There’s a lot you can do with a simple piece of rope if you know how to tie the right knots.  There are also a lot of good reasons that knot tying is considered an important bushcraft skill.

If you want to learn the important knots, I suggest you try Animated Knots by Grog.  Each knot has an animated visual that goes step by step with written instructions.  Also included is practical information about the uses of each knot.  I knew a few knots before finding this site, but with its help, I feel I easily mastered all the basic knots I might ever need to know.