When it comes to using nylon rope for bondage, I’ve procrastinated for a very long time, but have finally gotten around to getting some! Let’s call it my Christmas present to myself. So today’s post will be examining nylon rope and giving you guys a decent look at it, and at the pros and cons of using nylon rope for bondage.
Using Nylon Rope For Bondage Aesthetics
I’m not going to lie; a big part of the reason I ended up buying some nylon rope is simply because of the aesthetic. I’m a sucker for making gorgeous rope art, and while I was curious about using nylon rope for bondage, I also really really wanted to make some gorgeous photos with it.
Knothead Nylon stocks a good range of beautifully dyed and colored rope which makes for fucking fantastic photos. With any rope photos, a large part of what makes them so amazing is the skill of the photographer and the editing that takes place afterwards, but having really nice rope and models to begin with is always a big help.
Nylon rope is a synthetic rope, meaning it has very different qualities than the jute and hemp I otherwise tend to use. One of those qualities is that it is quite literally shiny; when dyed and with good lighting, you get some very shiny light reflective effects.
It seems when you cluster a couple of bands together as in the above picture, it really emphases that shininess and gives you this really nice “luxurious” effect, particularly if it’s well dyed, such as with Knothead’s rope.
So one of the reasons I purchased nylon rope for bondage is literally so that I could do some really fun photoshoots.
And of course, because I also really like red rope in my scenes and in my photos, I got some of that too.
The red also looks very amazing against dark colors and backgrounds.
Nylon Rope Pros And Cons
Another reason you might want to consider using nylon rope for bondage is because nylon is fantastic when it comes to water bondage or any other situation where wetness is likely to be an issue.
Ahem.
Nylon is great for these situations for a couple of reasons; it doesn’t scrunch or get harder to tie with or untie when it’s wet (which is something that can happen with natural fibers like jute or cotton or hemp) and it’s incredibly washable.
I’ve washed my nylon a couple of times now, and there was zero change to how it performs before and afterwards, wet or dry (though of course it’s a bit heavier when wet and the fibers are inundated with water).
Which of course makes sense; nylon rope is also often used for sailing, for exactly these reasons. It’s also UV resistant.
Speaking of UV… this pink nylon rope is actually UV reactive, so it lights up beautifully in either natural light or under UV light. (I don’t have a ultraviolet light handy at the moment, so I’ll have to wait until I get an opportunity to tie at a UV party to get some pictures of that kind – I’ll update when I do. )
Much like other synthetic ropes, nylon is very smooth, with very little tooth. This of course has some pros and cons; it can feel quite smooth and sensual on the skin, and has a nice “solid” feel to it, but it also means that relying on friction to keep things in place is a bit more difficult.
I’ve found that the nylon I got from Knothead is a bit longer than my standard rope (7-8 meters) and can take a bit longer to pull through. The rope itself weighs more than my other synthetic ropes as well; could be the material, and maybe the density of the braid. It is very flexible and relatively smooth to tie with. I don’t think you could break it in, but fortunately you don’t need to. No conditioning required!
I’ve found if you’re tying over cloth, then it’s much more likely to slide off where you place it; on skin, it’s not too bad. With regards to satin robes, which is one of my favorite things to tie over, it slides like a motherfucker.
You can compensate for this by using lots of cinching to keep bands where you want them to be, but your rope is not that likely to stay where you want it to be otherwise.
It IS still possible to friction burn yourself if you pull it too quickly, but you’re less likely to abrade or “rope burn” someone in general. And of course, if you haven’t been tying very much, you probably haven’t built up any “rope callouses” on your fingers. Yes, your body adapts to regular tying by building up rope callous. Isn’t that helpful?
Use For Suspension Or Tying Off
When tying off to something, I find I want to rely less on friction or even hitches. That could just be because I’m being extra careful, but that change in tooth makes a difference for me. I want to be pretty careful. So lots extra hitches when doing partial suspensions, and making sure to lock off well. I note that Knothead’s site indicates that frictions don’t work well, so that confirms my caution.
The set of four ropes I got was pretty much perfect for doing partial suspensions with a relatively small person; the extra length came in handy.
The rope itself is strong as hell. I had no concerns when using it to suspend someone for that reason. According to the website, it’s “many times stronger” than natural fiber rope, and I believe it.
I’ve only done one set of suspension experiments and photoshoot with it so far, but there will be more in future. I’m fairly pleased with it.
I don’t think I’d use nylon for EVERYTHING. And I think I’d often enjoy using my favorite hemp or jute a lot more. But I am definitely enjoying the aesthetics, and I’m going to enjoy using it in a variety of ways in future – especially if there are wet or water situations.
