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The Ties That Bind and The Bindings That Tie |
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Written by Norm Kidder
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Page 3 of 3
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Real Life Applications
You've just collected a bunch of willow stems for basket making and you
want to use one of the sticks to tie the bundle together. After
neatening the bunch, pick a long stem (I prefer to use one with a gall
or other defect) and insert the thick end through the middle of the
bundle so that it sticks out the other side. Wrap the thin end around,
passing next to the protruding end. The next time around, bend the
protruding end over and wrap into the bundle. Finish  by tying a clove
hitch around half or less of the willow twigs, or, wrap around some of
the twigs and push the bent side of the wrapper over one and under the
next of the wraps (Figure 2). If the bundle is tapered, finish by
pushing the binding towards the thicker end to tighten. A couple of
things are at work here: a lot of wrapping creates a lot of friction;
and by starting through the middle of the bundle, the binding can't
rotate back and become loose. This same principle applies when wrapping
any roundish object. When possible, both start and finish either
through the center, or by tying off to a crossing piece (in lashing).
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 You are building a shelter, and are lashing poles together with bark
strips. If you were using cordage, you would start with a timber hitch,
wrap twice around in a square, over under pattern, then frap (wrap at
right angles to first wraps, tightening them). The end would be secured
with a clove hitch. Bark doesn't want to do much of this. Begin by
doubling the end of the bark strip over one of the poles. Leave enough
overlap so that the double section (with the short end under) crosses
over the second pole. Being flat, there should be enough friction to
hold. The second round of wrapping should cross over the first so as to
increase the pressure on the double section. Finish with a cleat hitch
over both ends of one of the poles (Figure 3). Frapping is not very
affective on stiff bark, so if the lashing is not tight enough, using a
wedge between the poles can tighten it. A wedge can be used to
retighten any binding that has become loose due to shrinkage of the
wood as it dries. |
You are tying a reed boat together with single ply cattail rope. You
want to tighten a spiral wrapping but if you pull hard enough on the
end to overcome the friction, the rope breaks. Even weak rope can be
tightened if you tighten it section by section. Work the binding
around, spreading the pull out over as much length as possible. If a
rope breaks (or if you need to extend a binder), attach by creating a
short piece of two-ply cord instead of tying a knot. This will hold as
long as the rope is tightly wrapped around the bundle. Once the binding
is tight, bury any ends inside of the bundle.
This article was first published in The Bulletin of Primitive Technology (Spring 1999, #17)
Thank you to Norm Kidder from www.primitive.org and www.primitiveways.com for providing this article |
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