Books on Rope Bondage
May. 1st, 2015 10:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beta_vulgarisI am a book person. It will shock those who know me and my line of work to hear this :)
I have been collecting books on rope bondage for the past couple of years. I've referenced or outright learned from each of them and I have developed my own opinions about each! Here's a quick reference list of those opinions in general order of the books I use the most to the ones I use the least :)
Lee Harrington, Shibari You Can Use.
I like this book! I think I picked it up when I was slightly past the skill level for most of the ties because I was turned off by the phrase 'erotic macrame' in the title. But it's a very playful, welcoming book and the instruction in it is easy to follow.
Style: Shibari (heavily adapted to modern Western BDSM use)
Instruction: Well-designed, images suffer a bit from being black & white
Clarity: Very useful
Level: Beginner to intermediate
Emphasis: Playful, practical, emotional connection with partner
Diversity: Great range of genders, sizes, and races in the models.
Overall: Very good.
Lee Harrington's website
Lee Harrington, More Shibari You Can Use.
This book is a nice bump up in design and print quality from its predecessor. It focuses more on why and context in which to do bondage than on simply presenting the ties, and I think that's a strength. There are a few designs in here I've played with and I really like using the rope add-on style that this book teaches.
Style: Shibari (heavily adapted to modern Western BDSM use)
Instruction: Well-designed, color images easy to follow, a bit more random (since many basic ties were presented in previous volume)
Clarity: Very clear
Level: Some beginner, mostly intermediate
Emphasis: Playfulness, passion, community
Diversity: Very good. Lots of diversity in models and riggers on all spectrums, strong attention to alternative adaptations of ties for mobility etc
Overall: Highly rec
Lee Harrington's website
Evie Vane, The Little Guide to Getting Tied Up.
This is a new book and I'm very fond of it! It's a great intro specifically for rope bottoms, whereas many other books have an overt or implied aim at the rigger. REALLY important considerations are in here, from evaluating a potential top to evaluating the safety of a hard point for suspension, with lots of good stuff about checking in with your mental state and physical ability etc.
Style: Shibari
Instruction: Good comments about bottoming, less how-to do actual rope instruction
Clarity: Great
Level: Beginner to intermediate
Emphasis: Bottoming safety and how-to
Diversity: Good
Overall: Great for bottoms and tops to read.
Evie Vane's Book website
Douglas Kent, Complete Shibari Volume One: Land.
I use this book a lot but I've heard some muttering that Kent doesn't cite his sources very well? I'm not sure what's going on there. In any case, judging the book itself, it has a really complicated method of instruction but once you get the hang of it it is really a useful way to break down how the different concepts and ties in shibari really work. The models are all thin conventionally attractive women, which I find annoying.
Style: Shibari (adapted for modern Western BDSM use)
Instruction: Difficult to grasp at first but useful and complete
Clarity: Difficult at first
Level: Intermediate
Emphasis: ties aimed as floor work--chest and hip harnesses mostly
Diversity: Low size and gender diversity, okay on racial diversity
Overall: I use this book a lot but I have misgivings
Douglas Kent's website
Douglas Kent, Complete Shibari Volume Two: Sky.
Same use and misgivings as the previous volume. I do like the way Kent breaks down physics of suspension, and I use the gunslinger hip harness all the time.
Style: Shibari (adapted for modern Western BDSM use)
Instruction: Difficult to grasp at first but useful and complete
Clarity: Difficult at first
Level: Intermediate
Emphasis: ties aimed as suspension--chest and hip harnesses mostly
Diversity: Low size and gender diversity, okay on racial diversity
Overall: I use this book a lot but I have misgivings
Douglas Kent's website
Midori, Seductive Art of Japanese Bondage.
To be honest I find this book difficult to use--the instructions are hand-drawn and not always clearly visible/interpretable, and each tie's instruction is spread over several pages so it's annoying to turn the page in the middle of a practice tie. In general, though, Midori does great ties and I find her online videos really useful--it's just the design of this book that I find wanting. Midori includes a great deal of interesting and useful text in this book contextualizing shibari, and I think it's worth it to check the book out for that reason.
Style: Shibari
Instruction: Very text-based, complete and descriptive.
