What thickness shibari rope to use

What thickness rope should you start with

6 mm for jute, 5 mm for synthetic. Those are the two sizes we stock and the sizes most introduction classes in the Benelux work with. A beginner does not need any other thickness. 8 mm is a bulkier specialist size and 5 mm jute is a lighter one, and neither is a starting point.

Shibari rope diameters compared

What we stock:

Diameter	Rope	Suits
5 mm	POSH (synthetic)	Most ties. Our synthetic option.
6 mm	Ogawa jute (natural)	Most ties. Our natural option.

What else you will see:

Diameter	Rope	Where	Suits
5 mm	Jute	EU specialists, or from us on request	Lighter rope, smaller knots
6 mm	POSH	Other EU shops	The same role as our 5 mm POSH, heavier in the hand
8 mm	Jute, hemp	Some EU adult-rope retailers	Bulkier line, larger knots, more rope per wrap
10 mm and up	Natural or synthetic	Uncommon specialist retail	Outside the usual teaching range

Why 6 mm is common for jute

6 mm is a common jute diameter in catalogues serving European buyers, ours included. Several shops lead with it. Others stock 5, 5.5, and 6 mm side by side, so treat 6 mm as a common starting point rather than a rule.

Where the convention does hold, the reason is coordination rather than physics:

• Many introduction classes use 6 mm jute. Requirements vary between instructors. If a class specifies a diameter, follow that specification.
• Buying a common size makes comparison easier. Buying the same nominal diameter as the rope around you makes kits easier to compare. It does not guarantee identical handling, because lay, finish, and weight per metre differ between suppliers.

Nearby diameters overlap in feel, because construction and finishing matter as much as the number on the label. A hard-lay 5.5 mm can sit more substantially in the hand than a loose 6 mm.

Rope diameters are nominal

A rope sold as 6 mm is not 6.00 mm. Nominal diameter is an approximate designation, not a measurement. Batch, humidity, how hard the yarn was spun, and how the rope was finished all move the actual figure. Two ropes sold as 6 mm by different suppliers can measure differently and feel different in the hand.

Both of our figures are nominal, so they do not establish the exact difference between the two products. In our own handling, 5 mm POSH and 6 mm jute feel close enough to work as parallel options.

For a rough home check, straighten the rope without loading it and use calipers with broad jaws across the strand crowns rather than into a valley. Measure at three points, twice at each point with the caliper turned ninety degrees, and average the readings. Keep the pressure light and consistent. This lets you compare sections of your own rope. It will not match a manufacturer’s figure, which is measured under reference tension.

Why we sell POSH at 5 mm

We stock 5 mm POSH and 6 mm jute as parallel options. In our handling they feel close enough to compare without treating the two labels as equivalent. That is a personal preference about what we stock. Several other EU shops sell POSH at 6 mm, and that works too, we just found it a bit bulky in practice.

The fibre comparison itself is in POSH vs jute.

When 8 mm makes sense

8 mm jute or hemp is a specialist handling choice. It has more visual bulk, uses more rope per wrap, and produces larger knots.

The trade-off is handling. Every wrap and every knot uses more material, so a tie takes more rope and the knots sit prouder. Tensioning is slower. Thicker rope is not automatically a friendlier rope.

8 mm is uncommon in introduction classes. If your class teaches with 6 mm, matching that size removes one avoidable difference while you are learning the pattern.

Hemp comes up more often than jute at this diameter. We do not stock hemp, and it is not something we source today, though we would revisit it if enough people asked. The EU hemp shops we know are listed in jute vs hemp, and most of them top out around 6 mm, so 8 mm hemp means asking a shop directly rather than ordering off a shelf.

When 5 mm jute makes sense

We stock jute at 6 mm only. 5 mm jute is a valid rope, not a lesser one. It is lighter and produces smaller knots. Some buyers prefer that handling and others find it less substantial in the hand, and the choice between 5 mm and 6 mm is preference rather than correctness.

Other EU shops stock it. Place des Cordes in Paris sells Ogawa jute at 4.5, 5 and 6 mm. If fine-diameter jute is what you want, buy it from them rather than waiting on us to source it. More shops, and what each is best for, in our guide to buying rope in the Benelux.

Custom diameters

We will source a jute or POSH diameter we do not stock. Write to us before you order and allow several weeks. The diameters people ask us about are 8 mm and 5 mm jute.

Hemp is the exception. We do not stock it and do not currently source it, in any diameter.

If you need rope sooner than several weeks, buy from a shop that already stocks the diameter.

Mixing diameters

For a first kit, do not mix. Pick one diameter and learn the ties at that thickness. One less variable while the pattern is still new.

Mix later, once you can tell which handling difference you prefer. Some people carry two diameters in a working set. That is preference, not a rule.

What we ship, and what we recommend

• Ogawa jute: 6 mm. Hand-finished in Leuven.
• POSH: 5 mm. From the manufacturer, re-worked in Leuven to our 8 m default.

For a first kit, take either. They tie the same ties and they are the sizes an introduction class here will most likely put in your hands. Pick by fibre, not by diameter. The starter kit is three 8 m ropes plus EMT shears.

If you already have one fibre and you are adding the other, our pairing is 5 mm POSH with 6 mm jute. If a class or an instructor specifies a material or a diameter, use that specification instead.

At a class you can handle several diameters in an evening without buying any of them. Ask to try what other students brought.

Length is covered in rope length.