Mannequins for practice?

Ideas and instructions how you can make your own bondage toys.
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AllieXBow
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Mannequins for practice?

Post by AllieXBow »

I want to start learning Shibari but it's hard to practice on yourself. I have seen professional mannequins but they are expensive and awkward to transport.

I tried stuffing my hoodie with undergarmets and tying it which was surprisingly good, but I need something more robust. Pool noodles, PVC pipes maybe?
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Restrict one of your senses, you heighten the others. Close your eyes, you can hear better. What if you're unable to move, speak, nor see, yet only able to feel the pressure of the ropes tightly yet blissfully binding your body, how free must the mind be?
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Shannon SteelSlave
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Re: Mannequins for practice?

Post by Shannon SteelSlave »

I use pool noodles with my "Bob the Bully" practice dummy to use as "arms" to practice Martial Arts.
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For basic practice, I don't see why miniature dolls wouldn't work, just need the right material of stuffing and skin. I don't know of any doll, of any size, that will teach you of a human's flexibility. (Stretch Armstrong certainly won't) The other main advantage to using a full sized doll is it might teach you what length of rope you need for your tie up projects. Ask any vanilla person how much rope you need to securely and inescapably tie a person, and they would probably say 3 or 4 feet of rope. :rofl:
Are you practicing for technique and placement of ropes or tightness? Remember the "finger rule". (And anyone out there please correct me if I am wrong on this) The finger rule states that your rope is too tight if you are unable to easily slide your finger between the rope and the victim.
Bondage is like a foreign film without subtitles. Only through sharing and practice can we hope to understand.
A Jedi uses bondage for knowledge and defense, never for attack.
I am so smart! I am so smart! S-M-R-T!....I, I mean S-M-A-R-T!
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Sergio
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Re: Mannequins for practice?

Post by Sergio »

And once you've finished practicing you can wrap it in a couple of black sacks, tape it up and leave it out with the rubbish. Maybe with a hidden camera to record people's reactions.
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Blacky
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Re: Mannequins for practice?

Post by Blacky »

A good while back I saw a set of instructions on a website that, unfortunately, doesn't exist anymore.

The basic idea was to use wooden rods as bones, garden hose to connect them and act as joints and pipe insulation foam to resemble muscle and tissue.
The upper body was made up by blankets simply folded into roughly the right shape.
All that was then covered by everyday clothing like jeans, T-shirt and Hoodie.

According to their claim the resulting dummy was very realistic.

I hope this helps? I'd really like to find the instructions and pictures again. I do believe I have them stored somewhere on one of my harddrives, but I just don't have the time to look through all of them right now. If I find them, I'll be back with them for sure!

If you try this setup, please let me know how it went. :) :hi:
If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. (W. Blake)
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Re: Mannequins for practice?

Post by AllieXBow »

Shannon SteelSlave wrote:I use pool noodles with my "Bob the Bully" practice dummy to use as "arms" to practice Martial Arts.
Interesting... Maybe a small model with string could work too. I mean I used to tie up barbies :D. Yes rope length is confusing to me. I think practicing will allow you to build some length sense/intuition.

I definitely need to work on safety (rope placement on nerves) and finger rules
Every time I do a harness on myself, I am struggling for air. I don't even try to tie it tight. It feels horribl like being constricted by a snake, the ropes are literally stopping my lungs from expanding. So I feel nauseous and awful in less than a minute. I'm planning to try this on a potential playmate and I'm starting to doubt my abilities.

How much rope is really needed? 3 to 4 ft is like 1.5 or 2 ft doubled up. That's tiny, like the length of two shoes.

I would think 60ft for the arms, upper body. Two ways to do this, Takate Kote Box Tie (30ft + 15ft + 15ft), or Western version with 15ft for wrists, 15ft for elbows and 30ft to wrap around the chest. Then another 45 to 60ft for the legs, then maybe another 15ft for a hogtie. So that is 120ft to 135ft for me.
Restrict one of your senses, you heighten the others. Close your eyes, you can hear better. What if you're unable to move, speak, nor see, yet only able to feel the pressure of the ropes tightly yet blissfully binding your body, how free must the mind be?
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AllieXBow
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Re: Mannequins for practice?

