I was introduced to bondage about 25 years ago (yep, I’m THAT old!) by my girlfriend at the time. She liked to be tied down and I remember the runs to the nearest hardware store to buy some rope – ending usually with us buying some cheap cotton clothesline, which was the only rope we could afford as college students…

After breaking up – she was a Japanese exchange student and she had to go back home – I did not practice bondage with any other of my partners. Have in mind that bondage, even now,  is considered too kinky by most people. Back in the nostalgic 1990’s and early 2000’s mentioning a girl that you wanted to tie her down was a direct invitation to receive a “courtesy visit” from the local police department.

Today, thanks to the Internet and the popularity of “mommy porn” like the 50 Shades of You-Know-Who, bondage is almost mainstream. Now you can get high quality rope designed for bondage in almost every adult store on the Web. Of course, not all rope is designed the same – and not all rope is for the hardcore BDSM practitioner.

The big red spool of rope

You can get a professional grade hemp or jute rope kit from different vendors for about $200. If you are a regular rope play enthusiast, it makes sense to spend that much in rope – but if you are tying down someone every other blue moon, buying those kits (or even worse, the raw rope) is an overkill.

Because I was just looking to re-learn the art of rope bondage, I decided to get a relatively cheap type of rope that is slightly better than the cotton clothesline I used to buy 25 years ago. My chosen rope was the Pipedream Fetish Fantasy Rope in its 200 feet spool.

“Casque, that’s a lot of rope!” In some ways, it is – until you realize the different lengths of rope you will use. If you are a fan of  Japanese rope play – known in the USA as either kinbaku or shibari – you can use two or three sections of rope of 7 meters (23 feet) of length in a single session. With 32 feet of this rope sold for $25, buying the spool made more sense than buying the individual pieces. This spool gave me enough rope for 8 sets of 23 feet and a few extra feet for smaller segments perfect for hand tying.

For about $50, I got a spool of red silky soft rope perfect for a starter in rope bondage like me. The rope is a soft poly-cotton blend that feels extremely soft on the skin – a plus when you (or your bottom) are a rookie. Because of the blend, the rope holds knots pretty well while leaving minimal marks on the bottom (the person being tied). Bondage veterans will consider the lack of marks discouraging, but for the weekend enthusiast, this is perfect.

After all, you don’t want to have to explain those weird marks in school / office the next Monday, right?

Since I could not convince a friend to be the bottom for this review, I used my Eri Nanjo doll to show you how it looks. Remember – I’m not an expert…

PROS

• Soft on the skin. Rope marks would last maybe a few hours.
• Holds knots pretty well.
• Plenty of rope to prepare custom “kits”
• Relatively cheap – just 28 cents per feet
• Looks cool – specially the red version.

CONS

• Variable quality through the spool.
• Too elastic for suspension use.
• Frays easily
• Color can “bleed” when wet.

Available at: Extreme Restraints