Don't join your ropes!

[harper]

I have to admit that I don't think the standard Japanese approach of using standard-length ropes and joining them end-to-end is particularly elegant, and it's often inefficient e.g. when a join happens to come in an awkward place. On the whole I prefer to tie off one rope and then attach another, but that method also has drawbacks. In particular, it tends to build up a lot of bulk which can look bad.

So I often say "If you need a longer rope, then use a longer rope!"

When I was loading up the car for yesterday's shoot, I came across a bag of "longer" ropes that I'd rather forgotten about. And because I was in a bit of a silly mood yesterday I decided to do an extreme one-rope tie - see the attachment.

That rope - and yes there really is just one - is, IIRC, 140ft long - about five and a half standard shibari lengths. And it was just long enough to finish off with a square knot on Sammie's second big toe.

Of course I wouldn't recommend this approach for performance artists or speed merchants - there is a LOT of pulling-through involved!

Here are my Hints'n'Tips for people who, like me, sometimes like to work with ropes much longer than standard:

1. Get the rope thoroughly de-twisted and de-kinked before you start. This can take time, so it's probably best to do it the day before. Shaking the kinks out of a very long rope can be a challenge in itself. Make good use of the stairs, or dangling rope out of an upstairs window, or if possible charter a helicopter to hang the full length of the rope from. If not possible, use your ingenuity, but get those kinks out! If they stay in, then the rope will find ways to twist itself into loops that catch and trap each other, and you'll end up with nightmare tangles to sort out. Best way of dealing with tangles is not to get them in the first place.

2. Having got your kinks out, don't put them back in by coiling the rope for storage all in the same direction. One full coil equals one full 360-degree twist in the rope, and however careful you are in uncoiling you'll never get them all out. The best you'll do is to push the twists along the rope and you'll get a horrible snarl-up towards the end. Instead, use either the folding method or figure-of-eight coiling which reverses the direction every time.

3. Don't try extra-long ropework somewhere small and cluttered with lots of things for rope to get caught in or twisted around. Because it will grab every opportunity! Extreme frustration is the only possible outcome. I did the one in the attachment on the completely clear floor of the 16ft wide infinity curve in our regular studio.

4. Use all the free floor space you have to lay out the rope in big sweeping loops and curves. When you're pulling through, don't just let the rope all fall into a heap on top of itself, throw it around!

5. If a tangle does begin to form, don't make the mistake of pulling the rope and tightening it up. If the rope is unkinked and lying in big wide curves, then nine times out of ten a tangle will shake free easily if you catch it early enough. On that tenth time, remember that tangles are caused by loops getting trapped inside other loops. Don't pull tight, find loops that go inside other loops, and free them up. Do it right, and a tangle will only take a few seconds to sort out. Do it wrong and jam it up tight, and your whole scene may fall apart...

6. Have an assistant. (Thank you, Grahamelx!) Graham's help was invaluable in feeding rope through from one side as I pulled through from the other, keeping the rope lined up for minimal resistance and doing general rope-handling stuff. A good helper turns something like this from ridiculous into possible.

7. Have a patient bunny who enjoys seeing and feeling the tie developing from the inside. Thanks to Sam who went along with the idea cheerfully and enjoyed doing something a bit different.

8. Remember that the untying stage needs just as much care with the rope management!

9. No matter what you do, the rope will always have more kinks and twists in it afterwards than it did before. The only logical explanation is that it absorbs kinkiness from the person it's been tied around. But kinkiness is good in people and bad in rope. Get those kinks out before putting the rope away!

[esinem]

Well, that's 9 reasons not to use longer ropes! (You can tell I'm in one of those moods tonight! Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register to forum by clicking here to see images.)

[Brayden]

I am still in awe. Brilliant and beautiful.

Definitely #4. Anything more than 50' and I'm throwing/flinging large hoops all over the place. If a twisty knot starts to form, so much easier to take care of while the loops are still big and spread out.

Here is something to consider if you are wanting to try super long ropes as such. Do it in two sections. Halve the rope, do half while other half is nicely bundled. When done with first half, unbundle and do other half.

[BossMason]

I use a lot of longer ropes, up to 100' in some cases (I have some really long 7/16" nylon for body corsets), and 50' is not uncommon. But lately I've had a hankering to move onto the more traditional Japanese rope-length methodology. I love how it can just go on and on as long as you like, until you decide to stop. I love the messyness that can be it's own aesthetic if its tied very nice.

[harper]

(12-03-2010 05:30 AM)Brayden Wrote: Guests cannot see links in the messages. Please register to forum by clicking here to see links.I am still in awe. Brilliant and beautiful.

Thank you! (also from Sammie and Grahamelx, I couldn't have done it without them)