Although life moves on, I didn’t want some of the lovely rope tutorials I did for my old company to be lost forever so I’ve imported them into this blog and you can find them all under the tutorials category. Hopefully I’ll do some more too :)
Closing a business, starting anew
It’s been a really difficult decision but I’m closing my rope business, Warped Rope. It’s been a great year in business and we’ve been able to make lots of fabulous hemp rope and meet awesome people. However I’ve found myself unable to devote as much time as I should to it which is unfair on our customers. This was only likely to get worse in the future. I still love making and using rope so friends and family can still get their fixes :)
I’d like to thank friends, family, my amazing accountant and everyone at Master U who really help us out. Couldn’t have done it without you.
A winning combination
Had a boy over at the weekend that we’d not seen for a while and had a lovely session. Here he is decked out in the winning combination of a Master U hood, breathe-thru gag and heavy metal collar. And some rope, obviously :)
On pansexuality
I was teased at a recent party about me new-found fondness for describing myself as pansexual – which is apparently the hipster word for being bi. I had girlfriends when I was younger and then I moved on and found myself preferring gentlemen rather than ladies as time progressed, but if I’m honest I never really saw the massive attraction of cock.
Within the last couple of years I’ve found myself attracted to ladies once again, although I’d describe it as more of a fetish in that I really get off on femdom scenes (something about forced-bi, albeit in an unconventional sense) and cute girlies in latex attire. I certainly don’t want to live with a girl (the ability to share clothing with my other half is awesome) but at the same time I’m not as repulsed as your common-or-garden variety of gay might be. Maybe everyone’s sexuality is a little fluid and that as time’s arrow marches inexorably forward tastes can change.
Pansexual might be a word that only a douche would use but it does seem to sum me up at the moment. Sorry.
New site
It’s been a painful few days but I’ve finally managed to port over an old Movable Type site over to something less shit. Most things have come across just fine but there’s the occasional broken image as I’ve stopped using an older piece of gallery software as well.
Hate mail, praise and questions all welcome. And I promise to blog a bit more too. Honest.
x
Queer Erotic Drawing: QED
I had the pleasure of my first public rope performance at Master U’s Queer Erotic Drawing series a couple of weeks ago.
Despite having a really dreadful cold I had a lot of fun and whilst I’d certainly tweak things for anything similar in the future I was fairly pleased with how it went and I think the artists enjoyed it too.
If you’re an artist and enjoy life drawing with a twist I’d certainly recommend any of the other days in the series.
Rope Bondage Part 5: Single Column Tie
Hooray! A new post! The single column tie is arguably the foundation of most other ties in shibari and is definitely worth practicing on yourself until you’re totally confident.
A column is anything you can tie directly around such as an arm or a leg. The single column tie secures a rope around just one limb and can therefore be used to tie someone spread-eagled to a bed or to a chair with one rope per column. It’s also the starting point in the box tie (chest harness). The single column tie also uses pretty much the only knot you’ll ever have to use :)
Start with the loop (bight) of a doubled piece of rope. Any length and diameter of rope can be used for this, but for comfort 6mm+ is preferred
Wrap around the column at least twice but you can wrap more if you like. Make sure all the ropes are neat and parallel and don’t cross.
Cross over the bight and the working end of the rope as if you were wrapping a parcel. This step helps you visualise what happens next:
Pass the bight under all the other ropes:
Tie an overhand knot (the kind you use when tying your shoelaces). Leaving as small a piece of the bight as possible sticking out helps with neatness:
Pulling on the working end (the end opposite to the bight/loop) should raise up the whole lot:
Run your finger around between rope and skin to even out tension and uncross any ropes and to verify circulation.
You’re done!
Rope Bondage Part 4: Reading
So, in lieu of some actual demos (I know, I know!) here’s some great reading material in the mean time:
Books
- By far and away the best set of books on shibari are Complete Shibari: Land & Sky by Douglas Kent. Sadly you can only get them via his own site based in Canada so shipping is slooooow to the EU but well worth the wait. If I could get them stocked here I would! Great pictures and a really simple instruction guide.
- My second favourite book is Shibari You Can Use and whilst it’s mostly in greyscale it has a nice variety of ties and is well laid out.
- Midori has a great book but it does have a lot of words in, so I’d put it down as a coffee table item.
