I’ve been self tying a lot lately, and while I really love the green rope from Bear Bite Bondage I already owned, I found myself wanting more rope for more complex ties and harnesses. I’d put off getting myself a lot more rope because for a while I was mostly tying at Anatomie Studio, which has communal rope people can use, so I didn’t really feel the need to own more than one piece of rope at home. That was until isolation became a thing.
I’ve had a lot more free time and a lot less people touching me since early March, so I’ve been doing a lot more self tied rope bondage. Some people refer to this kind of practice as shibari or kinbaku, although I personally don’t use these terms to refer to my own practice and instead just call it ‘rope bondage’. While I have used rope bondage in a sexual context (I generally refer to this as ‘bedroom bondage’), the appeal of self tying is less sexual and more sensual- I like the feeling of constriction that rope has around me, I like the physical feeling of tying frictions, and I like the act of working out where I want rope to wrap around my body. It’s very soothing and relaxing and I like being able to focus on my own body- to be honest I’m not sure I want to get anyone else involved in my tying ever after this.
That’s a very long intro to saying that I bought a set of three ropes from Reborn Ropes, and that this set of undyed jute ropes have seen a lot of use recently. While I was tempted by a lot of the dyed ropes that Reborn Ropes stocks- I love the Electric Ocean and Wisteria colours – I chose to go for a more natural rope colour, as I thought it’d look quite nice with the green rope I already had and intend to get more of. Reborn Ropes’ ropes are available as single ropes or as sets of 3 or 8 ropes, both of which come with a free pair of safety sheers. In the style of rope I bought, a single rope is available for £14, with a set of 3 ropes costing £35 and a set of 8 costing £99. These ropes are about 6mm in diameter- which is a chunkier rope than I was used to- and are approximately 8 meters long. They come with knotted ends rather than whipped ends.
The few issues I have with my Reborn Ropes jute ropes are entirely those of preference, and I’m loathe to even really call them issues. The first is that I personally prefer whipped ends to knotted ends, entirely a personal preference and something that can be fixed by whipping the ends yourself (something I plan on doing). The one other issue I had with this rope was that it was less soft than I expected, which again is easily fixable- I could easily have let the rope condition naturally by picking up my body oil when I tie, but I instead just chose to condition them with a jojoba oil I already owned for healing stretched piercings. And I do understand why Reborn Ropes chose not to oil or wax their ropes- this leaves them 100% vegan. While I personally am not vegan, I do appreciate there being more vegan options of everything available for those who are.
One thing I do really appreciate about Reborn Ropes is the transparency they have about their yarn. I’m not quite a rope nerd, but I’m getting there, and one thing I’ve been doing a lot of reading on is Jute Batching Oil (referred to as JBO). JBO is, as the name suggests, a type of oil used in the industrial processing of jute to make the fibres more pliable and soft. This isn’t the only thing JBO is used for (it also protects the machinery that processes jute fibre into yarn, allowing for large scale manufacture of jute products to be affordable), but the point is JBO is present on a lot of jute fibre. And JBO is not great for health- there is some debate about the extent to which JBO is dangerous to human health, with a whole other bunch of variables also playing a part, but it definitely at minimum can cause irritation. If you’ve ever been ‘allergic’ to rope, it’s probable you had an allergic reaction to JBO rather than rope itself. Reborn Ropes mentions in their information about yarn sourcing that their ropes have a maximum of 1% JBO content. And while this should be perfectly safe for most people (and I’ve had no issues with it), if you’re particular sensitive, they also offer a completely JBO free rope called Heaven’s Rope.
I won’t lie, Reborn Rope’s ropes aren’t my favourite of the ropes I own- I prefer the slimmer rope and whipped ends of my Bear Bite Bondage rope. But this is entirely a personal preference. I love that Reborn Ropes are open about their ropes’ JBO content, and I do tend to use my Reborn Ropes ropes more frequently, especially for chest ties.
Buy Reborn Rope’s Jute Rope from £14
This post was not sponsored and this product was purchased with my own money. No affiliate links were used in this post.
