Alternative Rope Extensions

Howdy rope enthusiasts,

In this video, we take a look at two less common alternatives for extending your rope: the Sheet Bend and the Square Knot (from a Lark's Head). Both make tidy, relatively flat knots and work equally well in rope with knotted ends or whip stitching.

Have fun and happy tying!
  ~Tracker

Explosive Restraints

Howdy rope ninjas,

  This time around we're looking at a quick release tie for binding two columns together. In practice, I like to use this one to tie limbs to chair legs or other solid columns, but structurally, there's nothing keeping you from using it to bind two limbs together too.

  Have fun and happy tying!
    ~Tracker

Captured Loop Knot

The Five Flowers Tie

The IFA blog features primarily Japanese style (shibari) rope bondage. We occasionally

step away from the more traditional style and do some Western style and fusion (Western/shibari inspired) ties. One style that is rarely seen in Western bondage communities is Chinese rope bondage. One tie that is the basis for most Chinese rope bondage is the Five Flowers tie. 

The fundamental difference between this tie and shibari is that this tie uses a single line as opposed to the doubled line that is typical in shibari. There are doubled line versions of this tie too but a doubled rope is not necessary. Please remember that a single rope does apply more pressure than a doubled rope. The lines on the arms of this tie need to be kept fairly tight so it is important to keep an eye on your bottom. 

The Five Flowers tie is very common in Chinese rope bondage. It is used by police to tie prisoners even today. The basic tie you see here is inspired by the website Chinese Rope Art. There you can find a bunch of different derivatives of the Five Flowers Tie. Definitely check it out it is pretty awesome: http://www.chineseropeart.com/home.html

The tie that is showed in this tutorial uses a 25 foot rope. That worked perfectly with this bottom but your mileage may vary. 

Start with the midpoint of the rope (the bight) behind the bottom's neck. For the start of the tie the bottom's arms should be at their sides. 

Here is how the bight should look at the back. 

The rope gets pulled under the arms from front to back. 

The rope spirals around the arm. Note that sometimes the rope will be close to the radial nerve. If there are any sharp pains in the hands of your bottom, most notably in the thumb, pointer or middle fingers, remove the rope quickly. 

Spiral the rope all the way down to the wrists. Keep the spirals fairly tight so they stay in place but not so tight as to be overly uncomfortable. 

Have the bottom move their hands together behind their back. One hand should go above the other or they should be parallel next to each other. Pull the two single lines together. 

Pull the doubled rope up between the arms and the back. 

Bring the rope down in the front of the wrists. 

The rope then goes back behind the wrists again. 

From the wrists the rope follows the spine up to the bight at the bottom's neck. Here the rope passes behind the rope then returns back toward the wrists. 

The rope passes between the arms. 

The rope captures the ropes that are wrapped around the arms.

Do a half hitch around the rope that came down from the bight. 

Bring the rope back up to the bight then return back to the wrists. 

Pass the rope back between the wrists like the first pass from the bight. Now start to wrap the rope around the "stem" (the rope that follows up the spine). 

At the top of the vine do a half hitch to complete the tie. 

The Gravity Glove

Howdy rope enthusiasts!

  We haven't forgotten you. These past few months have just been extra busy for your friendly IFA instructors. After the new year, we're hoping things will calm down enough for us to get back to our regular weekly posts. For now, let's check out what we have for you today!

  In this installment, we're going to walk you through a quick and easy hand tie that should help to reduce the strain on a bottom's wrist if you (or they) want to pull hard on the outgoing line. This tie is perfect for those situations in which you need to tie someone's hands up to hard points overhead for those extended flogging, whipping, or caning scenes. Check it out, have fun, and happy tying!

  ~Tracker

Pocket Sling

This is a modification of Midori's Pocket Sling (which you can find here: http://youtu.be/bnU2oP5iHHA). I love this tie because it's comfortable for the wearer and versitile for the rigger. You can play around with how restrictive you want this tie to be. It's great for floor play so have some fun and experiment!