Post by AllieXBow »

Sergio wrote:And once you've finished practicing you can wrap it in a couple of black sacks, tape it up and leave it out with the rubbish. Maybe with a hidden camera to record people's reactions.
Lmao the fact that my model doesn't have a head makes this worse
Restrict one of your senses, you heighten the others. Close your eyes, you can hear better. What if you're unable to move, speak, nor see, yet only able to feel the pressure of the ropes tightly yet blissfully binding your body, how free must the mind be?
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AllieXBow
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Re: Mannequins for practice?

Post by AllieXBow »

Blacky wrote:A good while back I saw a set of instructions on a website that, unfortunately, doesn't exist anymore.

The basic idea was to use wooden rods as bones, garden hose to connect them and act as joints and pipe insulation foam to resemble muscle and tissue.
The upper body was made up by blankets simply folded into roughly the right shape.
All that was then covered by everyday clothing like jeans, T-shirt and Hoodie.

According to their claim the resulting dummy was very realistic.

I hope this helps? I'd really like to find the instructions and pictures again. I do believe I have them stored somewhere on one of my harddrives, but I just don't have the time to look through all of them right now. If I find them, I'll be back with them for sure!

If you try this setup, please let me know how it went. :) :hi:
Wow I am very interested in this. Thx! Will probably do it this way if I can figure it out :D
Restrict one of your senses, you heighten the others. Close your eyes, you can hear better. What if you're unable to move, speak, nor see, yet only able to feel the pressure of the ropes tightly yet blissfully binding your body, how free must the mind be?
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kinbaku
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Re: Mannequins for practice?

Post by kinbaku »

AllieXBow wrote:I want to start learning Shibari but it's hard to practice on yourself. I have seen professional mannequins but they are expensive and awkward to transport.

I tried stuffing my hoodie with undergarmets and tying it which was surprisingly good, but I need something more robust. Pool noodles, PVC pipes maybe?
You can place a deprivation mask under the hood of the hoodie as a head.

It is easier to work with shorter lengths of rope (10 m - 33 ft => 5 m double) that are extended with a larks head knot. In that case, make sure that with your model the connections are placed in places where they do not exert any pressure on the body of the model.

Blacky's description is very good: the insulating tubes are cheaply available in all sizes and can be cut to size. Put inside them round table legs cut to size and connected with hinges. Note that the hinges are on the side where the elbows and knees are tucked in. For the shoulders and hips you can make rubber joints instead of the more expensive ball joints.
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Re: Mannequins for practice?

Post by Blacky »

kinbaku wrote:...
You can place a deprivation mask under the hood of the hoodie as a head.
Probably the easiest way to replace a head is a simple ball (What a sentence...obvious nobrainer... :facepalm: ). I guess an old Volleyball might do?
...
Blacky's description is very good: the insulating tubes are cheaply available in all sizes and can be cut to size. Put inside them round table legs cut to size and connected with hinges. Note that the hinges are on the side where the elbows and knees are tucked in. For the shoulders and hips you can make rubber joints instead of the more expensive ball joints.
Table legs are already WAY too sturdy and heavy. You'll hardly need more than a 1,5 cm diameter wooden rod for for arms and legs. Just buy a rod with a diameter slightly bigger than the inner diameter of the hose you want to use as joints. That way you can still push the rod into the hose, but it won't easily slip out again. If need be, simply reinforce the connection with a bit of duct tape. :idea:
If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. (W. Blake)
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kinbaku
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Re: Mannequins for practice?

Post by kinbaku »

Blacky wrote:Probably the easiest way to replace a head is a simple ball (What a sentence...obvious nobrainer... :facepalm: ). I guess an old Volleyball might do?
...
Table legs are already WAY too sturdy and heavy. You'll hardly need more than a 1,5 cm diameter wooden rod for for arms and legs. Just buy a rod with a diameter slightly bigger than the inner diameter of the hose you want to use as joints. That way you can still push the rod into the hose, but it won't easily slip out again. If need be, simply reinforce the connection with a bit of duct tape. :idea:
I never thought to build such a mannequin, but this makes me want to get started. :drool:

Because I already have everything available at my house :D :
from the surplus of renovation work I have the insulation pipe and the wood, a hoodie from a certain self-bondage I've done in the past (putting hoodie on backwards) and a volleyball from the neighbour's kids who never came back to get it and I don't know whose children it came from. :cry:
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Blacky
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Re: Mannequins for practice?

Post by Blacky »

I found the diy I mentioned earlier, but unfotunately the site is obviously not hostet any longer.
Here's what the wayback machine still offers:

https://web.archive.org/web/20140922211 ... age-puppet
If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. (W. Blake)
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