Natural Anchor Bag

The Natural Anchor Bag is a fantastic example of a simple and efficient expedition technique. The idea is to pack your anchor material, like webbing or strong accessory cord, in the same way you pack your rope bag. And just like the rope bag, you only dispense as much anchor material as necessary in order to achieve your goal. Couple this concept with a quick-to-tie knot, and the Natural Anchor Bag becomes an indispensable time-saving tool.

Using a Frost Knot

Written by Andrew Humphreys

The Frost Knot was first introduced by Tom Frost as the knot of choice when tying your own étriers for aid climbing. Today, in canyoning, its use is mostly promoted by Rich Carlson from the American Canyoneering Academy. The Frost Knot should only be tied with webbing; it is not appropriate to use the Frost Knot with 5mm Pure Dyneema!

The knot itself is very interesting when using a Natural Anchor Bag, as it does not require you to tie any preliminary knot before threading the anchor. You can thread the anchor, and then tie the knot after. Contrast this against the standard Water/Tape knot, which would require you to tie a simple overhand before passing the webbing around the anchor, and afterwards re-thread the simple overhand to form the Water/Tape knot. I would estimate using the Frost Knot will save you about half the time compared to the standard Tape knot, all of which adds up quickly when you must create a lot of anchors.

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Natural Anchor Bag

Using a Frost Knot

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