There’s tying wrists, and then there’s tying wrists in such a way that it’s prettier, more inescapable, and pretty much guaranteed not to tighten down on your partner.
All of which I’m a fan of.
So today I’m going to share my favorite way of doing that.
Okay, so this post follows up on a previous post, regarding knotted versus whipped rope ends.
In that post, I detailed why at that time, I was a big fan of whipping rope ends, because it made life easier during the actual tying process, what with the flat profile and the way whipped rope ends didn’t catch as I tied someone and slid rope ends beneath other bands of rope, etc.
Turns out there’s a huge fucking catch with whipped rope ends.
There are a lot of times when it’s just not a good idea to do rope bondage.
In fact, the list of when I personally think it’s a terrible idea to do rope bondage is actually a lot longer than when I think it is a good idea.
And most of these things revolve around emotional safety. Sure, physical safety is very very important – as I went over in some detail in the Safety Series Part 2; but those are the obvious pitfalls.
Less obvious pitfalls are the emotional ones.
As a general rule, I keep my jute rope pretty clean. Because I really like my rope; I put a lot of time into purchasing it, cutting it to the sizes I like, and treating it so that it becomes a joy to tie with as soon as possible.
So as you can imagine, I go to a lot of effort to take care of it.
I store it in bags, put it on high up shelves away from the floor, NEVER EVER TIE IN THE MUD, that sort of thing.
However, inevitably, it does become less than pristine. With the play I do, it’s bound to get sexual fluids and other stuff on it at some point. It’s going to need cleaning.
Below are my notes on doing that, based on research through my favorite rope forums and books.
This is a response email I got from a guy named Sean who had read my “What Kind Of Rope Is Best For Bondage” post. And you know what? I’m really impressed with the amount of work he put into his response.
I really enjoy interacting with those that comment on the blog. It’s a great opportunity to share knowledge and learn from others experience. There are so many of you out there with a lot to contribute, and I’ve learned from some of you already; which tells me that Rope Connections is doing what I created it to do, sharing and pooling knowledge so we can all develop our skills and enjoy rope and rope bondage together.
The reason why I’m putting this response into a post of its own is that I really feel this guy went the extra mile. He shared his story, his knowledge and experience, and some very practical information about the advantages of the rope he’s talking about, and where to get it.
I did some rope practice recently with someone I am very lucky to be involved with… and since I found my old digital camera recently, I took some photos.
There’s often a bit of a debate about how to finish your rope ends, whether to knot them or whip them.
They do need finishing, because otherwise your rope tends to unravel.
Honestly, I started off with knotted because it just seemed like the simplest way of doing it. It’s quick, easy, and takes no time at all. Just a quick overhand knot, and you’re done.
But after awhile, as I got more into rope, and I began enjoying the smooth flow of the movement and the interaction with people as I tied them, I began to encounter something that irritated me more and more over time.
There’s something incredibly annoying about when you’re in the middle of a smooth pull, you’re in the zone, the person you’re tying is caught up in it all, and then your rope gets goddamned stuck as you pull it beneath some wraps or behind your stem.
And you have to pause, jerk at it, untangle it. It’s freaking frustrating! Because, as the Emperor says, it throws you off your groove.
You’re no longer feeling zen and caught up in the moment; you’ve experienced a spike of irritation which has messed with your scene. The person you’re tying may not have noticed, but you sure have.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve had that happen, and had it detract from the flow of the moment during a rope scene.
So I did some research.
One of the best things about shibari is that the lengths of the rope you use are reasonably short and manageable.
This means you don’t have to waste tremendous amounts of time pulling through enormous lengths of rope and risk getting it tangled around your feet, making you look silly.
That said, you do need to add on additional lengths from time to time, so this post shows how to do that.
One handed, no less.
One of the most common causes of discontent regarding rope bondage is having vague, unrealistic expectations, or worse, floundering around because you just don’t know what you should or shouldn’t expect.
And that’s a troublesome thing – when you don’t know the expectations for a particular situation, it’s easy to entirely misjudge what’s going on or even what the point of what you’re doing is supposed to be.
Continue reading 3 Different Rope Situations And What to Expect From Them
So you’ve gone out, you’ve obtained your rope, and you’ve been reading this website and studying Youtube videos and devouring the material.
You’re ready. It’s time to start practicing and developing your skills…
But there’s a problem. A big problem.
You have no one to tie! How are you supposed to practice and develop skills with no one to tie up and practice on?
Continue reading The Biggest Problem With Practice, and How You Can Fix It
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