Fetish Fantasy Series Japanese "Silk" Rope - You get what you pay for.

The Fetish Fantasy Series Japanese "Silk" Rope is thirty-five length of rope intended for shibari-style bondage. Obviously, since it's rope it can be used for any kind of rope-bondage. The Fetish Fantasy Series rope is definitely for beginners, or people who are experienced in BDSM, but are new to rope bondage. While the price is very low, the quality of this rope is also correspondingly low - advanced users will be disappointed with this product. It's not a bad product, but there is definitely room for improvement.

Bonus: A blindfold came with this product, which I did not expect. Though it is pictured on the box - I was just unobservant

(rope, fresh out of the box)

(the included blindfold)

I honestly was not expecting much for the price of this product - $11.99 is not going to get you a luxurious silky rope that will last for years. As a beginner, I was looking for a minimal investment to try out rope bondage/shibari/kinbaku and see how I felt about it before investing in significantly higher-quality rope.

The Fetish Fantasy Series rope has a litany of issues for me, and I am an unabashed, complete, and total newbie when it comes to rope. First and most annoying was the section of ripped, split, bunched, and frayed rope in the middle of the length I received. Second was the tacky, sticky, awful tape capping the loose ends of the rope. Third - and very glaringly obnoxious - this isn't silk. You should not name a product "Silk Rope" when it's very obviously not silk. I knew this when I bought it, but still.

(shredded rope section)

(nasty silver tape)

The Fetish Fantasy Series rope is just that - rope. It's up to you how you use it. Since the product I received had a nasty chunk in the middle, I ended up cutting it into two pieces to take care of that, resulting in an 8 foot length and an approximately 25 foot length. I also clipped off the ends where it was capped in tape (rather than just removing it, because the silver stayed stuck to everything, and the glue was gross) and then tying the ends off and fraying them a bit to make it look intentional. I honestly prefer to have two different lengths to work with. The small portion I kept was really convenient for practicing knots without incorporating it into play, and the longer bit was enough for me to get a feel for how much I liked rope during play. As the person being bound - the rope is fairly soft and not very scratchy, but it's narrow and dug in a little more than I would have liked in certain spots. As the person doing the binding, I found it to be an adequate introduction, but I would want to immediately move on to better rope. It's very floofy and not very sturdy, so getting more decorative knots to smooth out and sit nicely was more difficult than it could have been. The rope also has a tendency to fluff and bunch up if you tie it tightly. It's a little disconcerting as a beginner, because it's very hard for me to tell if I am doing something wrong, or if the tool I am using simply is not cooperative.

Examples of different knots I used with this rope:






(please keep in mind that I am a base beginner with rope bondage - my experience and opinion may not match that of a connoisseur)

The Fetish Fantasy Series rope is cotton - so caring for it is simple. Hand washing in cold water and air drying will work. I bundle mine up neatly and store it in the bottom of my toy-box. Since you cannot sterilize cotton, take care not to expose it to bodily fluids while in use, unless you are not sharing the rope, or you are fluid-bonded with your partners.

The packaging for this product is fairly standard for the industry. I personally really dislike porn-y packaging and find it tasteless, but that's just me. The box depicts a bound woman in a suggestive pose. The binding is really rather lazy and unattractive as well. Inside the cardboard box, the rope and blindfold are individually wrapped in plastic bags. I suppose you could use the box as storage, but I couldn't throw it away fast enough.

(the box)

(plastic)