Clarity: Confusing images, but the text is great. Beautiful interstitial photography
Level: Beginner to intermediate
Emphasis: Context and history, classic shibari ties
Diversity: Nice range of models in the photographs.
Overall: Worth looking at but not my main go-to.
Midori's Website
Two Knotty Boys, Two Knotty Boys Show You the Ropes.
The Knotty Boys were the first books I got and used, but I have decided I much prefer the doubled-rope shibari style to their single-rope Western style so I mostly don't use these books anymore. That said, they have some interesting ranges of applications and the instruction in this book is pretty good!
Style: Western
Instruction: Range of ties from decorative to practical applications in single-rope styles.
Clarity: Very easy step-by-step photos, black and white can be a bit grainy to decipher but generally very useful
Level: Beginner
Emphasis: Decoration and play
Diversity: Mostly thin female bottoms in the images.
Overall: Very good for beginners or those with casual interest in rope
Two Knotty Boys website.
Two Knotty Boys, Two Knotty Boys Back On the Ropes.
Same deal as above for the Knotty Boys. This book has color images so they're a little easier to see. I think I liked the ties in this one slightly better, but to be honest it's been a while since I opened these.
Style: Western
Instruction: Range of ties from decorative to practical applications in single-rope styles.
Clarity: Very easy step-by-step photos, black and white can be a bit grainy to decipher but generally very useful
Level: Beginner
Emphasis: Decoration and play
Diversity: Mostly thin female bottoms in the images.
Overall: Very good for beginners or those with casual interest in rope
Two Knotty Boys website.
Jay Wiseman, Erotic Bondage Handbook.
To be honest I find this book virtually impossible to use as an instruction manual and I have only looked at it for the extensive safety considerations Wiseman includes. It's a regular trade-sized book with very few illustrations, but lots of good contextual information.
Style: Text-based, not a particular style?
Instruction: Not great for actual ties, but very good for safety/contextual stuff
Clarity: Low
Level: Beginner
Emphasis: Safety
Diversity: N/A
Overall: Good safety overview.
Jay Wiseman's Twitter (I think he's taken his website down?)
The book I have yet to acquire is Chanta Rose's Bondage for Sex, which I've flipped through but not really used. It looks pretty good and I'll get it next time I have ~$30 to spare.
I have been collecting books on rope bondage for the past couple of years. I've referenced or outright learned from each of them and I have developed my own opinions about each! Here's a quick reference list of those opinions in general order of the books I use the most to the ones I use the least :)
Lee Harrington, Shibari You Can Use.
I like this book! I think I picked it up when I was slightly past the skill level for most of the ties because I was turned off by the phrase 'erotic macrame' in the title. But it's a very playful, welcoming book and the instruction in it is easy to follow.
Style: Shibari (heavily adapted to modern Western BDSM use)
Instruction: Well-designed, images suffer a bit from being black & white
Clarity: Very useful
Level: Beginner to intermediate
Emphasis: Playful, practical, emotional connection with partner
Diversity: Great range of genders, sizes, and races in the models.
Overall: Very good.
Lee Harrington's website
Lee Harrington, More Shibari You Can Use.
This book is a nice bump up in design and print quality from its predecessor. It focuses more on why and context in which to do bondage than on simply presenting the ties, and I think that's a strength. There are a few designs in here I've played with and I really like using the rope add-on style that this book teaches.
Style: Shibari (heavily adapted to modern Western BDSM use)
Instruction: Well-designed, color images easy to follow, a bit more random (since many basic ties were presented in previous volume)
Clarity: Very clear
Level: Some beginner, mostly intermediate
Emphasis: Playfulness, passion, community
Diversity: Very good. Lots of diversity in models and riggers on all spectrums, strong attention to alternative adaptations of ties for mobility etc
Overall: Highly rec
Lee Harrington's website
Evie Vane, The Little Guide to Getting Tied Up.
This is a new book and I'm very fond of it! It's a great intro specifically for rope bottoms, whereas many other books have an overt or implied aim at the rigger. REALLY important considerations are in here, from evaluating a potential top to evaluating the safety of a hard point for suspension, with lots of good stuff about checking in with your mental state and physical ability etc.
Style: Shibari
Instruction: Good comments about bottoming, less how-to do actual rope instruction
Clarity: Great
Level: Beginner to intermediate
Emphasis: Bottoming safety and how-to
Diversity: Good
Overall: Great for bottoms and tops to read.
