Bondage knots, Shibari

[Kabirsawher]

Heyy, good day to all

Currently I'm writing a story where there's a bondage scene, and I want it to be authentic and sensual a bit
So I want to know stuff like different knots used, and variations of bounding someone
So if you have any tips on these, please ffeel free to share them

 

[ElectricBlue]

Heyy, good day to all

Currently I'm writing a story where there's a bondage scene, and I want it to be authentic and sensual a bit
So I want to know stuff like different knots used, and variations of bounding someone
So if you have any tips on these, please ffeel free to share them

I wrote about shibari in this story: Rope and Veil.

For research, I went on line and searched for shibari, and found all the knots I needed.

 

[PennyThompson]

crash-restraint.com is a super cool resource about shibari and ropework, it's mostly a how-to guide, but it lists tons of different ties and knots, both decorative and umm... functional, including pictures and video demonstrations

 

[Erozetta]

Ropes need to be treated and conditioned before use. You can't go out and buy a brand new natural material rope and just start trying it out for the fun of it. This will result in a bad time because it will hurt and cause irritation to the skin. Rope burn will happen. Fibers embedded in the skin will happen. Learn how to condition ropes for use before writing about them.

Beeswax, camellia oil, and a carabiner work great for this. You can use jojoba oil, but I find it can sometimes have an odd smell to it that camellia doesn't. You don't have to learn the full process, but you should be aware that to prepare a good quality rope and enough of a length to actually use in shibari is going to take a week or more depending on the intricacies of the designs used. It is never only one length of rope being used unless you're only doing minimal binding (such as a chest harness, forearms being bound or ankles/thighs being bound together. The intricate designs shibari is known for is often 3-4 lengths of rope at a minimum.

Jute ropes break in beautifully, hemp can as well. I'm not a fan of nylon but it does come in pretty colors. Cotton rope can work, but it doesn't really offer the tightness of hemp or jute due to a slight stretchiness to it. However, it's soft and easy to manipulate, and you can dye it pretty colors, so positives and negatives.

I like using hemp, but the price point means I often use jute.

You can use nylon and bamboo ropes without treating them, but they don't have the hold that jute and hemp have. Knots can slip and it can be hard to control the tightness evenly. I also find they can sometimes allow knots that are supposed to be non self-tightening, to tighten on their own, which can risk cutting off circulation.

Scissors are a safety measure. If a knot tightens enough, it can be almost impossible to untie and it's unlikely you can untie it before damage is done to the person being tied up. GOOD scissors dedicated to use on the ropes, not whatever scissors are lying around. They need to be able to cut through the rope in one or two motions for quick release. Having a knife on hand just in case you can't get the scissors under the rope to cut properly can be important, too. Knife is less preferred because you risk cutting the person, but between killing a limb and a cut to get the rope off, most people would choose the cut.

Have double the amount of rope you'd expect to need for a design.

Learning knots that DON'T tighten with movement or on their own is incredibly important. Especially around wrists and ankles.

Any sort of suspension needs a sturdy rope material. Cotton and Nylon can be used, but they aren't ideal as the stretch causes more friction from the weight pulling at it, and this runs the risk of knots tightening on their own leading to unsafe conditions. You really want a rope that stays exactly where it needs to be once tied and most often that's hemp or jute.

Getting these details right can add a sense of realism to the story.

The main points to pay attention to are:

1. What material rope am I using and how will that affect knot holds and tension? Does the rope need to be conditioned for use? All of this falls under participant safety, but also pleasure. A rough and scratchy rope rubbing against your pussy or dick is the opposite of erotic. Be mindful. It can help to buy a short length of rope and go through the process of conditioning it to feel the difference from "fresh" rope to "ready for use in shibari" rope.
2. Are the characters experimenting or seasoned in the art? (if inexperienced, odds of injury go significantly higher and using the wrong knots in the wrong places is likely, so if you mess it up, you can address that without necessarily needing to rewrite it to be perfect. If seasoned, you need to get it right the first time and leave little to no room for error.) A seasoned person being bound by an inexperienced person doing the binding can be a fun dynamic to explore.
3. Is the intent of use safe for the participant? (And what I mean by that is, please don't leave someone bound overnight thinking it's hot to keep them restricted. Pinched nerves can be unfixable and actual damage can occur in even a short amount of time. If the intent is an art installation over a period of hours, the display needs to be on a rotation basis so that models can rest and stretch.) You can be bound for hours when it's simple visual ropework without limb manipulation or suspension. But any kind of body posing or suspension needs to be done in increments of time with rest points for the model until her limits can be established. You can't take an untrained model and just say "Hey, I'm gonna tie you up with your arms up and forearms bound together behind your head for an installation that will last 2.5 hours." You have to test her to see if she *can* be tied up in that position for that long without risking injury and to do that, you start at 15 minutes, untie her, give her a break, check in with how she felt, then do it again for 30 minutes after adequate rest. A good rule of thumb is a minimum of 2:1 rest:bound time. If bound for 15 minutes, rest for 30 before being bound again. It's not a requirement; it's just a good place to start. But also, the longer a person is bound, the longer the rest point should be, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to go from 2:1 to 3:1 at about the 45-minute mark of being bound.

That said, the act of tying and being tied can be extremely intimate and is a great element for erotica, just make sure what you want to depict is both doable and safe.