DOLPHIN CO.

Natural-fiber or synthetic rope?  That is one of those questions that many rope people take one side or the other on, with almost relegious ferver.

Personally, I use synthetics (usually solid-braid MFP).  The main reason for this is that my primary bondage model and playmate, Lady Cocoa, is a Domme.  She loves the feel of bondage, but like many Dommes, does not like anything the least bit uncomfortable.  So I have never been able to find natural-fiber rope that is soft enough for her.  (We have recently found some that is close, though.)  The other reason I use synthetic rope is that sometimes we play with multiple partners, and I love the fact that I can soak the rope in a 10-percent bleach solution for 10 minutes before I wash it, to make sure it is clean for the next victim.

Some people who like natural-fiber rope like getting their rope unfinished, then boiling it, and scrubbing off the parts that stick out, and using a lighter to get rid of the frizzies, and all that.  Besides the fact that they can get the rope exactly like they want it, it is also sort of a ritual, and it makes the rope more theres.  I was thinking about this, and I realized that I have my own rituals for synthetic rope.

I usually buy 300 feet of rope at a time, and I make it up into two 50-foot lengths, five 25-foot lengths, and six 12.5-foot lengths.  I put a palm-and-needle whipping on the ends of each rope.  I used to shellac the whippings, which makes them look nice, and makes them a bit stiffer when you are trying to poke the end through somewhere, but I stopped doing that because the shellac tends to get cloudy when you wash the rope.

Sometimes we make rope sets for submissives, and I use those letter beads (like they used to use for newborn baby braclets when I was a kid) and sew them onto the ropes, so that each rope has the submissives name on them.

I got to thinking about the ritual of this when I remembered once when I made up a very nice rope for a girl I knew, with her name in beads on the end. (This was before I met Lady Cocoa.)  Things didn't work out with that girl, and I ended up cutting off both ends of the rope and putting new palm-and-needle whippings on it.  Now, there was no rational reason to re-do the whipping on the end without the beads, but re-doing both ends made it no longer her rope, and turned it back into just a piece of rope, which I could then give someone else.

Drigger

If you are interested in doing palm-and-needle whippings on your ropes, I have a tutorial on the Rope Fashions website.

A word of advice: if you want to shellac your whippings, do not just stick the rope upto the end of the whipping into the can of shellac, as some people have suggested to me.  That will make the frizzy part on the end nasty.  What you need to do is to get a watercolor brush (or a Q-Tip, if you are in a pinch), and apply the shellac just to the whipping itself.

Several years ago, I was discussing shellacing whippings to a woman who was an avid fan of hemp rope.  She said, "No, I don't want to put anything on my rope that isn't natural."  When I pointed out to her that shellac is made from bug secretions, she wasn't any happier.  I guess that was a bit too natural.

Drigger

Well, I'm lazy, so I buy my rope pre-conditioned and finished, for the most part.    I like the natural fibers because I get more of a connection with it.

I recently bought a roll of unfinished hemp.  While I didn't condition it at all, no boiling, no oils, no getting rid of the fuzzies, I did cut and finish the ends.  I decided that I'd use crown knots for the ends, double crowns for my 30 foot ropes, triple crowns for my 15 foot ropes.  It was truly an experience rinning the ropes through my hands, peeling back the ends, and knotting it.

I've also got some coconut fiber rope.  It feels much like rope made from an old brillo pad.  My rope bottom is a sensation play type, so I didn't  think she'd like it much.  However, when I used it recently for a bondage scene, she LOVED it.  She said it felt like she was bound and couldn't get free.  It was the essence of traditional bondage for her.