Which is the real DEATH knot?

In climbing the most common knot we use to join two ropes together for rappelling is the offset overhand bend. Due to some early bad press in the US, it is most commonly known here as the European Death Knot or EDK. Most climbing courses teach that this knot is fine as long as you leave 12 inches of tail and tighten the knot by pulling on every strand. We put this knot to the test on the slack snap machine and explored another knot that might be the real death knot. SPOILER ALERT: The offset figure 8 bend fails under body weight if tied loosely without enough tail. It shocked us how easily we got this knot to fail. It has been blamed for at least 2 fatalities, where they found the victim at the bottom of the cliff with their ropes untied. https://publications.americanalpinecl... https://groups.google.com/g/rec.climb... Big thanks to IFMGA Guide Ian Nicholson for putting his body on the line to test these knots. His books are available at https://hownot2.com/collections/books Ian's IG   / washingtonalpineguide   Our Results: https://hownot2.com/pages/offset-over... Offset Overhand Bend 9mm Pintail Lite vs 8.5mm semi static: Single strand pull: 1 roll and break: 8.51 kN 9mm Pintail Lite vs 8.5mm semi static: Double Strand pull: 1 roll and break: 21.57 kN 9mm Pintail Lite vs 8.5mm semi static: Single Strand pull: Loose knot: 2 rolls and break: 9.34 kN 9mm Pintail Lite vs 6mm Rad line: Single Strand pull: Little cord on bottom: 2 rolls and break: 6.86 kN 9mm Pintail Lite vs 6mm Rad line: Single Strand pull: Little cord on top: 3 rolls and break: 6.77 kN 6mm CE4Y Slick line vs 5mm Beal 100% Dyneema Cord: Single Strand Pull: 10? rolls and failed. 2.38 kN 6mm CE4Y Slick line vs 5mm Beal 100% Dyneema Cord: double Strand Pull: 8? rolls and failed. 6.42 kN 6mm CE4Y Slick line vs 5mm Beal 100% Dyneema Cord: Two OOBs: Double Strand Pull: broke: 16.30 kN 9mm Pintail Lite vs 10mm Spelenium: Single Strand pull: 4 rolls and break: 10.78 kN 9.8mm Velocity Xeros vs 9.8mm Velocity: Single strand pull: 8 rolls and ran out of stroke: 8.16 kN 9.8mm Velocity Xeros vs 9.8mm Velocity: Single strand pull: 7 rolls and failed: 7.72 kN Offset 8 Bend 9mm Pintail Lite vs 10mm Spelenium: Single Strand pull: 1 roll and break: 13.77 kN 9mm Pintail Lite vs 10mm Spelenium: Single Strand pull: Loose knot: 3 rolls and break: 13.27 kN 9.8mm Velocity Xeros vs 9.8mm Velocity: Single strand pull: 2 rolls and broke: 11.05 kN 9.8mm Velocity Xeros vs 9.8mm Velocity: Loose knot: Single strand pull: 2 rolls and failed: 0.97 kN 9.8mm Velocity Xeros vs 9.8mm Velocity: Double Strand: Body Weight testing: loose short tail. Rolled and failed. Offset 8 is very scary. We don't use this knot. 👉 Learn and SHOP at https://www.hownot2.com/ 👉 Best EMAILS on Earth: https://www.hownot2.com/signup 👉 10% off ROCKY TALKIE by clicking https://www.hownot2.com/rocky