Kaa Cuff
By Lazarus
The Kaa Cuff is a alternative way to make the wraps of a Single Column cuff. It is very fast and, due to a clever element of construction, will automatically maintain even tension across the strands of the tie! It is stable enough for suspension, fast enough for takedown play, and smooth enough for bedroom or floor play.
This is really just an alternative way to make the wraps themselves. You still lock the single column using your preferred approach, like a Somerville Bowline or Square Knot Single Column lock off, both of which are shown below.
This variant is a great one to add to your tool kit. It is ideal as a quick capture tie for takedown style play. It can also be used in suspension for either lifting a limb or even as a sacrificial tie – for example when you are lifting a leg into position to add a Futomomo*– and need a tie that removes quickly and easily when the main tie is complete.
This approach is based on a traditional hojojutsu technique for fast and efficient application, and was brought to the larger rope community by Kaa (thanks!)
* I found this incredibly useful, it is much easier to remove once the Futomomo is complete and properly connected to the hard point. 🤘
Credits
More Like This…
Video
Chapters: ● Creating "Kaa Cuff" Style Wraps (0:23) ● Lock-off in an unusual location (1:35) ● Lock-off Version 1 - Classic Square Knot Single Column Style (1:58) ● The self-adjusting feature - Why and how it works (2:39) ● Lock-off Version 2 - Somerville Bowline Style (3:23)
Creating the Wraps
A fast alternative way to create the wraps of the Single Column
Start by hanging the bight on the thumb of your non-dominant hand.
Then clip the tails with the pinky or last two fingers of the same hand.
(Aside) When tying this cuff, we are going to be hooking this part of the rope; those last two fingers keep the rope under tension while you do so.
Place that hand on one side of the thing you are tying.
Using your dominant hand, hook the rope and begin pulling.
Pull enough of it out so that you can go around the thing you are tying. As you do so, you are forming a secondary bight (shown on the lower side of this picture).
(In our next step, we are going to be running the primary bight through that secondary bight. Some people find it easier to do this if they transfer the primary bight to their fingers instead of their thumb. This allows them to then use their thumb to hook the primary bight after using their fingers to pass it through the secondary bight. Try it both ways and see what works best for you.)
Feed the primary bight to the fingers of your dominant hand.
Pull it through.
Reverse tension, placing the bight on the same side as the tail (shown in the background).
Bring the tail around to the same side.
Lay the bight on top of the tail.
The lines of the cuff are now complete.
We just need to lock it off. But the key difference between this Single Column and others is that we lock it off a little way away from the node; here.
Lock-off 1
The Somerville Bowline Lock-off ... and why this is so cool.
There are two main ways to lock it off: Using the Somerville Bowline approach or the Classic Square Knot Single Column approach. (If you have a different forward-tension single column lock-off that you prefer, e.g. the Burlington Bowline, it should also work here.)
I will first show you the Somerville Bowline approach as it is more stable and forgiving of minor errors. Using the tail, make a loop of rope around the bight.
Run the bight under all the strands of the cuff…
…then up through that same loop.
Tighten.
(See the Somerville Bowline tutorial for details on how to tighten this properly.)
The cuff is now complete … but let’s talk about why this is so cool!
Firstly, it is a very *fast* way to lay down a 4-strand cuff. But the real magic is the fact the lock off is separate from the node. The two wraps are connected through this inflection point.
If there is an imbalance – if one wrap is tighter than the other…
…the rope will naturally adjust itself by sliding through the node…
…making the wraps have even tension automatically!(This is especially true if you have slippery rope, but it will work for ropes with more tooth.)
This is a very cool feature that I quite like.
Lock-off 2
The Square Knot Single Column Lock-off
Going back to Step 14, let’s lock this off using the more classical approach first used by Kaa when developing the cuff.Here we have just run the bight “over everything”.
Run the bight under all the strands of the cuff, aka “under everything”.
Grab the tail.
Flip your hand over, clockwise, toward the node, to make a loop with your fingers inside the loop.
Grab the bight with those fingers.
Pull it through.
Tighten and dress the knot as discussed in the Square Knot Single Column tutorial, including reinforcing the knot if it will be under load.
The lock off is now complete.
Even though we locked the knot off using a different technique, the key self-adjustment feature works the same way.
