How to Tie the Michoacán Hitch
Usage
The Michoacán Hitch is a friction hitch for climbers and arborists: tied around a climbing rope with a separate hitch cord, it grips the rope when you weight it and slides along when you unweight it. That slide-and-grip action makes it a working tool for ascending, repositioning, and holding position on a rope — most commonly in moving rope systems (MRS/DRT).
Why Learn the Michoacán Hitch?
If you already know the Blake's Hitch, the Michoacán Hitch is one small change away — and that change buys you a smoother, more adjustable hitch that is easier to break free and reposition after loading. Bear Essentials calls that trade-off straightforward: it gives up some of the Blake's built-in locking for more freedom to slide and reposition, which is why it earned a place among the common arborist friction hitches alongside the Distel Hitch and the Valdotain Tresse.
Common Uses
Arborist Work
- Positioning and movement while tree climbing.
- Friction hitch in moving rope systems (MRS/DRT).
- Maintaining position while working aloft.
Climbing
- Adjustable grip for controlled movement on a rope.
- Holding position during ascent or repositioning.
Hunting
- Rope-based positioning for saddle hunting setups.
- Adjusting height and position while suspended.
Other Names
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Notable Features
- Slide and Grip: Grips the rope when weighted and slides when tension is released.
- Controlled Adjustment: Allows smooth repositioning on the rope without retying.
- Compact: Stable and tidy on the rope once properly set.
- Tunable Grip: Adding wraps around the host rope increases the grip — the standard field adjustment for wet rope or a marginal cord pairing.
Similar Knots
Blake's Hitch vs. Michoacán Hitch
- Advantage: Blake's Hitch offers more built-in locking security from its two-wrap finish.
- Disadvantage: Less forgiving to break free and reposition after loading.
Distel Hitch vs. Michoacán Hitch
- Advantage: The Distel Hitch is more commonly taught as a beginner closed-hitch, with its own tending feel some climbers prefer.
- Disadvantage: Visually similar enough to be confused with the Michoacán Hitch — check which one you actually tied.
Security Level
Correctly paired and dressed, the Michoacán Hitch grips reliably under one person's body weight — but that reliability depends on the cord-to-rope pairing and wrap count, so test your exact setup at ground level before trusting it. Per the PACI Dictionary of Protocols, no slide-and-grip hitch conforms to any EN standard or CE marking: they are not suitable for fall-arrest and are for one-person body-weight positioning and restraint only. Wet rope weakens the grip; the fix is adding a wrap or two, not trusting the standard count.
Downsides
- Tightens After Loading: Can be harder to break free than some friction hitches once it has carried a load; it needs a deliberate release action after unweighting.
- Pairing-Sensitive: Performance depends heavily on matching hitch cord to host rope — too thin a cord relative to the host rope can't generate enough grip to trust with body weight, so match cord diameter closely rather than guessing.
- Not General-Purpose: A specialized positioning hitch, not intended for everyday tying or hauling.
- Not for SRT Descent: Single-rope-technique descent on this hitch is advised against — see the safety notes below.
Structure
The Michoacán Hitch is a closed friction hitch, tied with an eye-to-eye cord whose both ends clip to your carabiner. It starts exactly like a Blake's Hitch — wraps up the host rope — but the finishing tuck passes under only ONE wrap instead of two, and that single-wrap finish is what consistently sets the two knots apart. Bear Essentials' one-tuck rule: the Michoacán trades one of the Blake's locking wraps for one turn of grip — which is why its security is dialed by adding wraps, not by re-tucking. Unlike a Prusik Knot, it cannot be tied from an endless loop — it needs two free ends.
History
The hitch is a modern arborist knot, first known as "the Martin" before being renamed "the Michoacán" in the mid-2000s. Per the PACI Dictionary of Protocols, its creation is credited to arborist Martín Morales — a lineage documented in Mark Adams' April 2005 Arborist News article "Son of a Hitch: A Genealogy of Arborists' Climbing Hitches". Wikipedia's List of friction hitch knots still lists it under both names. It postdates the Ashley Book of Knots by decades, so it carries no ABOK number.
How to Tie a Michoacán Hitch
This is the most widely corroborated form: four wraps, come under one. Named variants with other wrap counts exist, as does a version tied directly from the climbing-line tail. Practice the wrap sequence at ground level first — the practice cord in the Knot Tying Kit [Camping Knots Edition] is for learning the moves, not rated for climbing.
Step 1
Take an eye-to-eye hitch cord — both ends already spliced or sewn into loops.
Step 2
Make four wraps up around the host (climbing) rope, the same way you would start a Blake's Hitch.
Step 3
Come back down and pass the working part between the bridge — the section of cord connecting the two eyes — and the host rope.
Step 4
Go under ONE wrap on that side. This is the key difference from a Blake's Hitch, which goes under two wraps here.
Step 5
Attach both eyes to a carabiner or snap.
Step 6
Dress carefully, seating all wraps evenly around the rope. Four wraps is the recommended minimum; some rope and cord pairings need more.
The under-ONE-wrap detail in Step 4 is the single easiest thing to get wrong here, and a Michoacán tied like a Blake's will not behave the way you expect. The Knot IQ app is where we keep the friction-hitch family together so you can compare the two dressings before you trust either one.
FAQ
What is the difference between the Michoacán Hitch and the Blake's Hitch?
The finishing tuck. A Blake's Hitch tucks under two wraps; the Michoacán Hitch tucks under only one, which makes it less self-locking but smoother to adjust and easier to break free after loading.
How many wraps does the Michoacán Hitch need?
Four wraps is the commonly recommended minimum, but grip depends on your cord and rope pairing — and wet rope loses friction, so wet conditions can call for five or six wraps instead of four.
Can I use the Michoacán Hitch for SRT descent?
No — single-rope-technique descent on this hitch is advised against. Keep it to doubled-rope (MRS/DRT) positioning work.
Important Notes on Safety
SRT (single-rope-technique) descent on this hitch is explicitly advised against — JRB Tree Climbing states plainly that "SRT on a Meech is not advised," and climbers have reported binding trouble on SRT descent, where gear crowding the hitch-tending pulley blocked it mid-descent. Beyond that, the whole slide-and-grip family carries the same caveat: no EN standard or CE marking, not suitable for fall-arrest, one-person body-weight positioning and restraint only. Performance varies significantly with cord and rope material, diameter, and texture — test and fine-tune your exact pairing in the field, use a backup, and inspect your hitch cord for wear before every climb.
