bowline versus Taunt hitch

[nogods]

I presently have my support lines tied to carabiners with bowline knots. I then clip the carabiners into slap straps.

Instead of a bowline, could I tie the support line to the carabiner with a tauntline hitch? That would allow me to make small adjustments to the sag by simply lessening the pressure on the support line and sliding the tauntline hitch up or down the support line.

I haven't seen anything like this mentioned on the forum so I'm wondering if there is something inherently unstable about my plan.

[Nest]

I've had taughtline hitches slip when under very heavy load before. Just something to keep in mind.

[MacEntyre]

bowlines can become knife knots... if a tautline hitch slips, try a stopper knot.

[GrizzlyAdams]

I presently have my support lines tied to carabiners with bowline knots. I then clip the carabiners into slap straps.

Instead of a bowline, could I tie the support line to the carabiner with a tauntline hitch? That would allow me to make small adjustments to the sag by simply lessening the pressure on the support line and sliding the tauntline hitch up or down the support line.

I haven't seen anything like this mentioned on the forum so I'm wondering if there is something inherently unstable about my plan.

Wondered about that myself, although never at a time and place when I could try it out while remembering the question.

My first reaction on considering it was the threat of the knot slipping. My next concern was the threat of the knot jamming after having been under a heavy load. But before shooting my electronic mouth off about that (which I just did anyway ) I went a googling just now, and everywhere I look says the knot is reliable, and doesn't jam. One site for sailors suggested its use in the one place I know for sure I wouldn't want the possibility of slipping---looped around a human being hoisted up from the water. Admittedly, if I'm the human in the water tying the knot, my chances of getting the knot done properly before drowning is higher with the tautline than with the bowline.

Let us wait together for any voices of experience and/or wisdom on this question.

btw, only Frenchmen use tauntlines, and then only in movies.*

Grizz

*another inside Monty Python joke

[warbonnetguy]

what do you mean? a bowline is one of the easiest knots to untie, that's one of it's best characteristics.

bowlines can become knife knots... if a tautline hitch slips, try a stopper knot.

[Take-a-knee]

A bowline can become jammed if it is loaded enough, try a double bowline. If you know you'll need to untie it, place a small branch in the knot that can be pushed out when you need to untie it.

[hangnout]

Why not just pull your biner through the loop in the slapstrap, pull toward hammock and just loop the rope coming from the hammock around the end of the biner a couple times. If you need to adjust, just slide the biner in the direction needed. I have slept many nights doing it this way with no slippage.

[FanaticFringer]

Always easy to untie my bowlines. I push the part of the rope coming from the hammock thru the knot and it is quick. Very hard to untie if I try to push the end of the rope thru the knot.

[warbonnetguy]

when you tie it just make sure the loop (the one that goes through the coil and wraps around the live end), is bent 90 degrees backward even when set, when ready to untie, just push it forward and pull a little slack through, this will loosen the tightest single bowline.

[nogods]

Why not just pull your biner through the loop in the slapstrap, pull toward hammock and just loop the rope coming from the hammock around the end of the biner a couple times. If you need to adjust, just slide the biner in the direction needed. I have slept many nights doing it this way with no slippage.

just looping the rope around the biner will be enough to keep it from slipping off the biner?