When I arrived in San Francisco a year ago, one of the greatest draws to the city for me was its well-established kink community, which I'd heard so much about. I was eager to dive into the local scene, and I was especially interested in seeking out fellow bondage lovers.
For that, the San Francisco BDSM community is a veritable wealth of knowledge and resources. Many well-known rope enthusiasts call the Bay Area home, including Midori, Madame Butterfly, The Knotty Boys, and Lochai. The local dungeon hosts a monthly rope peer workshop for skill sharing, spearheaded by Madame Butterfly, and offers numerous bondage classes and intensives as well. (Photo by Lochai.)
Now, a recent addition provides yet another outlet for rope lovers to connect over their shared passion.
Rope Bite is a new local munch that was launched in early 2010 by rope bondage rigger, presenter, and photographer Lochai Stine. (His beautiful photos appear with this article).
An advocate of education and community building, Lochai felt that there was a niche to be filled for rope bondage enthusiasts, and he was right. The response to the munch has been overwhelmingly positive, and it is very well attended. Held every first Wednesday of the month at local kinky café Wicked Grounds, the munch attracts a diverse crowd, from teachers and makers of rope to complete newcomers who've never tied anything beyond their shoelaces.
This spectrum of skill and interest highlights one of Lochai's goals in starting Rope Bite: to bring well-known and experienced riggers together with those just starting to explore and promote an equal exchange of information across the board. Sometimes there is a central theme that people may choose to participate in or add to, but the general atmosphere is one of casual socializing and lighthearted fun. Always, people end up getting tied up.
And of course, everyone is strongly encouraged to give back to the community and patronize the café that graciously hosts this eclectic group of rope geeks. Besides offering a full menu of deli items, pastries, and drinks, Wicked Grounds also sells toys and jewelry made by local artisans, as well as jute rope for practicing those new ties you've learned. The café even sports a suspension point, which has been used for suspension demonstrations, dildo-through-the-ring contests, and stringing up human piñatas.
August 4th will mark the last munch that Lochai and his wife, Janice, host before moving to the East Coast, after which I will be taking over. Rope Bite will continue in the same spirit with which it was founded: as an open forum for exploring the wonderful fetish that is rope bondage. In that same vein, anyone interested in starting their own chapter of Rope Bite is encouraged to contact Lochai through the munch's website, RopeBite.com. Sister munches have already been started in New Zealand and Columbus, Ohio, and Lochai will start one in his new home turf in Baltimore as well.
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