- If you’re into knots rather than shibari/kinbaku then you can’t go wrong with the Two Knotty Boys.
Web
Well, the web is a big old place but both Informed Consent and Fetlife have very active rope communities and groups if you want to discuss things with like-minded kinksters. Both also carry listings for local rope events, which brings me onto…
IRL
Get out there and play! I can’t recommend Peer Rope type events highly enough, especially the London one which is now held monthly. Midori also runs many rope classes around the world including several Dojos.
I’d love to hear any of your own suggestions in the comments too.
Rope Bondage Part 3a: Rope Coils
As was rightly pointed out in my last post (gotta love peer review!), storing rope for any length of time in a chain can be bad for the rope and introduce kinks (in the rope, not in oneself). I do thing rope chains are the best method for washing your rope in a machine though, just make sure to undo and dry under tension.
For long-term storage the rope coil is your best option – it keeps the rope flat and also allows you to get at the bight end of the rope and start using it right away.
1) Find the bight of your rope:
2) Run the rope through your fingers to the ends of the rope:
3) Holding the ends in one end slide your other hand about 1ft / 30cm down the rope towards the bight:
4) Drop the ends of the rope so you’re now holding another bight with one hand:
5) Slide your now free hand down the rope stopping at the dangling ends (should be 1ft / 30cm as before) and let go of the other end:
6) Repeat the hand over hand process building up coils:
7) Stop once you have a couple of feet / one metre left (I have left mine intentionally long):
8) Grab the loose end and start wrapping around the coils:
9) Stop wrapping with a few centimetres left:
10) Put your finger under one of the wrappings:
11) Wrap around once more, make another bight near the end and hook that through with your finger:
12) Twist the wrappings and the hooked-under end in the direction of the wrappings to tighten. You should be able to chuck the coil on the floor without it springing open:
13) To undo, simply pull on the bight and the rope will unravel:
Rope Bondage Part 3: Rope Basics
In the third part of our rope bondage tutorial we cover the basics: rope types, storage and care
Rope Material Selection
There are a great variety of rope materials on the market, both natural & synthetic. The image to the left shows white cotton rope at the top, a flat-weave nylon in the middle and some 6mm hemp at the bottom.
Synthetic ropes have the advantage of being cheap and relatively easy to get hold of and some even come with a “flat wave” that causes the rope to lie flatter against the skin. Materials include polyester, multi-filament polypropylene (MFP) and nylon. The biggest disadvantage with synthetic materials is the burn speed: it requires very little speed of rope against skin to potentially cause rope burn.
There are as many natural rope materials as there are synthetic: hemp, jute and cotton are the most common. All have various pros & cons.
| Material | Cost | Stretch | Burn Speed | Comfort | Knot Holding | Notes |
| Hemp | High | Low | Medium-High | Medium | Good | Amazing “grassy” smell |
| Jute | Medium-High | Low | Medium-High | Medium | Good | |
| Sisal | Low | Low | Medium | Poor | Good | Very splintery, not recommended |
| Cotton | Low | High | High | Good | Medium | |
| Nylon | Low | Medium | Low | Poor | Good | Waterproof! |
| MFP | Medium | Medium | Medium | Good | Poor | Waterproof, easy clean. Do not use monofilament polypropylene |
Don’t be limited by “traditional” materials and use whatever takes your fancy; bungee cord, webbing straps and even medical rubber tubing can all be used. Just be sure to check the burn speed of a new material by pulling it quickly through your hands first. On balance though, I personally prefer hemp & jute.
Rope Anatomy
You will often see references to the “ends” & “bight” of a rope: Japanese-style bondage is mostly done with a doubled up length of rope so your tying is done twice as fast! A loop formed at the middle (or anywhere else) of a piece of rope is called a bight. The dangly bits that have been whipped or knotted are the ends.
Rope Care
Be sure to look after your rope, keeping it clean & dry between sessions. Whilst this is common sense to a certain extent this is especially important for ropes made from natural materials. Hemp & jute will deteriorate rapidly if left damp and will benefit from an occasional oiling with jojoba, tea seed, hemp, mineral or mink oil.
Wash your rope in the machine inside an old pillow case if necessary and if the rope has been exposed to any nasty pathogens just throw it away and buy new.
Between sessions neatly bundle your rope in a coil.
