Columna doble de carga
If you plan to have any tension or load on your double column--for example, if you plan to tie your partner to a bed so they can struggle or tie them to an overhead hard point--It is extremely important do so in such a way that the cords of the cuffs don't cinch down more tightly. Here is one good way to do so. The Lark's Head Double Column tutorial shows another way to do so.
For this tutorial I begin with the Wrap & Cinch Double Column, but this technique will work equally well with any double column.
Important Safety Tip! Wrists are sensitive, they must be handled with care.
- They have a lot of nerve and blood vessels near the skin on the inside of the wrists. Too much pressure there can impact blood flow or nerve conduction. Cuffs should never be too tight; you should always be able to run two fingers under a cuff.
- The wrist joint itself is also fragile. If you pull on wrists too hard, you can damage that joint or even push some of those small wrist bones into the wrong position. NEVER suspend someone by the wrists alone. Never tie someone in a position where rope is a applying heavy continual stress on the wrists.
For this tutorial, I used one 15' (~4.5m) piece of Natural 6mm provided by my affiliate Twisted Monk.
Check them out for some amazing hemp rope!
Steps
You may want to connect your double column to something, an overhead hard point for example.
Remember that it is these cinch lines that make the cords of the cuff get tighter.
So, you never want to use the tails coming out of the cuff to tie the cuffs to a hard point.
If you do, any pulling your partner does will pull the cinch tighter and make the cuffs tighter.
Like this. Having cuffs clamp down too tightly is *bad*. It can damage nerves and blood vessels or even the wrist joint. So, if you want to attach your Double Column to a hard point, you need to convert it to a Load-Bearing version. This way you can pull on all the cords of the cuffs evenly, but in a way that does not make them clamp down more tightly.
To do this, grab a new rope. We are going to create a Lark’s Head Knot *around the Cinch Cords themselves*
If your cuffs are properly tight (i.e. not *too* tight … you can slide two fingers under them), you should have a hole like this next to the wrists
Run the bight of the new rope through the inside of the cuff on one wrist, from the hand side to toward the elbow … like this…
…and then coming back up through the cuff on the other side of the cinch…
…like this…
Now are reached through the bight…
…grab the tail…
…and tighten. You have just formed a Lark’s Head knot around the cords that make up the cinch lines of the cuff.
Now any tension you add will tighten around the cords of the *cinch*. This way the cords of the cuffs themselves do not clamp down on the wrists.
Try it. You’ll see what I mean 🙂
Seeing it in action. Attaching to an overhead Hard Point.
Important safety note: I have not pulled my partner’s arms to full extension above her head. There is still some slack so she can adjust her position when needed.
Run the tail of a Load-Bearing double-column over an overhead hard point.
Pull their wrists up
(Adorable struggling optional)
Get them to the your desired position
Important safety note: I have not pulled my partner’s arms to full extension above her head. There is still some slack so she can adjust her position every once in awhile
Tying things off
See “Frictions for Hard Points” for tips on this.