Types of Rope

Common Rope Types

Not sure what material or size rope to use for bondage?


The truth is: there is no right answer! It depends on what you want the rope to do and your personal style.


The most rope materials for bondage are hemp, jute, nylon, and cotton. Hemp and jute are usually associated with traditional Japanese Shibari, while nylon and cotton are usually associated with Western bondage (cowboys loved nylon *jokes* --they actually used hemp.). There are many more possibilities out there though, so try different ropes and go with what feels right!


There are two classes of fibres: Natural and Synthetic.  Natural are plant fibre that are woven into a cord and synthetic fibres are manmade.  Each have their own advantages.

Natural fibers (aka stuff you can dye easily)

Jute and linen
Flexible, rough texture, high friction, low stretch, moderate durability, good strength. Jute is the most popular amongst rope aficionados as the rope snags and catches on itself so it allows for ties simply not possible with slippery ropes. Great quality, can be dyed easily, but pretty expensive.  These are easiest to tie with --but I hate the way jute rope feels. It's all rough and itchy.   Linen is considerably softer.


Hemp
Hemp is the strongest of any natural and most synthetic rope. The fibers are damn strong and it's like steel.  Easy to tie with,  great grip and smells nice too-- very distinct. Hemp is gets stronger when wet (unlike most rope) but it's even rougher than Jute. And it's heavy.   Hemp rope used to be used on all British Navy boats and is just about as durable as you can get. But it is pricey!  Note: I've read places that hemp is not supposed to be as strong when wet and is outdone by many synthetic ropes but this is crap. Hemp is enormously strong -- especially when wet.


Cotton
Flexible, soft, smooth, moderate friction, moderate stretch, low durability, low to moderate strength. This is one of the cheapest ropes out there! Which is great for the wallet -- and horrible for suspension! If you want to do suspension with rope, get specially rated rope that can take over 400lbs.


Silk, bamboo
Flexible, soft and smooth, moderate friction, low stretch, moderate durability, good strength. These feel the best and I think silk is my overall favorite as it's strong, has good grip, reasonable friction and  feels great too.  Bamboo is pretty and feels good too...but both are very pricey!


Manila, sisal, coir
Stiff, harsh texture, moderate friction, low stretch, moderate durability, moderate strength.


I hate these! They feel like crap and stick you and your victim with shards and splinters making life suck.  Slivers in your fingertips while tying is terrible. You'll have to ask your slave how she feels about genital ties with this.   Oh, and they are stretchy in a bad way.

Synthetic fibers

Nylon, paracord, MFP (multi-filament polypropylene)
Flexible, soft texture, low friction, moderate stretch, high durability, very high strength. These are pretty, available in the widest array of colours, patterns and thickness.  They are cheap and easy to clean.  MFP is kinda stuff for my taste. They lack the grip and friction of natural stuff but they are smooth and sweet to use.  Paracord is thin and I like it for certain tying styles.


Synthetic hemp (Promanila, Unmanila, Polyhemp, Hempex)
Flexible, rough texture, moderate friction, low stretch, high durability, very high strength.  Best grip of synthetic fibers but doesn't feel as nice (plastic like).   They are less expensive but it's hard to find pretty stuff.


Polyester, POSH
Moderately flexible, moderate texture, moderate friction, low stretch, high durability, good strength.  This is like the non-stretchy version of nylon.


Generic polypropylene
Stiff, hard plastic texture, low friction, low stretch, high durability, very high strength.  This is that common yellow hardware store rope.  It feels like crap and slips on itself like crazy. Best used for moving and tying stuff to the roof of your car.

Other Considerations

Number of braids
Basically, you have rope in 3 or 4 strands twisted or braided together -- or one solid piece if it's a synthetic rope. Braided rope has an uneven surface that helps with friction.

What? Not what you imagined?

Ends
Whipped, knotted, fused, glued, taped.  Basically, this is what stops the rope from unraveling.
Whipping or tying your ends looks nice but is a pain to do (but tape works almost a well). Knotting works but gets in the way of tying. Synthetic rope can be melted and fused together. Or you can drip the ends in tool dip or contact cement!

How sailors like to whip

Diameter
Thin (under 5mm), average (5mm-8mm), thick (over 8mm). Most bondage rope is 6mm (1/4") in thickness, since it offers a good balance between ease of use and comfort for the bottom. I may be biased though but I think 1/4" is ideal. I don't mind tying with thinner ropes as they  hold knots more tightly, sometimes too much so, but they really dig into a bottom when pulled tight. Extremely thin rope can be used for “microbondage,” tying digits, nipples, genitals, faces although it's hard to tell the difference between rope and string sometimes.  Thick ropes can 'fill' a lot of space in a rope dress and for encasing the sub and will be much more comfortable for her...but let's be honest, how comfortable do you really want to make her?  Also, think ropes make huge, ugly-assed knots!


Length

Pieces (2-5'), Short (10-15'), average (25-35'), long (45-50') Many riggers prefer to keep most of their ropes around the same length. Let's face it, cutting and whipping a new rope for every tie is a pain in the butt.  30' Ropes are a great length for most ties so start off with a bunch of these.   Longer ropes can be annoying as you are constantly feeding it in and out.   Very short pieces are handy for very specific purposes and short tie offs...so I like to keep a few of these handy too (but traditional Shibari riggers have told me that was 'wrong'  and I told them that I don't follow rules.

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Beginner Rope Guide

This is the start of a guide to rope bondage.  The idea here will be to post useful links to articles here as I build this. 

