This month we feature how to tie a Munter-Mule-Overhand (MMO) on a locking carabiner. The MMO can be used to tie off a haul bag or a belay. It's useful for fixing a rope, escaping a belay, or any other application that necessitates release under load.
Photo 1: Make two opposing loops as though you’re making a clove hitch.
Photo 2: Close the loops together like a book rather than sliding them next to each other like you would a clove hitch.
Photo 3: Clip your biner through where your finger is holding the hitch as shown in the photo.
Photo 4: The completed munter hitch on a biner.
Photo 5: Form a loop in the working end of the munter hitch. Make sure the side of the working end nearest the carabiner sits parallel to the standing end as shown.
Photo 6: Making the mule knot. Make a bight in the working end of the rope just beyond your new loop.
Photo 7: Pull the bight through the loop to form the mule knot.
Photo 8: Lengthen the loop to prepare forming the overhand knot.
Photo 9: Wrap the bight all the way around the back of the standing strand.
Photo 10: Tie the overhand in the opposite direction of the carabiner.
Photo 11: Complete the overhand knot.
Photo 12: The completed Munter-Mule Overhand (MMO).
A hitch is only a hitch if it goes around something else! A knot can stand alone. The MMO’s foundation is a munter hitch; therefore, the MMO is always built around a locking carabiner or a belay device.
The standing end of a hitch or knot is the one that’s standing there, not doing much, while the other end, the working end, gets knotted or hitched into a functional form.
A bight is a fold in the rope where the strands end up next to each other; a loop is a fold in the rope where one strand crosses the other.
Advantages: uses minimal gear, is easily releasable, and facilitates easy transition into lowering or belaying
Disadvantages: is bulky and uses a lot of rope, can also kink the rope
