After re-reading Dr. Dave Merchants book Life On A line for the 'umpteenth' time I became enamored with his "Double Figure-8 - the Bunny Knot (B8)" (p41, 2nd edition). However, I prefer the name "88".

It's secure, easy to tie, untie, and a very neat 'attractive' knot. Below are some pictures of the basic knot, in-use as a cinch and as a Q-link toggle cinch.

It's been better than a BOAB -- very nice to use. Anyone else have any experience with it or comments about it?

whats the advantage? you could use it as a rope saddle instead of a double bowline on a bight.

if used in the foating false crotch technique you can attach a biner to each loop or a pulley to each loop to increase bend radius.

I don't think there's much 'real' advantage. It's a just neat knot ... if you need two loops.

Sometimes a knot is worth tying just because it's a really nice neat knot. I like that one too but I have to admit that I rarely put it to actual use. Although when I'm fiddling with a piece of rope it's one of my favorite knots to tie. I like the name "88" too.

I've used this knot extensively for belaying clients at my camps climbing wall. After belaying 40 or more climbers it's still very easy to untie. significantly more so than just a regular double figure eight. I've also found that to the average person this knot appears more secure because of the double bight. I haven't seen this proven, but I've also heard that due to the extra bends in the knot, this knot saves more of the ropes strength than a normal double figure eight, but if this is true, it's probably marginal.

I can see how the two loops would be reassuring for clients.

The bunny knot is the classic rescue/climbing knot for attaching a rope to multiple anchors. The loops can be tied long, and adjusted short and long as needed to accommodate the two anchors.

As for strength, most knots fail where the loaded rope enters the knot and hence the bunny knot would not be any stronger than a figure 8 on a bight. In "Life on a Line", Dr. Merchant says this about the bunny knot, "Strength is 65% to 75% as with all other Figure 8 knots, but the failure point is usually where the standing part exits the bottom of the knot - so anchoring both loops does not increase the strength!" Not sure why he decided to use a exclaimation point.

He also says that after tensioned, the loops almost become fixed loops and if one anchor fails, it is rare for the other loop to slip.