All tied up

[pozorvlak]

I like knots

Comments

[pozorvlak]

It seems like you're right, though keeping scissors handy may be an alternative.

[hildabeast]

safety first with knots here. next consideration is ease of use and third is probably prettiness...

[pozorvlak]

But what do you do to ensure safety? Do you mean the "lots of turns, no tightening loops" stuff I was talking about above, or is there more to it?

[hildabeast]

pretty much that - i make sure it won't tighten when pulled, and that you can easily get a finger between the skin and the rope. quick to undo isn't really an issue as i always keep safety scissors (the ones paramedics use) handy.

[pozorvlak]

Interesting (and I note that bronxelf_ag001 disagrees, btw). Cutting the rope's pretty much a last resort for climbers, AIUI.

[bronxelf_ag001]

Rope related injuries are amongst the most common in the BDSM community. Rope burns, bruising, people being improperly or unsafely suspended, people blacking out from loss of oxygen or other problems due to lack of circulation.

It would actually be a lot *safer* if people would learn more about knotwork before they got into bondage work.

Oh and to answer your actual question, generally the rule is supposed to be safety first. It needs to be a knot that someone can *undo* in a hurry, if necessary.

[pozorvlak]

Rope burns, bruising, people being improperly or unsafely suspended, people blacking out from loss of oxygen or other problems due to lack of circulation.

Ouch! How common are injuries, roughly?

Oh and to answer your actual question, generally the rule is supposed to be safety first. It needs to be a knot that someone can *undo* in a hurry, if necessary.

Thanks!

[andustar]

I don't have any personal experience, but from what I've read from the experts: it varies. Some rope bondage is pretty much ornamental, whereas for something like suspension bondage security is of course essential. I can link you to the tutorials and explanations I've read if you're interested.

[pozorvlak]

Yes, please, that would be interesting.

Suspension bondage, in particular, sounds like something best approached very cautiously...

[andustar]

http://twistedmonk.blogspot.com/ this guy makes and sells hemp rope. Don't use the search function there, google is better.
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=twistedmonkcom&p=r his video tutorials and some demos (everything from face bondage to suspending a motorbike)

Some nice tutorials here too. I can't stand the guy in general, for reasons not that obvious from his journal, but the resources are decent. There are however few to no knots involved!

[andustar]

You'll see them all mentioning to always have safety scissors around, to make sure you're not cutting off circulation, etc. I've not seen any detailed explanations of how to do safe suspension bondage online, I suspect it's more of an in-person workshop thing.

[necaris]

(And are BDSMers welcome at knotting conventions?)
What kind of people are knotters generally? I can imagine quite a few being relatively traditional, conservative types (who perhaps got into knotting through their jobs, as fishermen, or something) -- is this wildly inaccurate?

[pozorvlak]

I have no idea, but it wouldn't surprise me :-)

[pozorvlak]

Of course, there's nothing stopping sailors or fishermen from being into bondage :-)