DBRT 003: Conditioning and getting ready

I’ve spent most of my rope journey being on the receiving end. A rope bottom, or bunny. Because I have experience being in rope, I have a unique understanding of how I would want to be treated in rope, the little things that bother or soothe me. I really admire the rope Tops who have spent a substantial amount of time in rope themselves. They seem to have a more well rounded and capable approach to rigging. Just recently, I’ve noticed how my knowledge of photography is helpful while modeling. I can ask helpful questions, “do we have enough light to keep the ISO low?”, “could we move that light behind the camera so we have a catchlight in my eye?”, and make the shoot more successful just by having a little knowledge about what it’s like on the other side of the camera.

All of that said, while I do some amount of physical conditioning and preparation for my rope bottoming, being a rope Top requires a different type of preparation. First of all, I’ve got to get my ropes ready, and I’ve also got to learn how to do that. Then I need to practice the patterns I want to tie, and then I need to practice putting rope on another person. Each of those steps has a whole set of subsections with their own complications, speed bumps, and considerations, but I’ll just have to get to those later.

First things first, I need to make sure my rope ends are actually secure. Otherwise I will be braiding, not tying (knot tying…get it?). Do I need to condition them? As I said in a previous entry, the ropes I cut for myself came from a spool and will therefore require a bit of internal lubrication to prevent breakage of the fibers and make them easier to work with. I think Master said to use jojoba or mineral oil (something that doesn’t go rancid). And I need to remember that this may leave stains behind on white clothing (as I am very aware due to my time as a tutorial model with TheDuchy). So I might want to make sure that I only tie on darker clothing and bare skin. Speaking of skin, I need to decide whose skin I want to tie on…I think I’ll start with my own. Then I’ll find other skin and/or clothes to tie on. I mean, people. People.

Okay, so I’ve cut another two ropes and conditioned them all with jojoba oil. It actually worked much better than I expected it to! I was concerned that the oil was going to absorb into the rope inconsistently and leave little oil stains, but it evened out quite nicely once I ran it through my hands a few times.

The overhand knots at the ends of my ropes are the correct direction (you just twist the rope in the direction that will tighten the twist until it makes a loop and then tuck the end into that loop) and have been thoroughly tightened. It seems that they do collapse a bit when they aren’t tightened all the way yet, so I tied them a few inches away from the end of each rope before tightening them. Now they should all stay put pretty well (I hope). There’s nothing quite so embarrassing, in my mind, as getting to the end of a tie and having my rope literally unravel. But, at this point I have what I figure will work as my first rope kit. Four 30’s, two 15’s, and two little shorties that I cut specifically for tying wrists and ankles with a Lark’s Head Double Column.

I sat with Master while He watched a movie and I redid the knots at the ends of each of my ropes. They’re also a bit bigger than I’d like them to be, but maybe they’ll soften as the rope gets broken in? While it is not the perfect, totally awesome rope kit I was hoping to put together, it will be more than enough to get me started. Maybe in a few months I can learn to properly tension a Matthew Walker Knot for my next rope kit.

I find myself getting caught up on details that are really not necessary for me to start on this rope Topping journey. I want better speakers for music, I want some cute outfits to wear while tying, I want prettier knots at the ends of my ropes, etc. But I’m really trying to not get hung up on these speed bumps. Stay focused on what is the *actual* goal here: to increase my confidence with rope itself and use that as a vehicle for greater connection with others and myself. I don’t need a cute denim halter top to do that! But….wouldn’t that look so nice..?

This writing is part of a series called “Diary of a Baby Rope Top” by Kajira Blue, the rest of which can be found at TheDuchy.com/blogs.