Also, here are some links in case you need more detailed instruction:

Double Column Ties: http://ifavermont.blogspot.com/2014/01/wrangling-double-column-tie.html

Tying Off: http://ifavermont.blogspot.com/2014/07/tying-column-off-using-excess-rope.html

Overhead Double Column: http://ifavermont.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-spinout-munenawa.html

The Basic Karada

The karada or diamond harness is one of the most basic harnesses that is often taught to beginners. It is decorative, fun and pretty easy. It is also pretty non-threatening so it is great for a first time rope bottom.  It is also one of the ties that a lot of people mess up. There are a few things to keep in mind while tying this one. The two biggest things to watch out for are the length of the rope behind the neck while starting out and how the ropes are placed when going through the diamond pattern in the front. Read on for our suggestions to help you out with this.

The rope used was a 30' piece of hot pink MFP (as we like to say Mother Fucking Plastic). That was about perfect for our bottom in this case. Your mileage may vary.

Place the doubled rope behind the bottom's neck. Pull it down a bit so that you have a little space. This is very critical for the karada to fit properly. You want about a hand's length of rope from the back of the neck to the bight in the rope. Of course this will vary with the length of the hand and the size of the bottom. A bit of experimentation will help you out. 

At the bottom of the bight put an overhand knot. This does not need to be a well tied knot: it is simply a place holder to help the tie. 

In the front you are going to want to put a series of knots. Many different knots will do: the overhand is the simplest but the Figure 8 is a bit more decorative and some folks like even more decorative knots like the Double Coin. Do what works for you.
The first knot should end up fairly close to the neck. That will place the first diamond above the breasts of your bottom. 

There will be a series of knots in the front. In this example we used 5. This tie can be kept simple and only use 3 knots which will give a very large diamond pattern or you can use more which will give a smaller diamond pattern. When thinking about this remember that the more diamonds you have in the front the more rope you will need. 

The knots should be about hand width apart. Try to keep the knots evenly spaced for a clean looking tie. 

This is how the series of knots should look in the front. 

For fun the last knot can be strategically placed for maximum enjoyment of the bottom. In the case of female bodied bottoms a knot placed right on the clitoris and for male bodied bottoms right behind the goodies on the perineum seems to be most fun.  As a bonus, you have to reach between your partner's legs (yay!)

Bring the doubled rope up the spine to the bight you have tied off at the back of the neck. Undo the knot that you left there as a place holder then run the rope through the bight from behind as shown. Then split the tails. 

Bring the separate sides of the rope to the front. The next steps are one of the places that people make the biggest mistake. 

Run the rope between the first two knots. Go in from the front not the back. When the rope comes out from behind it needs to go over the top of where it came from. The friction provided by the rope crossing helps to keep these lines in place. This is critical. When looking at photos on various websites it is very common to see this done incorrectly and the ropes won't stay in place. 

When done properly it will look like this. When you pull this tight it will create the diamond pattern between the knots. When you pull the diamond open it uses up some rope in the back. That is why you started off with all that space behind the neck. 

Bring the ropes behind the bottom's back. Cross the ropes as shown. If you do it this way the harness will shift with the bottom as they move. 

Continue the tie, bringing the ropes from the front to the back making more of the diamond pattern that you started with the first set of knots. This is how the back should look.

As you continue the pattern be sure to maintain a fair amount of tension. Keep it nice and tight. Most bottoms prefer the rope to be fairly tight and it will help to conserve rope.

The front will look like this. We ran out of rope at the last diamond and the rope was tied off on either side of it using the Cow Hitch. 

Added bonus... when you put a vibrator on rope it "lights up" and transmits vibrations very well!

Takedowns

Here's a tutorial for those of you looking for ways to bring your bottom safely and sexily to the ground before throwing rope on them. In this video we cover three ways to do that (and NOT to do that). Enjoy and have fun! Hyahhh!!!