Getting Started on your Shibari/Rope Journey in Toronto

You don’t need anything special to start getting into the wonderful thing that is rope bondage!

Here in Toronto we are blessed with multiple shibari related events and spaces, but as a go to I would recommend the Toronto Kinbaku Salon Intro Class

This beginners class covers the bare bones of how to start in a safe and informed way, you do not need a partner or rope to join. They also offer a structured education plan to teach how to suspend people.

Another place that offers classes and is open for rope is the BirdHaus a wonderful kink space run by passionate people at Dufferin and Queen.

They offer a more varied but less structure set of lessons and events, with lessons happening every Sunday checkout there Instagram or Eventbrite for more details.

One event run at BirdHaus is a monthly rope bottom peer gathering called Ravel that I would highly recommend to any lovely people that are more interested in getting tied.

There are also other social events called “munches” which are held in vanilla settings like bars or similar venues where kinky people go to talk and hangout.

Some popular munches I can recommend are the Spanking Incorporated Munch and Post Apocalyptic Munch.

Fetlife

On the note of finding kinky events, Fetlife tends to be the #1 place for event information to be posted, you can think of it as a kinky facebook.

Some things I would recommend to beginners when using the site:

• Only post what you are comfortable with people seeing of you and possibly identifying you from, its a public site so treat it with care.
• Don’t feel the need to engage on the platform, there are settings to limit who can contact you and see what you post, use them.
• I recommend not adding people as friends unless you actually have met or had some contact prior, use the follow feature if anything.
• For women realize you will likely be inundated with idiotic and creepy messages, as unfortunate as that is. Feel free to keep your profile as empty as you like and maybe change your gender if you don’t want to deal with it, there is also a setting that requires you to follow someone to for them to send you a message request. (Privacy Settings under Inbox)
• Be chill, don’t treat it like a meat market (place to advertise wanting sex), interact calmly and respectfully and it’ll go a long way.

Buying Rope

Once you’ve decided this is for you, you’ll want to get some rope to use.

The most common length of rope used in japanese rope bondage is 8m (~25 feet), but western styles tend to go with a full 30 feet.

Most harnesses use at 2-4 lengths (depending on the size of the model) and once you get more advanced you will need at least one more length to connect to a hard point.

I would say a kit for a beginner can be 6 ropes, while a more advanced kit could be 12 or more.

The most common diameter of rope tends to be 5-6mm but that is really up to preference and application, that diameter just tends to be the easiest to work with.

I am an advocate of getting twisted solid rope without a core, as it avoids the potential of the rope collapsing on itself and making it impossible to untie the knot.

There are better and worse rope materials but understanding how they work and what they are good for is important.

Cotton is a great beginner material, its soft, easy on the skin, hypoallergenic and cheap. It is not strong however and can collapse on itself because of how soft and loose the threads are.

Nylon is strong, waterproof, silky, common and is cheap. Great for beginners testing out the waters 😋. The downside is the slipperiness can make it hard to use some of the friction techniques that japanese styles use, the artificial fibers also do not have any oils and the material can more quickly cause friction burns if pulled quickly across the skin.

I’ve been happy with my purchases form RopeShop they operate out of Hamilton.

• Cotton
• Nylon

That said you can just as easily find nylon rope at a hardware store:

• Home Depot
• Canadian Tire

That said if you’ve determined that you’re going into rope for the long hall and want to make an investment so that you save your hands and have a easier time, buy some jute or hemp.

The Toronto Kinbaku Salon has jute for sale on their site and if you buy it and let them know when you’ll be at the location they can arrange it so you can pick it up.

Some other places you can shop in Canada would include:

• Tension Montreal Shop
• EpicRope

• Rawganique Jute

  Hemp

You might hear about POSH, a artificial

Accoutrements / Extras

With rope there a few things you need on hand aside from the rope.

Number 1 is something to cut it safely with if things go wrong, these can be:

• Safety Shears \ Cheaper alternative
• Rescue Hook \ Cheaper alternative

You can also keep something to help you undo a tight knot:

• Marlin Spike

Once you get into suspension you will probably want something to use attach rope to different things:

• Carabiners
• Nylon Slings

There is a bunch more possible pieces of gear but those are the basics.

MEC can also be a place to find reliable gear. You want your equipment rated for mountain climbing if you can.

Finally

It gives me great pleasure to see people share my passion for the wonderful thing that is rope, and I want to make sure that your journey is filled with happiness and pleasure.

Getting into something new can be daunting and overwhelming but its always important to remember that you are doing this for fun!

Don’t let yourself get swept away into the details and worried about being perfect, focus on staying safe and having fun.

Learn your basics but try and get understanding of why you do things certain ways, so you can learn to apply those building blocks to other pieces of bondage!

And remember we tie people not rope, so stay connected and communicate with your partners so that everyone is having a good time.

Stay kinky friends!