Shinju for Suspension [Level 3]
Notes and Resources:
A normal Shinju harness can be used for suspension (if tied carefully) in most positions: face up, face down, side. This harness is used in exactly the same way, but I find often provides better comfort when suspending. This is the chest tie I recommend using (in combination with a hip harness) when first learning to suspend.
It's fairly common when tying this to discover upon tensioning the second set of shoulder ropes that the original shoulder lines become too lose; you may need to tie the first set of shoulder lines a little tighter than feels normal in order to get even tension at the end.
Be careful that you don't go too low with the chest wraps, particularly when tying on someone without breasts to act as an anchor and reference point. For most people, the most comfortable positioning is with the upper wraps almost as high as you can get them, and the lower wraps just a few fingers below the nipples. The lower you go on the ribcage, the weaker the ribs are, the more you restrict breathing, and the less leverage you have for controlling the orientation of the torso relative to the hips.
There's also an alternate way of weaving the 2nd shoulder rope in the front, where you don't go down to the lower wraps the 2nd time; it doesn't load the shoulders quite as evenly, but may be more comfortable on the sternum. See this photo for reference.
When the support line is attached on the back and it is close to parallel to the spine, e.g., when used to provide stability for an appropriately trussed up sub riding a Sybian, I've found this harness loads almost exclusively on the lower chest wrap. I'm guessing that's partly because there is nothing requiring the top wrap to stay close to the bottom wrap unless the support line is attached to the front. Is there a modification that would transfer some of the load to the top wrap when hooking from the back?
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One of the limitations of this tie is that the top wraps are really not at the right angle to be able to provide support in an upright position. You may be able to use a regular Shinju to distribute load differently, although whatever support you get from the top wraps is likely to be more from the armpits than the chest, which comes with its whole own set of problems. Adding the wrists in using Reverse Kannuki or even in a simpler way may allow some support from the forearms (although you don't want too much there).
Ultimately, I prefer a full CTKv4 for upright suspension, but even there, you only want to put so much pressure on the arms, and whatever's left winds up on the lower ribcage.
Regardless of the tie, getting the lower wraps as high as you can will likely help; if working around breasts, be sure to lift the breasts to get right up under them; otherwise, you can go quite a bit higher, e.g. right under the nipples.
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Thanks for the ideas. I had the arms done very similarly to the simple way you link to but I saw no indication of load transference (on the flip side, her arms were comfortable for a long time, which was its own benefit). Will experiment with the Reverse Kannuki. On my sub's body I should be able to keep load off the armpits.
I'm also thinking about moving some load to the hips. Which hip harness would you recommend for nearly vertical loading?
The amount of load on the forearms will depend on how high you tie the hands, and how much tension there is between the column tie and the back of the harness. Anyway, you can't put that much there; it's just a small help at best.
You can't really get much use from the hips in a vertical position, it's going to be off the thighs and/or crotch; depending on leg position, something like a Swiss Seat might be a good way to get there, but you could also skip the hip part and just use column ties on the upper thighs.
would it make sense, when going over the right shoulder for the second time, to go under rather than over the top wraps (so that the shoulder wraps, from right to left, would go under-over-under-over instead of over-over-under-over)? or does it not really matter?
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Yeah, it's really up to you, unless you're going to weave like the photo linked at the bottom, in which case there's a specific order.
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From a beginner”s perspective, Somehow this Shinju sounds safer for basic suspension than a TK harness as it puts less pressure on the upper arms. What are the disadvantages? Am I missing something? Tried to search for pros and cons of shinju vs TK style but could not find anything on line.
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Yes, it is much, much safer; one of the safest ties vs. one of the most dangerous. Some people don't like the amount of pressure on the chest -- that can be particularly difficult in upright and face down positions. Also, it doesn't capture/support the arms, which you can of course do separately, but is built in with a TK. Some people don't like not starting a tie by binding the wrists, and some people just don't like anything that isn't whatever the currently popular person from Japan is teaching. I think that covers the major drawbacks. I absolutely recommend starting with the Shinju when learning suspension, and I still often use it in my own play and performances, when I need something fast and reliably safe.
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