Evie Vane's Book website
Douglas Kent, Complete Shibari Volume One: Land.
I use this book a lot but I've heard some muttering that Kent doesn't cite his sources very well? I'm not sure what's going on there. In any case, judging the book itself, it has a really complicated method of instruction but once you get the hang of it it is really a useful way to break down how the different concepts and ties in shibari really work. The models are all thin conventionally attractive women, which I find annoying.
Style: Shibari (adapted for modern Western BDSM use)
Instruction: Difficult to grasp at first but useful and complete
Clarity: Difficult at first
Level: Intermediate
Emphasis: ties aimed as floor work--chest and hip harnesses mostly
Diversity: Low size and gender diversity, okay on racial diversity
Overall: I use this book a lot but I have misgivings
Douglas Kent's website
Douglas Kent, Complete Shibari Volume Two: Sky.
Same use and misgivings as the previous volume. I do like the way Kent breaks down physics of suspension, and I use the gunslinger hip harness all the time.
Style: Shibari (adapted for modern Western BDSM use)
Instruction: Difficult to grasp at first but useful and complete
Clarity: Difficult at first
Level: Intermediate
Emphasis: ties aimed as suspension--chest and hip harnesses mostly
Diversity: Low size and gender diversity, okay on racial diversity
Overall: I use this book a lot but I have misgivings
Douglas Kent's website
Midori, Seductive Art of Japanese Bondage.
To be honest I find this book difficult to use--the instructions are hand-drawn and not always clearly visible/interpretable, and each tie's instruction is spread over several pages so it's annoying to turn the page in the middle of a practice tie. In general, though, Midori does great ties and I find her online videos really useful--it's just the design of this book that I find wanting. Midori includes a great deal of interesting and useful text in this book contextualizing shibari, and I think it's worth it to check the book out for that reason.
Style: Shibari
Instruction: Very text-based, complete and descriptive.
Clarity: Confusing images, but the text is great. Beautiful interstitial photography
Level: Beginner to intermediate
Emphasis: Context and history, classic shibari ties
Diversity: Nice range of models in the photographs.
Overall: Worth looking at but not my main go-to.
Midori's Website
Two Knotty Boys, Two Knotty Boys Show You the Ropes.
The Knotty Boys were the first books I got and used, but I have decided I much prefer the doubled-rope shibari style to their single-rope Western style so I mostly don't use these books anymore. That said, they have some interesting ranges of applications and the instruction in this book is pretty good!
Style: Western
Instruction: Range of ties from decorative to practical applications in single-rope styles.
Clarity: Very easy step-by-step photos, black and white can be a bit grainy to decipher but generally very useful
Level: Beginner
Emphasis: Decoration and play
Diversity: Mostly thin female bottoms in the images.
Overall: Very good for beginners or those with casual interest in rope
Two Knotty Boys website.
Two Knotty Boys, Two Knotty Boys Back On the Ropes.
Same deal as above for the Knotty Boys. This book has color images so they're a little easier to see. I think I liked the ties in this one slightly better, but to be honest it's been a while since I opened these.
Style: Western
Instruction: Range of ties from decorative to practical applications in single-rope styles.
Clarity: Very easy step-by-step photos, black and white can be a bit grainy to decipher but generally very useful
Level: Beginner
Emphasis: Decoration and play
Diversity: Mostly thin female bottoms in the images.
Overall: Very good for beginners or those with casual interest in rope
Two Knotty Boys website.
Jay Wiseman, Erotic Bondage Handbook.
To be honest I find this book virtually impossible to use as an instruction manual and I have only looked at it for the extensive safety considerations Wiseman includes. It's a regular trade-sized book with very few illustrations, but lots of good contextual information.
Style: Text-based, not a particular style?
Instruction: Not great for actual ties, but very good for safety/contextual stuff
Clarity: Low
Level: Beginner
Emphasis: Safety
Diversity: N/A
Overall: Good safety overview.
Jay Wiseman's Twitter (I think he's taken his website down?)
The book I have yet to acquire is Chanta Rose's Bondage for Sex, which I've flipped through but not really used. It looks pretty good and I'll get it next time I have ~$30 to spare.
