Burlington Bowline
Here is an amazingly fast and stable single column, originally invented by the amazing Tracker of Innovative Fiber Arts of Vermont. Once you master it, you can tie it in 20-30 seconds!
For this tie, I used one 15′ (~5m) piece of Natural 6mm (1/4″) hemp provided by my affiliate Twisted Monk. Check them out for some amazing hemp rope!
The Burlington Bowline
Burlington-Bowline
1. Begin with your rope folded in half
2. Run the bight around the target twice
3. 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)
4. Lay the bight over top of the strands of the cuff
5. Run your finger underneath the strands of the cuff and hook the bight
6. Pull the bight through
7. 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)
8. (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
9. Grab the tail and…
10. … Make a loop in it
11. The cords of the tail should lie on top of the cords of the cuff
12. Run your fingers through that loop and hook the bight
13. Pull the bight through. You now have your choice of three different ways of ending this knot…
Pictures & Text - Ending 1 (The Original)
1. Flip the loop to the other side of the cuff
2. Run your fingers through the loop and underneath the strands of the cuff
3. Hook the bight and pull the bight underneath all the strands and through the loop
4. Grip the bight and the tail firmly
5. And pull apart to tighten the knot
6. Done!
Pictures & Text - Ending 2 (An Alternative)
1. Use the fingers from one hand to protect the integrity of the loop
2. With your other hand run a finger underneath the cuff and hook the bight
3. Pull the bight underneath the strands of the cuff
4. Feed the bight to the fingers of the other hand (the one that has been protecting the loop)
5. Pull the bight through the loop
6. Grab the tail with the other hand
7. Pull bight and tail apart
8. … To form the tightened loop
9. Done
Pictures & Text - Ending 3 (A “Slipped” variant—building on Ending 2 above—great if you need to untie someone quickly)
1. 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.
2. In this version once you have grabbed the tail…
3. … You only pull the bight partway through. Leaving a little bit of the bight not pulled through like this
4. Then you hold that core part of the knot steady while you grabbed the tail and pull firmly to tighten the knot
5. This version now has this the bight positioned for emergency release
6. Even if this knot is under tension…
7. … You can grab the bight and pull firmly to release the knot (watch the video to see this in action)
The Burlington Bowline – Inline
There are many reasons why you might want to tie a single column around something but do so in the middle of your rope when one end is already anchored. To do so you need an “inline” type of single column. A simple variation on the Burlington Bowline works great for this!
Pictures & Text - Inline - Behind the Back (BTB)
1. 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…
2. 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
3. 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
4. Lay the tail across the coils and hook it with your finger
5. Pull the tail through then set the appropriate tension
6. 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…
7. … So that you have more slack here
8. Now grab the connecting lines with your thumb and forefinger as withdrew from side down like I am doing…
9. … And twist your hands to form a loop. Leave at least two fingers inside that loop to make the next steps easier
10. Hook the tail…
11. …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
12. Now execute the rest of the Burlington Bowline (ending 1). Move the loop to the other side of the wrist cuff…
13. … Run your fingers through the loop and underneath the strands of the wrist cuffs. Hook the tail with your finger…
14. … Pull the tail through
15. … All the way. Pull the tail to add tension…
16. … Pull the wrists apart to lock the loop and lock the Inline Burlington Bowline (on the upper wrist)
17. Now you can add tension to the tail and position the wrists how you wish
18. Continue on with your planned bondage tie
Pictures & Text - Inline - Handcuffs/Bondage Belt
1. 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… (I actually made this one way too long, as you will see in step three )
(I actually made this bight too long. In step 3, it should only have reached about the middle of the back.)
2. 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
3. Run the tail through the bight
4. Lock off with half-hitch
5. Like this
6. “Use up” the rest of your line. I did so by just doing a series of half-hitches
Artists Corner - Inline - Handcuffs/Bondage Belt
1. Burlington Bowline – Inline – Bondage Belt – Artists Corner
2. Burlington Bowline – Inline – Bondage Belt – Artists Corner
3. Burlington Bowline – Inline – Bondage Belt – Artists Corner
4. Burlington Bowline – Inline – Bondage Belt – Artists Corner
5. Burlington Bowline – Inline – Bondage Belt – Artists Corner
6. Burlington Bowline – Inline – Bondage Belt – Artists Corner
Both this one and the sommerville bowline requires pulling the tail to tighten the knot. This makes them impossible under tension (or set the desired tension easily, which is almost the same). Is there any single column that could be tied in such a situation?
Is there a situation where you would use this over the Somerville Bowline/Inline Single Column, or are they just different methods to achieve the same goal?
I like this one quite a bit more for the ‘inline’ case. And as it works well for other cases were the Somerville comes in handy, I can see a person just learning the one and rolling with it. But, in truth, they are both wonderful techniques!