I'm not gonna lie to you: it's always best to have in person training from an experienced rigger.  A rigger is community slang for one who likes to play with ropes.  Some charge for giving lessons and workshops. Others don't.   The very first guy that taught me about ropes -- it turns out he charges $500+ for a weekend workshop.  But for me, he never asked for a dime. 

The internet has some awesome resources with guides on YouTube for specific knots or techniques. They are the next best thing to in person training. The best thing to do is practice. The more you ingrain the knots and techniques into your head, the less you have to think about them and the more you can really enjoy yourself --and get creative. 

Get Some Books
I highly recommend “Land" from http://www.CompleteShibari.com.  "Sky" is a good followup book to read.  Complete disclosure: I have met the author -- and I have even posted some photos of one of his former slaves in a prior post....because I'm bad like that...but his book is totally solid.   There is some excellent the rope techniques to be found on  Twisted Monk. 

The most important thing to do is learn the simple ties that perform certain basic funcitons.  From there....you just build on your knowledge and assemble like lego. 

There is rope bondage and then there is shibari which is the more traditional form that comes from Japan.  If you are more interested in traditional shibari, check out Japan Rope

Types of Rope 

If you're unsure what rope is best, pick the hand dyed
purple ones because they be pretty!

The type of rope you use has a big impact on what you can do with it, the feel, how it ties and snugs together. The 3 main considerations are a) thickness b) material it's made of c) length.   Thin rope is much easier to accidentally cut off circulation so you have to use more of it and often multiple wraps.

Some people swear that there is only one right thickness or a best material that the rope should be made of...but it really depends on what you want the outcome to be.  I don't believe in one 'right way' but exploring and creating new ties on the fly.



To get you started, check out some of these simple ties.

But you can go from the functional to the masterful...here's a couple examples of AWESOME:

There's more tutorials that here   But don't worry, I'll post more videos and resources later. 


Meet Experienced People
There are lots of experienced people offering seminars and workshops. Attend these to meet like-minded folk. Some you have to pay a lot of money to attend while others are very informal places to practice. Look for rope workshops in your city or go to play parties and talk to the riggers. You can tell who they are as they will be busy tying people up. (Don't interrupt them while they are tying. )

If you want to go to something really awesome, check out Shibaricon.

For now, I'm just wanting to give a taste and outline some of the areas that I will write about. Then I will come back here and link to them later.

SAFETY
Rope bondage is one of the most risky BDSM activities you can do.   It's fairly easy to cause nerve damage and serious injuries -- even though it appears safer than other activities. So make sure you understand how damage can occur from rope bondage. Also, make sure you have tools handy that can safely and rapidly release you rope bunny (cut the damn ropes...her safety is way more important.) Make sure you understand how to tie safely before beginning. 

I'm going to post lots more on safety to be sure to read and understand those posts.  Also, suspension is NOT for beginners. Any type of suspension should not be done until you understand everything else and have lots of practice. DON'T START WITH SUSPENSION!  Start with something like a simple rope dress:

Disclaimer: I'm not a medical doctor nor do I claim to be any form of expert. Using rope is dangerous and you do so at not only your own risk but at the risk of the person you are tying. If you're not sure about how safe a tie is...don't do it. 



 

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Double Figure Eight Knots (Loop)

This is the first post I'm doing on knot tying, ropes and all things shibari -- I still haven't decided on the best format for this so you'll have to bear with me.  I'm pondering making videos but...that seems like a lot of effort (I've won awards for shorts I've made -- and I know me: I won't be happy with the result unless I spend far too much time on it. So unless I resolve to do a crappy job on the video, it might not happen.)

Anyway, I haven't mentioned how to tie knots before but, as a Dom/Domme you have a lot to learn...and ropes is one of those things that can't be avoided.  I'm going to start with the double figure eight knot. Not because it's the most useful or versatile (it's not) but it's easy to explain and remember.

How to tie a Double Figure Eight knot:

Basically, make a figure 8 with your rope and then...follow the 8 a second time.   The key points are
a) make a figure 8 [steps 1-3 below]
b) put the rope through the first part of the 8 you made and then run it back up the same way it came (this will be the actual loop in the end)  [step 4]
c) loop around the top of the eight and then under both the loop lines [step 4-5]
d) run it through both the top 8s [step 6]
e) cinch it tight.

I like this form of diagram. I think it's easy to follow.
You like it too?

Here's what it looks like in actual rope (before cinching):

Uncinched Double Figure Eight Knot

 And here it is cinched:

Double Figure 8-knot

Note the wall with a tie point,
carabiner and rope with a double
figure 8 knot with a long loop.

Uses:
I like using this pretty yet fairly strong knot for creating tie-offs that are good for attaching carabiners
to or for running other ropes through it in a sort of makeshift pulley.  

Say your bed has no posts and generally lacks tie points (because you were given the bed...never, ever buy a bed that doesn't have ample tie points!!!)  You can can tie a rope to a leg and then have it come up to a double figure eight knot that you can attach your girl to.   If you have a longer rope, run it around both legs (wrapping around each leg several times) and then put a double figure 8 at each end -- so you can secure both arms or both feet.

If you have a tie point on a wall, you can run a rope from it and have it end in a double figure 8 loop knot so you can control exactly where your tie point is...and easily clip a carabiner to it. That configuration is handy because you can then go to the all tie point and adjust it so she is more...comfortable. >;)

While I don't typically use this knot on the body of a girl, it is a great way to finish off a lose rope used to bind her.  It looks a lot nicer than a dangling end and will no doubt inspire you to run a rope through it and secure her to something.

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