube videos on the one-handed clove hitch. Most that I've seen skip one critical point: You must pay attention to the direction of the carabiner gate. For the method I prefer, as a right-hander, I need the carabiner gate opening to to the RIGHT.
Once you get the method down, it's good to practice with both hands, with the carabiner facing in both directions.
Also a note for the nitpickers, this is not a “one-handed” version per se, because you still use your other hand to grab the carabiner / quick draw to stabilize it. I think of this as a much more practical, real-world way to do it, but if you want the true one-handed version, check out the video at the bottom.
There's a very similar method to this that's known as the handshake clove. The handshake clove results in the strand going to the climber (you) coming out the front of the knot toward you, as opposed to the back of the knot, facing away from you. There's no significant advantage to one or the other, so I'm teaching it the way I learned it which is not the handshake method. If you prefer the handshake and have some reason for wanting the rope to exit running toward you, then by all means use that.
For the one handed munter hitch, repeat this exact same process, except grab the right hand side of the rope (going from your harness to the quickdraw) with your right hand, thumbs down. Try doing this 10 times for each knot, and then 10 times with your eyes closed for each knot. That’ll help etch it to your muscle memory.
Safety note: There is one unusual situation where it’s momentarily and potentially unsafe to do this: If you’re the second, and you’re using this to tie in to the anchor as you arrive, and you’re being belayed off of a plaquette style device directly from the anchor. If you were to fall during the second or two that it takes you to tie this knot, there's a chance that the belay device will not catch you, because the rope strand from the device is no longer going downwards. If there's the slightest chance this could happen, it's slightly safer to tie an “air clove”, and clip this into the anchor. (I'll be the first to admit that this is an extremely unlikely situation for you to fall in the exact moment that the belay device is that a less than optimal angle, but I thought I would mention it for you safety enthusiasts.)
Now, for those of you who want the true one-handed clove hitch, here you go. I think I first saw this from Adam Fleming, adamflemingguiding.com, thanks Adam! Adam calls at the “party clove” because it's more of a party trick than a very practical knot, but it's still a fun one to learn. Just be careful not to get your thumb cut in there . . .
Here's a nice video by AMGA Certified rock guide Cody Bradford showing how a tying one handed clove hitch first thing at a marginal anchor is pretty sweet! (The rest of the video showing how he builds an anchor is great too.
While sadly Cody is no longer with us, his Instagram continues to stay up and is a great source of tips like this, check it out.
