My Kit

My kit:

• 16x natural & 8x scarlet 8m x 5mm + 8x 2m x 5mm Omegajute.
• Rope Conditioning: Rope Rx by BBH
• 8" Aluminum Shibari Ring from Blue Diamond Trading Co.
• 6x OvalWire wire-gate carabiners from Black Diamond Climbing
• 1x 6.5" Rescue Hook from Benchmade
• Sheathed Marlinspike from Myerchin
• The Serenity Suspension System from Serenity Bound
• 1x 50ft x 6mm hemp for setting a hard point.
• 2x 120cm x 18mm Black Diamond nylon runners for hard points
• 1x 30cm x 18mm Black Diamond nylon runner for dungeon hard points
• 1x 25kn Delta Swivel by Fusion

• I've tied with all kinds of rope over the years. I've tied with jute from several different vendors and have learned to appreciate jute over any other rope types for just about everything. Granted, I still use nylon in my water bondage for safety reasons, but I vastly prefer jute as my workhorse when it comes to performance, practice, and instruction. I chose Omegajute after working with several other vendors because I love the texture and flow of omegamann's jute over any other I've tried. It's strong, smooth, and very resilient. I love how tightly spun it is, and it flows well in my hands. I put my money where my mouth is, and actually purchase this rope. I've been offered free kits from other vendors, but none of them match up to the quality of Omegajute.

• I've tried a lot of different conditioning practices. Some work, some work but changes the texture of my rope into something I don't like, some just fail. I've wanted to try some of the beeswax conditioning types, so I tried the pure beeswax, and then mixed a little of my own. In the end, the stuff I got from BBH Rope has turned out to be the best. Great scent, good feel to the rope, no weird waxy textures, no random waxy flakes. Good stuff, for sure.

• If you'd asked me a year ago that I'd be absolutely in love with a suspension ring, I'd tell you you were out of your mind. I think a good ring is a damn important part of any tie, as opposed to tying with just carabiners, but I never really appreciated the differences between the different rings. I originally tied with the Triskeli from Twisted Monk, and I am still a fan to a certain degree. However, that was because I hadn't tied with the BDTC ring yet. At Shibaricon last year I got the opportunity to do so, and I was sold. While BDTC does produce a fine line of excellent rings, their large aluminum shibari ring still does it for me in every way. I love the look, the feel, the weight, and the security of it. The thick diameter of the ring helps my rope to flow smoothly over it, and I don't get any of the kinks in my rope that comes from working with a thinner ring. It's incredible, definitely.

• I use the OvalWire because they're light, strong, visually symmetrical, and (most importantly) they fit the thick girth of my BDTC ring. I use them all over the place, as friction protectors for speedlifting in my ties, rope separators on my ring, as contact points to surfaces that might otherwise tear up my jute. I think that even when tying on a ring, it is essential to split the rope up if one is trying a dynamic or a transition suspension, and these do nicely.

• Why do I use a safety hook as opposed to safety shears? EMT shears were designed to cut clothing, a hook was designed to cut rope. Simple as that.

• I've written a full review of the Serenity Suspension System here.

• I don't always use the 50' hemp for hardpoints, but it's nice to have when the point I'm attaching to is really high. Sometimes I use a 30ft length of 550 paracord, sometimes I use a climbing strap. Depends on what I'm attaching to, how high off the ground it is, the texture of what I'm attaching to, etc.

• Swivel? Why not?