Patent ID: 8550526

Claim:
A rope handling apparatus comprising a receiving means and a manipulating member, the receiving means and manipulating member being individual devices which, in use, are engageable with each other when a rope is to be manipulated, and then disengageable with each other after the rope has been manipulated, in which: the manipulating member has an elongate portion, the elongate portion having opposite ends, and at one or both of said ends an engagement portion; the receiving means has a rope mounting portion configured to be fixed to a part of a rope to be manipulated, and a receptacle for engaging with the engagement portion when the rope is to be manipulated and for disengaging with the engagement portion after the rope has been manipulated, the rope mounting portion being configured to remain fixed to the rope after the engagement portion and receptacle have been disengaged; wherein the receiving means when engaged with the engagement portion at one of said ends of the elongate portion permits a user of the apparatus to hold the manipulating member at an opposite end of the elongate member in order to handle a rope attached to the rope mounting portion, the rope handling apparatus further comprising a guide means for self-aligning the manipulating member with a rope prior to engagement of the engagement portion with the receptacle, and the guide means being part of the engagement portion such that, in use, the guide means automatically aligns the engagement portion with the receptacle and guides a front end of the guide means into engagement with the receptacle as the guide means is slid along said rope towards the receptacle.