Hey, Steph, when you come by, can you recommend an actual book on shibari or kinbaku? I despair of ever finding a non-sexual class/workshop (unless you have leads for me too--everything google turns up is decidedly on the erotic side).
I can poke around for classes -- but I'd guess that even the least sex-related ones would be something like the one we have, where everyone is clothed, and there is no sexual activity, per se (I'm guessing the F2F Prom is more raunchy than our rope group), but it's still clear that the point of the class is that these rope techniques are ultimately intended for the sexytimes.
Shibari You Can Use. Looks accessible, but then again, erotic macrame?
We have this one -- ignore "erotic macrame"; it's just being silly. Although sometimes it *does* feel like macrame when you're the one doing the tying.
What I like about the book is that it's very thorough, with photos for literally every step in a given process (like, "wrap the rope around the torso" is one photo, and then "make a larkshead and loop the rope through to change the direction of the rope and go back around the torso" is another., etc.; he also includes some instructions like "locate a crotch," with a picture of a finger pointing at a [clothed] crotch; it amuses me).
And then obviously there are lots of pictures of the finished tie as well. I wouldn't say the models are 50/50 women and men, but there's a fairly large amount of men who are in the book.
Bondage for Sex. Started the search. Although I don't want smut in my classes, I'm okay with it in the books.
Showing You The Ropes--Here are your Knotty Boys. Good?
Back On The Ropes. Them again. What's different about this book?
The Seductive Art of Japanese Bondage. Now's the time I'd really like to leaf through the book to see what the angle is. Not even a blurb on bn.com.
As for the rest of these, all I can say is that the rope people I know tend to like these books and recommend them, but I don't know how visually detailed they are.
Tim recommended a Yahoo group called d-s rope arts. They've been around for a long time (comparatively speaking), and I think they have a lot of resources re: book recommendations, etc., and very likely pictures.
There are a few sites I can think of that sell rope, and they probably (well, in one case, they definitely) sell those books, and those sites might have blurbs on them. You can try Twistedmonk DOT com, Rainbow Ropes, and (possibly) garrs-ropes DOT com.
You know, we *might* have 2 copies of Bondage You Can Use (that's one side effect of 2 kinky households merging). Let me check, and if we do, I'll send it to you. We might have already given it to a new person, though. I can't totally remember, since we've tried to divest ourselves of duplicate books.