Cannot get ligature strangulation to work.

[crazyclem]

I don't know what I'm doing wrong when it comes to ligature strangulation. No matter what I do I can't compress my carotids and black out.

 

[silverbell]

It requires a lot of pressure. You can't do it just by hands. I tried it numerous times but all I was getting was a head exploding feeling and never passed out from it.

 

[Unsure and Useless]

I don't want to discourage you, but ligature strangulation is notoriously difficult to CTB from to the point where even the OP of the megathread (anagram) allegedly went out via FSH instead. AreWeWinning puts it best:

This is also the reason why ligature strangulation doesn't really work. In theory it can work, and a few people are able to do it, but most people can't. The problem is not that it doesn't work from a mechanical perspective, but that your survival instinct will prevent you from pulling the ligature tight enough.

Not to mention that ligature is pretty much a similar method to the night-night method, which is also known for being difficult. Of course, in the same post I quoted, AWW does suggest a specific technique if you're deadset on ligature

If you really want to do ligature strangulation, you could also try the following. Make yourself a partial hanging setup. Get into position as if you were going to do partial hanging, and do your ligature strangulation in that position. If you manage to pass out, your body will go limp, and gravity will make sure the carotid arteries get blocked and remain so. If you can't pass out, nothing changes – it'll be the same as your other failed ligature strangulation attempts.

Although, anagram themselves outright stated that their ligature megathread was, as they put it, "bullshit"

It's bullshit. It works but hanging is just way easier in my opinion. Once you go into full suspension, there's NO going back. If you hang right, you pass out in around 10-12 seconds. I love the idea of full suspension. Hanging is one of the most popular and common methods around the world. Nearly everyone can do it tbh.

^[In response to "Why did you quit on the ligature method you were the op for?"]^

 

[myriapoda]

makes sense, thank you for sharing this. i've been thinking about this method for some time since going full suspension isn't an available option (no anchor points besides the balcony, many of my neighbors work at night).
same issue with crazyclem, i couldn't quite pin down the carotids or apply enough pressure.

 

[AreWeWinning]

I don't want to discourage you, but ligature strangulation is notoriously difficult to CTB from to the point where even the OP of the megathread (anagram) allegedly went out via FSH instead. AreWeWinning puts it best:


Not to mention that ligature is pretty much a similar method to the night-night method, which is also known for being difficult. Of course, in the same post I quoted, AWW does suggest a specific technique if you're deadset on ligature


Although, anagram themselves outright stated that their ligature megathread was, as they put it, "bullshit"

^[In response to "Why did you quit on the ligature method you were the op for?"]^

Since you quoted me, here's another comment I made regarding the ligature strangulation method (see below ).

I'm mentioning this not because I want to push my opinion, but because I've been quoted and the comment below is also related to the topic.

I think it isn't more popular, because it's not an effective method.

When it comes to effectiveness, it's not just about whether a method could work in theory, but how realistic it is for a person to execute it successfully. For a person to manually tie a ligature around their neck tight enough to constrict blood flow effectively and cause the person to die is highly unrealistic in my opinion. Consider that it's a lot easier to pass out by partial hanging – because gravitation also works in our favour – yet a lot of people can't even do that. I don't know what makes people think they'll be able to pull a ligature tight enough by using their hand. The problem is not that it's physically impossible or that it requires a lot of strength, but that our natural instincts prevent us from doing it.

I think ligature strangulation is also riskier. In full – or even partial – hanging, if someone passes the threshold and loses consciousness (and remains unconscious), it's pretty much guaranteed that they'll die. As the body goes limp, pressure on the neck only increases. However, with ligature strangulation, everything depends on how tight you pull the ligature initially. If you accidentally don't pull it tight enough, you could end up in a bad situation. I wouldn't want to take that risk.

Don't quote me on this, but I also believe that it's an extremely rare method of suicide. When I search for it, all I find are some isolated case reports. Most cases of ligature strangulation are not suicides but homicides or erotic play gone wrong. And legends about Chinese factory worker kids using this method and whatnot are just that... Urban legends.



The reason it's not removed and it's included in the resources compilation probably has more to do with the fact that someone wrote a comprehensive post on it rather than the method's effectiveness. I'm not familiar with every method listed there, but I can't imagine all of them are very effective. That's just a list of various resources. I wouldn't place too much significance on whether a method is included there or not.

My personal opinion is that it's a bad method. I would even call it a non-method. According to statistics, it's hardly ever used. There must be a reason for that. Even on this forum, all the discussions about it are just empty, theoretical discussions. Good for spending time, but otherwise useless. I haven't seen anyone using it successfully. But then again, that's true for a lot of other methods discussed here.

Even the author of the thread backtracked on it

Also, consider the fact that even the person (@anagram) who wrote the notes on ligature strangulation – so they had good knowledge of it and intended to use it – eventually decided to use full suspension. This perfectly shows how bad this method is.

They not only decided not to use it, but literally called ligature strangulation "bullshit" (see quotes below), and said they regretted making that thread (the one I linked above, and which is also included in the resources compilation).