I was given a cleaned elk gut that had the fat removed and was twisted. I soaked it, cut it into 3 equal lengths, tying a knot at the top and bottom, then hung it with about 15 lbs of water in a bucket. After that I twisted the 3 plies all together and added another 15 lbs of water to the bucket. It stretched considerably and by the time it was dry all the plies were tightly wound and bound together.