I've been reading reviews on the Two Knotty Boys book and OH seems curious about investigating further which is impressive for someone who cant even manage a granny knot. A question for the riggers out there if I may: how much rope should we start with (based on the book instructions). I can see us getting in a right tangle if we jump in with longer lengths, but is 5m long enough to get any practice in? I'm a size 18 so I'm guessing that will have an effect. How many lengths are good to start with?
Two Knotty Boys have written two books, the first of which is "Showing You the Ropes" and on page 5 they discuss rope length. I have different lengths of rope for different purposes, much as they suggest because different ties will use different lengths.
It will depends on the thickness of rope but 6-10 feet for single limb and 30-40 feet for harness are listed. Most lengths I've seen from shibari proficient people are about 9m or 25ft in length and you join them together if you need to extend the rope.
You need to be aware that there are different types of rope including cotton, nylon and jute which have different characteristics, handling and care requirements. This is also discussed in their book.
Information on this is,of course, up to personal taste and interpretation and opinions are available on various sites across the Internet. I would suggest finding people who enjoy using rope and talking to them to see how they use it and what they use.
The first Knotty Boys book (Showing You The Ropes) tells you at the beginning of each instructional how much rope you'll need.
The shortest length it calls for is 10 ft (about 3 metres) and the longest is 100 ft (about 30 metres).
For beginner wrist binding, I'd recommend picking up a 10m rope to begin with. That will be plenty for you to experiment with a few knots with, and get a feel for it.
DO read the safety instructions at the front of the book and pick up a set of SAFETY scissors along with your rope. Rope bondage comes with more risks than cuff bondage so please make sure you're confident you know what you're doing before you play, and have an easy way out should you need it.
Thanks Jess, the book's on order along with a couple of short ropes. Even if its enough to sit and have a knotting session on a bed post just to get the jist. My husband's history of knot tying is pretty poor.
Scissors are on standby and I'm knot (!) planning on mixing my kinks.