Bone

First I create a cylinder in the front viewport, convert to editable poly.
Select system rollout and bones then click on the front viewport, click and drag the amount of bones I need, use the move tool to move the bone in the middle of the cylinder.










Highlight cylinder, go to the modifier panel and choose skin from the modifier list. From the parameters rollout, click add and select all the bones, so this link the cylinder and bones together.