Bertie Pittman wrote:

... It was tied in the bight of the line and around his body.

This is a little misleading, as the common Blake's H. (ProhKlem or
ProhGrip I might call it :-) isn't TIB (tiable in the bight). One
could tie the knot with a bight, reducing the number of turns given
that each is in doubled rope.

I've forgot how to tie it and have lost my notes on the knot.

In addition to whatever link(s) you already found, viola:

http://storrick.cnchost.com/Vertical...nderKnots.html

for a variety of knots used by cavers and others.

If you Search r.c.knots for "Prohaska" or "Blake's Hitch" you'll find a
recent thread about this knot.

Anyone here ever heard of it or any thing similar?

And there are many similar knots, many not seen in currently published
material. I.p., the given Blake's Hitch can be shortened (one less wrap,
and tuck end only through one coil, then stopper it) or lengthened or
just modified with how many wraps the end is tucked under. Heinz Prohaska
advises to increase the wraps around the end if having some slippage trouble
on account of rope stiffness (i.p., using a relatively thick rope on thin),
and to increase the wraps beyond the end if slippage seems to result from
the severity of the load). You're happily advised to throw a stopper in
the end, 2 B Sure, but you shouldn't see much slippage of the end, and an
8" or so end is ample.

This is a pretty remarkable friction hitch--both simple to tie, tenacious
in grip, easy to modify, and good at releasing for movement (wherease some
other hitches tend to need more working to loosen and then slide). In the
testing done by Lyon Equip
(avail. in pdf on-line, at:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/crr_h...1/crr01364.htm
)
it was the only hitch to hold their greatest test load in all of the ropes
they checked.

--dl*
====