elfs | When bondage enthusiasts get bored: how to make a rope ladder

Rope Ladder

Normally, my oeuvre for this sort of thing is beautiful women, but when I'm bored I guess even a tree will do.

This weekend, I had to cut down some dry and dying branches from the oak tree in the front yard. This caused a lot of handwringing and consternation among the kids and their friends in the neighborhood, who loved that tree because it was just so darned climable. I experimented on Sunday with making a knotted rope ladder, but it didn't really work. Kouryou-chan had trouble getting the two strands of rope parted and it was just too hard to climb. Nylon is not a good climbing rope, and that's all I had.

I did a little research. Nylon holds knots reasonably well, especially self-reinforcing knots, and is reasonably weather resistant. I only needed it to last a summer or so anyway.

I found this lovely knot called the stepknot: you tie the rope off at the top of the tree, having two equally long strands dangle down. You take one rope and treble it, holding it in your fist so that it enters on one side and descends on the other. You should have two loops sticking out of opposite ends of your hand. On the side opposite where the rope in your hand descends from the tree, take the other strand and pass it through the loop and under the loose strand, then wind it around the bundle four to six times. Then pass the loose end through the other loop, which you should have been approaching with your winding the whole time. Pull both loops tight, much like a hangman's noose, and the two strands should now be falling out opposite ends of the step you've just made. Repeat as necessary.

It works great. Kouryou-chan immediately grasped it and climbed up the tree without a problem. The entire neighborhood had to try it out, so I guess it was a success.