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Thoughts and Notes about Shibari

Rope Safety

Rope bondage is not safe, it is considered “edge” play. Whoever is getting tied is in danger of many very real dangers to their health, from falling and breaking their teeth to nerve compression damage that can loose them their mobility and sensation in a limb.

Please do your own due diligence and take all of these resources as ways expand on a solid base of understanding. If possible in person lessons from professionals is highly recommend.

Always have a method to get your bottom out from the rope as fast as possible, note this not always requires cutting the rope but have safety sears or a rope knife at hand. I also recommend a Merlin spike for jammed knots.

I’ve taken to wearing a fanny pack around my waist with all my tools in it when I tie.

Riggers Finger

A little talked about problem from rope tops is what Andrea from La Cordes call “riggers index” or riggers finger, where a rope tops index finger/s experience pain from the repetitive motion of pulling rope with them.

Treatment

Apply cold, rest and possibly take a medicine like Aleve or Advil to help with the inflammation. Gentle movement to help blood flow can be done but no hard stretching as that might irritate the condition.

Prevention

Stretching the hands and warming them up by massaging them with oil before tying can help mitigate the appearance of this condition.

Personally I also try and alternate which fingers I use for pulling to try and help distribute the impact.

Buying Rope

Local distributors will most of the time trump or match anything online so buy local if you can.

Rope Care

Regular maintenance of rope will reduce the likelihood of a rope failing or having something go wrong with it as well as extend its life time.

My preferred maintenance routine is:

  1. After using it, run the rope through your hand while applying pressure, this will cause the strands of the rope to even out over the length of the rope and prevent spots that might bunch and ultimately could result in high strands which comprises the integrity of the entire rope.
  2. Oil your rope, I’ve been using mineral oil as my go to as it’s mostly odorless, colorless and does not go rancid, another popular choice is jojobo oil but some people are allergic to it. to oil your rope, add oil to a rag, I’ve used denim and microfiber as they don’t leave behind fibers and also tend to be durable enough to protect my hand from friction. ounce you have a decent amount of oil on the rag just repeat the first step pulling the rope through your rag.
  3. Hang your rope, hanging your rope loosely or “resting it” allows for the tension into the strands to naturally even out. helping with the same issues from step 1.
  4. Optionally you can wax your rope with beeswax/paraffin/soy by pulling the rope through a block and then heating it in the oven on low. I don’t really do this.

I have also heard people mix oil and wax to make a paste after which they take a handful and throw it in a dryer for a cycle to save them time oiling/waxing, never have done this though.

Ties

Basic

Chest Harnesses

Hip Harnesses

Leg Ties