
This incident happened when I was a sixteen year old guy who met his match to a guy I couldn't stand. And it involved a camping trip.
The summer before, some friends from school and church went camping, and we bragged a bit about things including, being escape artists. I had bragged that I could usually get out of any knot, but deep down, I knew it was false bravado. I knew from personal experience that if tied right, one could not escape from rope, chain or tape.
Well, this particular summer I needed a ride to where my other friends and their fathers were. From my house, it was almost a five or six hour drive. The rest of my friends had left the night before, but due to a scheduling conflict, I couldn't go with them. The only person who could take me to the camping area was Bob.
Bob was the kind of guy who nobody ever liked. He had a whinny voice, and a "George Bush" sneer that irritated a lot of people. And he always seemed to go on our camping trips. In fact, most of the time, he invited himself a long. Otherwise, it was not me who would ask him. He was a little guy, and I being 5'9, towered over him. The funny thing was that he was a few years older than me (I think he was 20). But, he owned a pickup truck and he was going, so I decided to haul up the interstate in his camper truck.
The camper truck was a fad of the 1970's. This is where pickup trucks had a "camper" on the bed. It was about 6 feet high and it topped over the cab (usually where the bed was). No one knew how he acquired it, but there it was.
My Mother dropped me off the K Mart which was about half way between Bob's house and mine. Sure enough, he was there. I kissed my Mom goodbye and grabbed my gear. My Mother drove away and Bob told me to stow my pack in the back. I went to the back of the truck. The camper was actually quite clean inside, with some gear hanging from the walls. At the back against the cab of the truck was a small table for two. And, right in the middle was a wooden ladder that was attached to the floor. This ladder went up to the bed and in fact, reminded me of my old bunk bed ladder when I was younger.
As I shut the door with my gear in the truck, I went to the front passenger side and found that Bob had stored a ton of gear where I was going to sit. There was no room for me.
"Bob," I said. "There is no where to sit."
"I know. You have to sit in the camper in the back. Sorry."
"Bob, I am not going to sit in the camper in the back. It's a five hour drive! And it's warm out, and I am sure it will be bumpy back there!" I was clearly irritated.
He sighed. "Well, I guess you don't have to go. You should have gotten a ride with someone else."
"I couldn't get a ride. The others left last night.", I told him. "You couldn't force me to ride back there. Now clear your gear and let's go!"
Bob looked thoughtful. "You mean, I couldn't force you back there?" I wasn't following this at first. "Remember last year? When you said you were an escape artist? What if I tie you up back there and see if you can escape. If you do, then I will let you ride up front!"
"That isn't the point. I'm not going to be tied up back there! Let's just go?"
"Do you mean to tell me that you think you can't escape? You and the others were bragging about it last year! So, put your money where your mouth is!"
Now, I do like to be tied up. I just wasn't sure this was the time or place. But, I decided that I should be able to escape from his ropes and so I agreed. I was dressed pretty well for it. I had on my soccer shorts and jersey because I'd had a game earlier in the morning, though he had me put my jersey in my bag and handed me a white t-shirt to put on instead. “So you don't mess up your jersey,” he said.
He led me back to the tail gate and opened the door. "Now, here are the rules.", he said. "I get to tie you anyway I want. You can try to escape anyway you want. But, if you don't escape, then you have to stay tied up as long as I want. If you escape, then you can ride up front. If you get thirsty or whatever, I will stop. OK?"
I agreed again. I will never forget how he tied me. First, he told me to make a fist like I am flexing my muscles in my arms. I did so. He took a piece of rope, and tied a loop around my wrist and my upper arm. He then pulled it tight until my fist was nearly touching my upper arm. He then proceeded to wrap the arm up several times and cinched it out of reach. He did the same to my other arm, wrapping it and pulling the ropes tight.
As he reached for more rope, I tested my bonds a little. There was no moving them, and I couldn't move my arms very much around my body. I certainly couldn't unbend them. He had another piece of rope now. It was pretty long. He led me to the ladder and quietly went to work. He pulled my arms over my head (tied as they were) and pulled them through one of the top rings of the ladder. Bob then tied my wrists together palm to palm, fastening my once separate arms together behind my head and through the rung of the ladder. He then wrapped it twice around the another wooden rung, then tied one knot there. He then wrapped the rest of it around another rung, then up to a hook in the ceiling. I was now fastened to the ladder, my wrists behind my head and rope pinning my wrists to each upper arm.
He laughed now, realizing that he had me. He then took my ankle, and looped it several times. He then pulled it over to the table leg and fastened it there. He tied my other ankle, and spread my legs a good deal and tied that ankle to the other table leg. He roped up my thighs to the ladder as they met the beam that held the ladder together on each side. My legs were now spread eagled. He then took another long piece of rope and tied my midsection to the ladder. I remember those ropes because they hindered me from breathing too heavily (like a tight belt on the waist).
At this point, I began to wonder if Bob didn't just set me up. This was too well prepared for any "off the cuff" idea. But it was too late now.
"Well, just two more things to do" He took an old rag and tied it around my eyes. As I was going to speak in protest, he then took what I later found out to be electrical tape, and he started to wrap the tape around my open mouth. He used the entire roll. It was like a clef gag, but the whole roll nearly filled my whole mouth and I couldn't move it away from my mouth because it was so tight. I was unable to say anything but a few muffled groans.
"OK. that is it. You're tied. As soon as the truck pulls away, you can start to struggle. I have kept the window shades down so no one will see you, but I have opened up the vents so you have air." Then he opened the door. And I heard him say: "Sucker!"
At that, I started to struggle, for he confirmed that he took my own hobby and tied me fast to the ladder