Hitches
Munter Hitch
Italian hitch
DIFFICULTY ●●●○○
A sliding, reversible hitch tied on a carabiner that feeds rope smoothly one way and brakes it under control the other. It's a belay device made of nothing but rope.
See it tied step-by-step ↗Why it earns its place
The great emergency skill: drop your belay device and you can still belay or rappel safely with just a locking carabiner. Feeds in both directions and flips itself over to switch.
Where it fails
It twists and kinks the rope with use, and the brake hand rule applies exactly as with a device. Use a large pear-shaped locking carabiner so the hitch can flip freely.
Quick facts
| Type | Braking hitch |
| Under load | Controlled slip |
| Untying | Trivial |
| Best for | Emergency belay/rappel |