Make rope out of dead plants -- with no tools

Step 4 Tenderize and clean

You now have two ribbons, one side of each covered in a flaky, dark brown outer bark. While the outer bark is only a bit annoying, the curly ribbon shape makes the fiber quite difficult to work with. Also, there are likely bits of branch nodes and small pieces of wood hiding in there. We can kill three birds with one stone by tenderizing the fiber, which is as simply as grinding it between your thumb and forefinger.

You'll note that while this does cause the fiber to separate somewhat (a necessary evil), it is still quite crosslinked.

With my three-foot-tall stalk, this step took 9 minutes, and my hands were a little sore. (This is the most annoying step.)

At this point, you have two strands, and each narrows along its length. To get a constant width, reverse one strand and lay it along the other. Rub them together a little bit so they stay roughly connected.

Now the fun part starts.