I’m not going to re-invent the wheel here. There are a lot off different single column ties out there to tie with many great tutorials on how to do so. I will make some comments about what it is you should be looking for in any single column tie, and recommendations about what I use. If I had to pick the one key tie that you need to practice over and over again until you can do it blindfolded this is it though. I don’t care what your particular method of tying these is but you will need one, it will need to be good, and it will be the beginning of almost everything you tie ever.
What I look for in a good single column tie:
- Easy to tie - This is the beginning of a lot of rope work and I want to get started smoothly, if the knot is to complex I’ll be fumbling with it and my partner will notice that. I’d rather my partner think of me as confident and in charge rather than as a novice so we’ll keep it simple.
- Easy to untie - No this is not the same as number one. Lots of knots when tied and pulled on can become very difficult to undo. We want something that is fast and easy to untie not just to prevent fumbling with things, but if there is a problem that requires I untie my partner quickly I want to be able to do so.
- Non-collapsing - There are several knots you can use to make a single column tie that once complete when you are pulling on one end of the rope the knot will collapse on itself and completely change it’s structure. A collapsed knot will not untie in the same way and with the same ease as an un-collapsed knot. When a knot collapses it also causes things in the rope around that area to change, usually tightening the single column tie which can cause problems depending on where the tie is and how tight it already is.
- Non-tightening -The last thing we want is for the rope to tighten around a body part causing constriction and damage to your partner. Do not use any single column tie that can tighten around the limb. If you do, it will tighten, there will be a problem, you will have to cut the rope, and you may have caused serious harm to your partner.
- Quick releasing – This is a fairly new thing to see in rope bondage. The idea here is to set up the single column tie so that no matter what you do with the rope after this one part is done that we can quickly release the limb bound with the single column tie.
Several versions of single column ties have most of these features, few have them all. Most commonly I’ve seen tutorials for single column ties that collapse when one end of the rope is pulled. Often these tutorials will cover additions to the basic tie that prevent the collapse, but I’ve also often seen people forget these final steps in the real world.
Other single column ties I’ve seen have had problems with the tie not being quick releasable. I am highly suspicious of any single column tie that doesn’t allow me to quickly release my partner from it. My reasoning for this is that most of the more complex ties that you’ll learn begin with a single column tie that then uses the working end of the rope to continue around the body. Having access to undoing the original single column tie can make removing the rope much faster if your partner needs out of the rope.