UKH

I have just watched this video here on UKC about using a girth hitch to bring together  multiple belay points. 

Surely this is basically a larksfoot which I understood to be a bit of a no no as it weakens the cord or sling being used. I would be interested in people's opinions on this.

https://www.ukclimbing.com/videos/play.php?i=4827

Any kind of knot weakens slings and cord. The question is always whether they're still strong *enough*. In this case, I'd say they certainly are.

girth hitch = larksfoot = cow hitch = probably other names anyone ?

A 'Chris tan death knot'! 

Some discussion and opinions here:

https://www.ukhillwalking.com/forums/gear/ortovox_safety_academy_part_2_abseil...

https://www.alpinesavvy.com/blog/try-a-girth-hitch-at-the-master-point

Apparently those videos have been done in partnership with Petzl so likely that the girth hitch has been tested by Petzl to make sure there is an appropriate level of safe practice. 

I used it once this winter when I was cold and piss wet and wasn't sure if my partner was leading through or not and it was horrific weather so didn't want to waste time with them having to rebuild underneath. All I had left over from the pitch was a 240cm sling but this wasn't enough to bring my anchor together and knot conventionally so I used a girth hitch instead, worked fine. Can also substitute with a clove hitch instead but a bit harder to work out with multiple pieces of sling and cold, wet hands.

It does leave you without a master point, but for said scenario I'd just use a big HMS as the clip in point instead of a sling loop.

Certainly not something I'll use regularly, 95% of the time I'd rather just use a rope and the other 5% I'll use slings conventionally knotted, but worth having knowledge of for certain scenarios.

It's been tested in Europe (I corresponded with one of the testers a while back) and is equivalent to a clove hitch in strength when connecting to a carabiner, including when only loaded on one strand as might happen if one point of a two-point anchor fails.  Of course every knot reduces sling strength but there is no significant issue here.  A more significant strength reduction occurs if one girth hitches one sling to another or one sling to a wire nut, and in both those cases there are stronger alternatives.

I usually use the rope for rigging an anchor, but when I do use webbing in an anchor, I really dislike tying a power point, because the knot can be very hard to undo afterwards.  I used to use a clove hitch, but with several strands it is a bit awkward to construct and often seemed to need adjustment afterwards.  The girth hitch is easier, faster, and is more likely to be in the right place on the first try.

Aside: the girth hitch is sometimes called a "cow hitch" because it is better than a clove hitch for tying cattle to a post.  If you use a clove hitch and the cow circles the post enough times, the free end will eventually pull through and the knot is gone.  A girth hitch rotates around the post without pulling an end through and so you still have your cow at the end of the day.

Thanks for the input chaps.  Opinion seems to suggest it's safe and something probably only used occasionally.