Everyone is rushing headlong into suspension these days and sadly this often means that the vital knowledge, which makes for safe(r) and more elegant suspensions, is often skimped along the way. It seems very few are aware of the nuances that make all the difference, things like the angle of the rope making the difference between snagging and a clean movement. …
Here’s something for you to try at home. Pah! It might look really clever and dangerous but anyone who has a motorbike can do these stunts with a couple of hours practice and no formal tuition. Trust me 😉 How hard can it be? It all seems pretty straight forward, you just point your bike …
As you will know, I have done a fair bit of research into avoiding nerve injury. The main problem is the differing sensitivities and nerve paths between people. The medical diagrams are a guide, not a definitive representation of how everyone is. We all have different shapes and proportions, which, of course, is determined by …
It seems fairly common practice to run the suspension lines up to the ring or karabiner and then back through the bight where it comes off the knot, depending on how much rope is left, this might be repeated several times. This means that the bight carries a high load on a single strand (see …
I have become aware of two suspension related incidents recently, one where the model ended up hitting the floor and the other was within a hair’s-breadth of the same fate. As I have no desire to name names, it will suffice to say that both were highly respected performance riggers. I have removed all names …
As those who follow my ranting will know, I regard Douglas Kent’s ‘Complete Shibari’ tutorials like the curate’s egg: good in parts. The good parts are excellent and well-researched but in others he is clearly out of his depth or venturing into ‘shambari’. In many ways, he has raised the bar in bondage tutorials with …
Right on time, the samples of the new reinforced jute arrived this morning. As an added bonus, I discovered they can also do a 4mm version which is good as rope always seems to put on an extra 1mm when you treat it or be slightly over specification in diameter. Admittedly, it’s hard to measure …
I’ll start out with a disclaimer: I am not an engineer or physicist! That said, I have a logical mind and can apply it practically…and there’s Google. I started thinking about rope breaks and it seemed to me that friction is a big factor. It has been speculated, not unreasonably, that the ‘sawing’ action of …
On Saturday, 1 December, top French rigger Dr Phil will be running a suspension master class at The Flying Dutchman. The contents of the workshop would be a continuation of Kazami Ranki’s course and the theme will be suspension techniques, attention to details and behaviour. Dr Phil’s reputation is as a rigger technician who focuses …
We decided to conduct some rather Heath Robinson tests to determine the loadings on the two wraps of a t-k during suspension. We always knew some orientations like face-downs with the legs pulled up high near the axis of suspension produced crushing constriction on the upper wrap but not relatively how much or how much …