Burlington Bowline

Begin with your rope folded in half

Run the bight around the target twice

You will need approximately a hand length of bight in order to finish this knot properly. Hand-and-a-half if you wish to make the “slipped” version (ending 3)

Lay the bight over top of the strands of the cuff

Run your finger underneath the strands of the cuff and hook the bight

Pull the bight through

To keep tension on this knot while you were tying the rest of it, pull the tail & bight *away* from the target limb (I’m pulling toward camera here)

(Don’t do this) Don’t pull the tails & bight away from each other (like you were tying a shoe) or the entire cuff will get too tight on your partner

Grab the tail and…

… Make a loop in it

The cords of the tail should lie on top of the cords of the cuff

Run your fingers through that loop and hook the bight

Pull the bight through. You now have your choice of three different ways of ending this knot…

Flip the loop to the other side of the cuff

Run your fingers through the loop and underneath the strands of the cuff

Hook the bight and pull the bight underneath all the strands and through the loop

Grip the bight and the tail firmly

And pull apart to tighten the knot

Done!

Use the fingers from one hand to protect the integrity of the loop

With your other hand run a finger underneath the cuff and hook the bight

Pull the bight underneath the strands of the cuff

Feed the bight to the fingers of the other hand (the one that has been protecting the loop)

Pull the bight through the loop

Grab the tail with the other hand

Pull bight and tail apart

… To form the tightened loop

Done

Ending 2 can be easily modified to create the “slipped” version of this knot. You will need to have started with a longer bight in order to make this version work.

In this version once you have grabbed the bight…

… You only pull the bight partway through. Leaving a little bit of the bight not pulled through like this

Then you hold that core part of the knot steady while you grabbed the tail and pull firmly to tighten the knot

This version now has this the bight positioned for emergency release

Even if this knot is under tension…

… You can grab the bight and pull firmly to release the knot (watch the video to see this in action)

For this example, let’s suppose that your partner has the flexibility issue in the right arm so it can only come up to this position, while the left arm can some fully up into a box type position like this. Here is where we want the arms to end up at the end of our tie, but we added a little planning first...

We’re going to need a little bit of slack between the two wrists in order to tie this knot, so move the lower wrist down a few inches

Now we’re going to tie the Burlington Bowline but with one end already anchored. Wrap the tail around the wrist twice and then slide your finger underneath the coils from the tail end of the wrap as shown

Lay the tail across the coils and hook it with your finger

Pull the tail through then set the appropriate tension

To do the next step are going to need a little bit more slack between the two wrists, so allow the wrist you’re tying to move down toward a little…

… So that you have more slack here

Now grab the connecting lines with your thumb and forefinger as withdrew from side down like I am doing…

… And twist your hands to form a loop. Leave at least two fingers inside that loop to make the next steps easier

Hook the tail…

…and pull the tail through. Don’t allow the lower wrists to pull down at this point because you don’t want that loop to close quite yet

Now execute the rest of the Burlington Bowline (ending 1). Move the loop to the other side of the wrist cuff…

… Run your fingers through the loop and underneath the strands of the wrist cuffs. Hook the tail with your finger…

… Pull the tail through

… All the way. Pull the tail to add tension…

… Pull the wrists apart to lock the loop and lock the Inline Burlington Bowline (on the upper wrist)

Now you can add tension to the tail and position the wrists how you wish

Continue on with your planned bondage tie

Tie one wrist with a regular Burlington Bowline, but make the bight a little longer, about as long as it will take to get from wherever you want to place your partner's wrists to the middle of their back…

Tie an Inline Burlington Bowline to the other wrist, just far enough apart so that their wrists rest on the forward points of their hips or maybe directly at their sides. Then reach around them from behind and grab the bight and the tail

Run the tail through the bight

Lock off with half-hitch

Like this

“Use up” the rest of your line. I did so by just doing a series of half-hitches