Good question! For this tie you’ll want to stick to side suspension regardless of the hand position. Even with the hands in, loading from the front or back will put additional pressure on the neck, either directly through the ropes or via the hands.

Hi! If you give this a try you’ll see that locking the cuff with a bowline creates an uneven pull at the top of the cuff. One solution is to wrap the top of the cuff again with the bight before locking (behind the cinch). This will mean that the cinch itself might load a bit unevenly. In most cases, locking as shown will probably be easier and more effective than locking with a bowline!

Thanks for your question! You’re not wrong, but it is different to a degree. In the third knot featured, the traditional Somerville Bowline, the bight is pinched on the side of the cuff where the free rope moves, which applies a greater deal of friction to the free rope. You’ll find that you can still move that middle rope within the cuff, but it will take more effort. In the fourth knot shown, the bight is trapped on the opposite side of the cuff, causing it to lay flat over top of the middle rope and allowing for much easier movement.

Yes, that's right!

Hi! Something roughly between 1.5-2 inches or 4-6 cm is ideal.

Hi! Thanks for the question. The number of frictions on the front of the body in this harness means it’s not a good candidate for horizontal face down suspension. You could instead try this hip harness: Hip Loader Tutorial | Shibari Study

Yes! You can find a double bite tutorial here: https://shibaristudy.com/programs/up-lines-lock-offs-101-free?cid=535884&permalink=1-susp-lines_basic-anchoringmp4-290e41

3) are positional factors at play here? If you’re lifting the hips too low the thigh cuffs will slide into the groin. And if you’re over-loading the hips (lifting them too high relative to the rest of the body) rather than distributing load throughout the upper body harness and ankles, that could also be a problem.4) What is your order of operations for suspension? For a face down, ideally we’ll load the upper body and then take up both legs via ankle or thigh cuffs. Then a suspension line from the hips to the point can be added for additional support. If you’re loading the hips before the ankle and/or thigh, then that will be very uncomfortable.

Thanks for your question! There could be a variety of contributing factors at play here. A few things to lab:1) does it help to move the inner thigh wrap just slightly down from the groin? You don’t want to move it too far down, as it won’t stay in place, but just about two fingers down from the actual groin area, right where the thigh starts to become fleshy and the tendon is less exposed.2) are you loading appropriately? As in- for a facedown are you using a long epsilon off of both thigh cuffs? This is the correct loading for a facedown, not from the main friction at the waist.

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