Which knot do you use?

[ShaversFork]

I think that if a team has to be so narrowly rigid so as to require using only an 8-family knot in all rigging, well, perhaps they should reevaluate the training schedule. Maybe monthly instead of annually...
Perfect....pretty much sums it up!

[servantleader]

We use interlocked or intertwined long-tail bowlines for the patient/rescue package connection. Our team is composed entirely of volunteers, including homemakers, a farmer, a county road worker, an irrigation engineer, and a welder. All our team members can tie the interlocked or intertwined long tail bowlines correctly in the dark, rain, and cold.

Many reputable rope rescue schools in the US and Canada teach interlocked/intertwined long-tail bowlines as a very acceptable option for the patient/rescue package connection.

The administrative code in our state mandates that we use rope with an unknotted tensile strength of at least 40 kN. Assuming that the bowline reduces the tensile strength of the rope by a very conservative 50%, we will still maintain a static system safety factor (SSSF) of 10:1 for a 2 kN load (40 kN * 0.50 / 2 kN = 10). This is acceptable.

Finally, the long tails eliminate the need to back up the knot or worry about slippage.

In reality, any interlocked/intertwined knots with long tails will serve well as a patient/rescue package connection (e.g. intertwined alpine butterflys or in-line figure-of-8s), provided that you maintain a minimum 10:1 SSSF.