Gear

Choosing rope

For basic bondage, don’t worry about how strong your rope is. Choose rope that feels good against your skin, is supple, and holds knots well. Most people find that 1/4" thick rope (6mm) is the most comfortable and easy to work with.

For most situations, 10' - 15' is the most useful length of rope. It’s convenient to have one or two 30’ lengths as well, but anything longer than that is usually too much hassle to work with.

Fancy bondage rope comes in many colors. Have fun, but remember that dark rope is hard to find and work with in the dark.

Safety shears

You should have safety shears on hand any time you do bondage: if you get yourself in trouble, the easiest and fastest way out is to cut the rope. You want EMT shears (also called bandage shears), which are designed to cut through thick material without cutting skin.

Some shears work better than others: we like the Clauss Titanium Bonded Bent Snips (about $8).

Hardware store rope

The cheapest place to buy bondage rope is a hardware store. You can get a 100' bundle of 1/4" nylon rope for less than $15 and cut it yourself (duct tape the spot where you’re going to cut to keep the rope from unraveling.)

Some hardware store rope feels great and some is awful: try to handle the rope before buying it.

Hemp rope

Our favorite rope is hemp rope. It’s expensive ($1 a foot or more), but it feels great, smells great, and holds knots securely. You can buy raw hemp rope, but pre-conditioned bondage hemp feels better against skin.

There are many good sources of hemp rope, but our favorite is Twisted Monk.

Synthetic rope

There are many kinds of synthetic rope available, some of which work better for bondage than others. Rope that’s sold for bondage is typically more expensive but higher quality.

We particularly like Dye Addict Rope, but there are many good vendors.