d is stretched between 2 carabiners. The exact length needed will depend upon the climbing rope used. A new rope needs a shorter cord than a worn rope. A thin rope needs a shorter cord than a fat rope.Slip one of the double fisherman's loops and a micropulley onto an HMS (or pear shaped) carabiner.Tie the Machard tresse with 4 wraps 3 braids as follows: Find a spot on the cord that's a little more than 1/3 of the way down the cord from the end with the carabiner.Place this spot against the climbing line.Follow the steps shown on Figure 3.Remove the micropulley from the carabiner, install it on the climbing line just below the Machard tresse, and then reconnect it to the carabiner.Place the free, unconnected double fisherman's loop on the carabiner.Work the knot up and down, alternately setting it and breaking it loose. (Pull down on the carabiner to set the knot. Pull up on the carabiner to break it loose.) This will dress the knot. The knot, micropulley, and carabiner should appear as shown in Figure 1.Then, connect the carabiner to the saddle tie-in point.Paul Sisson won the 1996 Arbor Games National Finals. He takes care of the trees at the Seattle campus of the University of Washington where he has worked for 24 years. He also has several years experience as a commercial arborist. He is a Certified Arborist and a Certified Arborist Technician. He has a B.A. in philosophy from the University of California at Santa Barbara.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------By Kay-Olaf BusemannMy friends at ISA asked me to write an article about a friction knot. A fancy looking one and one that was the subject of a lot of emotional discussions during the past five years. In Europe this knot is known as the Machard tresse. This means as much the braided friction knot. In the USA it is known as the French Prusik.My first contact to this hitch is 1992 at the French Open Tree Climbers Championship in Paris, Fra...
