What types would work best?

Question

I'm on the third floor. I've been thinking about what type(s) of knot would be the best to use if my house caught on fire to tie around my bedpost and slide out the window and go down rock-climbing style.

What would be the best and strongest type of knot to stay put and not slip on my bedpost? The rope I have is sturdy, so that's not an issue.

I'm waiting to get one of those ladders, but this will give me peace of heart until then.

Thanks all =P

Answer 1

This made me laugh, serious or not. You're paranoid!

It's okay, you're also prepared.

I would say tying a rope to your bed and sliding down the building isn't a good idea, though. Is your bed nailed to the ground? Can it hold your weight? o.o

Answer 2

A bowline would be best.  Hopefully the rope and the bedpost are strong enough to hold about 1.5 times your weight.

Answer 3

If you were rock climbing, you'd tie a bowline for a situation like that because it doesn't tighten up on the post.  But that's done mainly to save the rope!   In this situation you'd want something that would be fast and would hold.  Just about any knot will hold.  The fastest knot would be two half-hitches, which is pretty secure, too.  Even faster would be to loop the rope around the bed post and run both ends out to the ground.  That would give you double the rope to use while you're rappelling down the building.  When rappelling, the biggest problem is getting rope burns from going too fast or too far.  Double rope helps to distribute the friction.