Reddit mentions of Fetish Fantasy Bondage Rope, Black

I strongly recommend Complete Shibari Vol. 1: Land by Douglas Kent. It has some problems, but I feel that the fundamental education method is very sound. It starts with very basic elements: knots, wraps, frictions, etc. then it shows how to combine those into simple ties. Finally, it shows how you combine those building blocks into more complex ties. After working your way through the book you'll be far better equipped to learn new things because you'll start seeing how they're composed. You'll have the ability to improvise more easily and pick apart photos that you see. It's the difference between learning a song by rote memorization and learning a scale first, then seeing how that scale was used to create the melody.

That said, it has some issues. It's fairly basic. While it has numerous pictures, Kent is obviously a visual learner and consciously chose to minimize text. It suggests some ties that, while common, I consider less than ideal for the sake of safety.

I would definitely recommend it over Two Knotty Boys (Showing You The Ropes, Back on the Ropes) or Midori (The Seductive Art of Japanese Bondage) as both tend to be more rote in nature and far more limited. Both are very much of their time (late '90s, early '00s) and things have moved on. Lee Harrington's Shibari You Can Use is pretty good, but I think that his sequel More Shibari You Can Use is better, in part because of the excellent connection exercises. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the sort of basic content that you'd be best off learning initially.

I'd additionally recommend The Little Guide To Getting Tied Up by Evie Vane. It's one of the only books on the market for rope bottoms and I cannot recommend it enough. Bottoming is a skill just as much as topping. This will help keep bottoms safe, informed, and more aware of how to express what they want out of rope scenes. I've found it to be of benefit to both tops and bottoms.

That's what I have specifically about books, although it's not necessarily what I would suggest for learning. For that, well...


This has become my default copy-and-paste whenever someone asks about getting started with rope bondage. In this case also look at the last time I saw this question asked, there are plenty of other good answers there. This is a copy-paste to make it easier to keep things up-to-date and not ignore key points, but I'm always happy to provide more information if you have additional questions.

TL;DR: Be safe first. Hands-on classes are the best way to learn to be as safe as possible, but there are several excellent resources available as well.

Looking for local groups on FetLife is one of the best things you can do, especially for something like rope where there is a strong element of risk. In almost any mid-sized city and up there will be a local rope community teaching classes, organizing munches (public social gatherings), skill-shares, and the like. Done wrong you can cause permanent nerve damage or even death. Don't just rush in without learning the basics of how to do it safely. Along those lines Crash Restraint and Remedial Ropes both have excellent resources on how to have a lot of safe fun with rope bondage.

For the basics you can go a long way with some simple single and double-column ties. With a single-column and a half hitch to a bedpost you can easily have a lot of fun. My personal favorite is the Somerville Bowline because it's fast, easy to tie, and it won't cinch tight after being tied unlike many other methods. It's also the first step in making this great wrists behind head tie. Topologist (the guy in the video) was teaching this recently actually and I got to see first-hand how quickly a number of novices picked it up. Easy, fast, built from a few basic, reusable techniques; looks great, lots of utility, and a bunch of fun ways to expand on it (say, going down between the crotch before starting the wraps and tying it off in the front rather than the back so that trying to pull your arms forward serves a dual purpose). Twisted Monk and Two Knotty Boys (who also have several well-respected books) have some very good video tutorials available for free online as well. They get many recommendations, but I find Two Knotty Boys to be a bit too focused on aesthetics and decorative ties.

As for rope itself it's never a bad time to learn more about what's out there and why people use it. "Japanese silk" from major sex toy companies is just cheap cotton rope dyed in various colors (avoid black rope when starting, even though it can look great it makes it hard to see knots). Especially buying from Spencer's or most sex shops you'll be overpaying badly for short lengths of cheap rope. My girlfriend (we're both rope tops) has a 200' spool she bought recently from Amazon for about $30 and while it's OK, it's not great. Stretchy, squishy... it holds and feels better than nylon, but that's about it. You could probably buy something cheaper or equivalent at the hardware store. I personally started with nylon and I dislike it quite a bit, but it's another cheap, starter option. In this case though we both moved on to hemp within a few months after having more time and experience with natural fiber rope and realizing that we'd be getting plenty of use out of it.

If you want to get inexpensive rope from the hardware store check that it doesn't have a core made from another fabric. Cotton "clothesline" often has a tough plastic core and should be avoided. Many braided nylon ropes have a thin, wadded layer inside as well. Try to check it out first if possible or look around for "solid nylon braid" rather than just "nylon braid." Twisted nylon will work and won't have a core, but it comes apart too easily and isn't ideal.

I've been happy with the hemp from Karma Rope personally. It's a good, inexpensive option (pay what you want) and their hemp requires minimal finishing. They also sell jute, but I have no personal experience with it. Karma Rope appears to have gone away. People have stated good things about the jute from MyNawashi however and if you want another inexpensive option they're worth looking into.

You'll be paying roughly twenty cents a foot from either of them and approximately the same price at the hardware store for cotton or nylon rope. I'd say go with an inexpensive natural fiber vendor to start with and skip the cheap beginner rope step.

If you want to pay more Twisted Monk is very popular for finished hemp rope although I'm partial to DeGiotto. M0co Jute (very popular for jute rope), Douglas Kent Rope (by bondage author Douglas Kent), Jugoya (respected Japanese rope top Arisue Go's shop), Knot Normal... sometimes it seems like a new shop selling good quality bondage rope opens up every day. For these shops you can expect to pay closer to $1/foot or slightly higher, but you'll have very nice, fully conditioned rope.

As for length and thickness a lot of that is going to be personal preference. Topologist has some good advice on rope sizes here. It says just about everything that I would although he recommends a slightly more complete kit. For beginning I'd suggest going with about 3 long ropes and 2 short ropes (roughly half the length of the long ropes). I'm currently using 8m and 4m lengths of 6mm hemp.