Best rope for bondage?

[SirsCatsneaky]

Sir and I are looking into buying some rope for bondage. What do YOU think is the best rope? We are obviously looking for the best for not chaffing too much and to hold it's knots well. Any advice would be appreciated.
What is the best length for you? We have been researching and 30 ft lengths are recommended by a lot of people.
Thank you so much for not leaving me hanging HA!

Catsneaky

[SubmissiveDoll]

Rope bondage, one of my favorite things!

You can find all manners of rope on the internet, all of them claim to be the best. And most of them are REALLY expensive!!! Me, I'm broke. Personally I have kids and bills and other things that require my attention before I can spend $60-100 on some rope.

From my experience the Asian silk ropes are the most comfortable, and fun to work with. They also look beautiful once in place. However, they are a tad slick and don't stay in place well without pulling them really tightly. Once you have more practice with them, you don't have to pull them as tight, but that takes a while, and they are expensive to buy.

Now... two of my favorite stores for play... Home improvement, and craft stores! You can make almost anything yourself. Feel free to check both for rope. You'd think at a home improvement store they would only have hash ropes. Untrue. Because they also have sections for curtains and furniture and home decor! Voila! Curtain ties, you can buy them in almost any length you want.

I suggest playing around with widths and lengths to see what you like. I like to have several colors and lengths laying around. Never know what mood might strike.

The scratch test! Wear something that you can have easy access to your forearm. Wrap a good length of the rope around your forearm, do it moderately tight. Run your arm around on the inside of the rope to test and see if it will irritate your skin. You want something soft, yet strong. I like ropes that are 'braided' they tend to hold knots better.

There are many styles of bondage knots that can be done, and many web sites out there. I recommend practice on the knot tying. Make a night of it. Get something to drink (I suggest non-alcholic) and some nice music and have fun.

Safety portion! I can't stress this enough!!! If you can't feel a part of your body, hands, fingers, toes, legs... TELL HIM!!! In no way shape or form is this ok. You can suffer nerve damage if you have a loss of blood flow to a limb for too long. Tell him, adjust the bonds, and go back to having fun. And I don't care how experienced you are with rope bondage, this will happen. Nothing like permanent nerve damage to kill the mood!

My disclaimer - I'm not an expert, I just really enjoy this type of play and have experimented over the years. I'm sure others will have lots to say as well.

[icey]

our preference is for jute which is soft but sturdy, or hemp, hemp can be a bit scratchy if you're not used to it but you can prepare it by soaking it in boiling hot water for around 5 hrs then after thouroughly drying apply a good coating of bees wax (some use baby oil though i wouldnt recommend it) to smoothen it and help loose the 'smell' which not everyone likes, it also gives it a longer life span although i wouldnt recommend over use of it. (the sisanal or manilla type is not particularly usefull for bondage though) you can get it pre-treated and in various colours if you look around although im a bit dubious as to its quality.
we prefer it as it is ....totally natural.

a lot of westerners use synethetic rope such as nylon, propyaline,and cotton.cotton is ok its comfortable certainly needs no preparation other than finishing the ends so it doesnt fray.
it leaves some lovely marks and you can get hold of some very pretty colours if thats part of the attraction for you,but you need to be careful when choosing it as it can be a bit too pliant and stretchy especially for suspension, again it depends what kind of ties harnesses etc you're opting for.
it's also very easy to find in all the diy stores and is generally on a roll where you can measure your chosen length.
check out the plaiting or twist too 3 strands is better than 4 (in my opinion) and plait leaves lovely patterns but with man made materials twisted tends to be slightly firmer slightly less 'stretchy' and longer lasting.

westerners tend to use longer lengths often around 26-30 feet but it's more likely to get messy twisted and become more difficult to keep control of when applying it and you can often find yourself wondering what to do with the surplus length coiled around your lounge!
if you take a look at most japanese Masters work you'll find they use smaller lengths around 20-23 feet and simpler less intricate ties.
try sticking to simple knots such as larksheads, overhand etc its safe wont slip and can be used for most harnesses etc.
in fact many harnesses and such can be done with no ties.

a width of 6 or 8 mill is best and the usual choice for most people, some use 10 although i've found that that can be a bit too bulky and more akward to handle and look crude it also makes it more difficult to loop, 4 mill which is rarely used can dig into and nip the skin and can be a bit unpleasent although its good for practising nipple work.
of course this is going by what ive found and my preferences as with anything you need to learn through your own judgement and practise but keep researching bondage can be dangerous and you need to be up on some basic knowledge of the body too and consideration of room temperatures, health,tiredness (the rope bottom in particular) any breathing problems such as asthma recent colds etc before you begin. i dont mean to sound patronising sorry! but sometimes people want to jump in quickly and overlook the little (or what can be turn out to be not so little) things like that.

[SirsCatsneaky]

Thank you everyone for the information! This is exactly what I needed!!

I ran across some great how-to videos online, plus we ordered some books and will be using the good old trial method to get it down. I am so excited!!!

A link to some videos for anyone that's new to rope bondage like myself.

http://www.wonderhowto.com/search/bdsm/
http://www.youtube.com/twistedmonkcom
http://www.wonderhowto.com/search/bdsm/
http://roperigger.com/

[MacGuffin]

Couple of links that may be of use to you:

Japanese Cotton Rope 32 Feet - usd 12.00

http://www.wildinsecret.com/Merchant...roduct_Count=8

Japanese Silk Black Love Rope 16 Feet - usd 10.95

http://www.nawtythings.com/funcuffs1a.html

[SubmissiveDoll]

Holy crap MacGuffin! Nice prices! Thank you so much for posting this!

[DarkHorseSr]

The best I have found is plane cotton clothesline. Make sure you run it throught the washer and dryer. This will make it softer and also it something happens and you need to use a knife to get out of it you didn't spend that much for it.

[SubmissiveDoll]

Actually Darkhorse, I agree. I'm happy with clothesline. At most dollar stores you can find it in several colors too. And normally comes in rolls of 30-50 feet.

[MacGuffin]

Holy crap MacGuffin! Nice prices! Thank you so much for posting this!

I'm a cheap bastard - anything much over ten bucks and I have a heart attack!

[icey]

if you're looking for educational videos too then look out for the two knotty boys, you can now find there vids widely available on youtube, they are extremely good! and for beginners they keep things very clear and simple and are probably produce some of the best how to's around IMO

but if you're happy to shell out the money Randai mai is THE best but unfortunately very expensive.

[SirsCatsneaky]

Yeah, the two knotty boys ones I found on youtube. How helpful it is to see it done instead of trying to figure it all out from a book!

And we always have our emergency sheers by just in case.

Clothesline isn't too stretchy?

[icey]

ive been a bit wary of posting this but i really wouldnt recommend clothesline, its generally too thin,often very scratchy generally made of poor quality material even if you go for nylon,and the knots are likely to in fact will loosen very very easily.
and if you run it through the washer it will soften it a little but it will also make it weaker,fray much more easily and will be too pliable.

may i ask exactly what kind of tie you're looking to practice?

[Logic1]

if you're looking for educational videos too then look out for the two knotty boys, you can now find there vids widely available on youtube, they are extremely good! and for beginners they keep things very clear and simple and are probably produce some of the best how to's around IMO

but if you're happy to shell out the money Randai mai is THE best but unfortunately very expensive.

aparrently the knotty boys vids are removed from Yotube so I downloaded the lot from piratebay. Crafty Swedes

I use 5 to 7 meter length cotton rope run through the dryer. Red for added effect and my girl likes that one and yes I got a few lengths of it