Note - This post discusses techniques and methods used in vertical rope work. If you do them wrong, you could die. Always practice vertical rope techniques under the supervision of a qualified instructor, and ideally in a progression: from flat ground, to staircase, to vertical close to the ground before you ever try them in a real climbing situation.

The Stone hitch (aka stone knot, Stein knot or Stein hitch) is a clever way to secure a rappel rope that makes two separate fixed strands. It's typically used in canyoneering, where it's common for all but the last person to rappel on a single strand.

Generally, it's good practice to keep things as simple as possible in rope systems, and not introduce too many whistles and bells. However, the Stone hitch is useful in some specific situations, so it can be a worthwhile tool for the intermediate / advanced climber.

When might the Stone hitch be useful?

• Speeding up a group rappel. You can have one person descending on one strand of rope, and at the same time have another person rigging to rappel and getting a safety check. The moment the first person touches down, the second person can begin. This greatly increases efficiency with a larger group, especially beginners who may need more time to get set up.

• Belay a rappel. Someone can rappel on one strand of rope, and be belayed on the other strand.

• A climbing team has one Grigri and one ATC / tube belay device. When it's time to rappel, you tie a Stone hitch. The first person goes down one strand on a Grigri. The second person removes the Stone hitch and does a standard rappel on two strands with their ATC.

• Good for overhanging and or traversing rappels, where the first person down may need to swing around and place gear. The first person can rappel on a single strand with a Grigri and go hands-free when needed, and be belayed at the same time on the other strand. (Advanced technique! See the link above for more details.)

• Less risky simul rappelling. If for some reason you ever want to simul rappel, (for lots of reasons why you should not, read this article), and you have an unquestionably strong anchor, and you have more than two people, using a Stone hitch for everyone but the last person can give all the speed benefits of a simul rap with pretty much none of the risks, because the rope can’t pull through.

• Rappelling in terrain with high rope-severing potential. If there's a chance for the rope to slide when loaded across a sharp edge, or if you have loads of rocks that could be dislodged onto the rope (here's an example) this can be a good way to safeguard everyone except the last person down. (Hopefully you don't find yourself doing this very often . . .)

• Unfamiliar descent, or maybe at night. If you're not sure where the next anchors are, securing the strands for the first person down lets them re-ascend the rope with less risk. This gives the option to use one-strand tools like a Tibloc, Ropeman, or Grigri to ascend the rope.

• Top rope solo rigging (mentioned in an Instagram comment). This gives you two two strands to climb on close routes, you have ascenders on one strand and use the other strand as a backup if you like, and you’re already rigged for rappel when you’re done for the day.

Notes . . .

• It is CRUCIAL to clip the locking carabiner to both the loop of the slipknot and one of the two strands of rope between the hitch and the anchor! If you don't do this, the carabiner could pull through the slipknot and the hitch will fail.

• The Stone hitch is simple to tie, easy to check, very secure when tied correctly, and easy to untie after it's been loaded. There are a few different variations, including one with a figure 8 rather than an slipknot.

• Of course there are lots of other ways you can fix one or both strands of a rappel rope, such as a knot block, clove hitching each strand with two additional carabiners into the anchor, etc. The Stone hitch is fast, elegant, and easy to untie, so it gets my vote.

• Does this cross load the carabiner? It doesn’t. The carabiner is functioning the same way as when it's “blocking” a guide mode belay device (and you're comfortable with that, right?) Put the bottom curve of the carabiner into the hitch, not the gate. After you cinch the rope down, it holds the carabiner in the proper position.

• Does this make the so-called “American death triangle”? Sort of, but it's not a concern here. The angle above the hitch is so small, that it only slightly increases the load on the anchor. It's only for a rappel, so the load to each half of the anchor will still be less than 1 kN, no worries. Learn a lot more about the “American death triangle” here.

• You can use any flavor of locking carabiner for this, but a large mouth, HMS style belay carabiner makes it easier to clip the necessary strands.

• Hopefully this is blindingly obvious, but the last person rappelling needs to remove the hitch and rappel normally on two strands of rope. Better remember to do this, or your rope will be stuck.

• I will confess, I thought this looked extremely sketchy when I was introduced to it by my canyoneering friend. Rappel off a slipknot, are you insane!? But I have slowly become more comfortable with it, and it's pretty handy in some situations. One more tool in the toolbox for more advanced climbers, which is a good thing.

The Stone hitch can also be used with a two rope rappel. Tie it below the joining knot. Doing this fixes each strand of rope, allowing one person to rappel while the other person is rigging, This can be VERY handy with a large group to speed things along. Last person removes the carabiner, releases the hitch, and does a normal double strand rappel.

The Stone hitch gives a secure loop between the hitch and anchor point, which makes a convenient place to clip a tether when you're getting set up to rappel. In the photos and video below, the loop is very short. However, you could make it as long as you want. For example, if the anchor point was several meters away from the edge of the cliff, you could tie the hitch so it was right at the cliff edge. This makes a closed loop for your tether, so you easily rig a rappel even from an exposed position.

Check out this short video to learn more, including how to tie it.