Try home depot or osh they have all sorts of rop and and all sizes.



Next I'll hear that coin magic will be obsolete,,,

Vinny
I just checked with my banker, he told me that all forms of money will be obsolete soon, so if I were you I would work on a good ATM, or credit card routine, and you can forget about that muscle pass.
HAPPY 4th
Al Angello

Not if Richard Sanders has a say in it! His Fiber Optics says it all - the future of rope magic can convey messages/meaning by how the rope is pointing left or right, up or down..

Good thing we magicians can keep restoring this stuff...We should never run out!... ..

HAHHAHA Nice one Joseph. But I always found my rope at my local magic shop. An dif not there then at Home Deport. They have a lot of types of rope.

In my routine for cut and restored rope called "The erroneous perception of reality" I have the rope examined and say "An ordinary piece of rope just like you'd find in any magic shop!" this was a twist on Whit Hayden's line that ended "in any bedroom." This gets a laugh and at the end the helpers keep the rope. I buy my rope from magic suppliers because I use 7 feet of it in every show and I can't be bothered hunting down the right rope when I can buy it with a phone call. Truth is that the rope is a vehicle for my entertainment of the audience and while many people may not seen cotton rope, they have seen rope, so it's not nearly as alien as brightly colored feather plumes (which I also use calling them "feather dusters"). I doubt rope magic will become obsolete based on the composition of rope, because as long as there is sufficient demand for cotton rope it will be manufactured.

There must be some regional differnces in rope being sold. I have check the BigLots and WalMart in the Seattle area and all they sell is nylon and polyester rope. I have also check the dollar stores and all they have is nyloy and polyester rope. I buy the rope from the local magic store and continue to look for cotton rope


Craig

I don't think it will ever be obselete. No area of magic has had as much exposure as card magic IMO, and it is still as strong as ever. The type of rope preferred for rope magic has never really been available at hardware stores or such as far as I can remember. I've always had to pick mine up at specialty stores or order it by mail.

I find good $3 per 100 foot rope decent at Big Lots now and then, so when they have it I buy them out. I have never had any luck at WalMart they always seem to have the worst cotton rope on earth.
ALWAYS LOOKING
Al Angello

If rope magic becomes obsolete, the linking rings are likely to be next. They are getting harder and harder to find at Wal-Mart and other discount stores.

I use the braided nylon rope, 3/8" usually, then I core it. My regular scissors work fine. I can do anything with the nylon that I could do with cotton. I have even used the twine at my shop (You know, the big rolls of that cruddy twisted plastic stuff) with tin snips, used my wife's rolls of ribbons, if you want it bad enough you can do it.

I never have tried to do the cut and restored with chain, but it might be a cool idea, hmmm.

First, I think this problem/subject it way overblown. Bring out your pajamas and cut the cord.

BTW... L.Davenport Magic, in London, sold a routine with a package that was tired with heavy cord, you did a cut and restored routine with it.

And... you can always buy magician's rope from magic shops... the dealers will always FIND sources and if need be have some made from the mills.

Don't worry about it... Just worry about doing a good show.

Boy! Was this a false alarm!

As long as there are magicians there will be magicians' rope.

Pete will tell you. At almost any magic show, someone will say, "Somebody get a rope!"

(I try to leave then. They call it "vanishing".)


Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

There has been a supply problem for U.S, made cotton rope. That is, cotton over cotton casing. After D.Robbins could not get any (about 10 years ago, he switched to some of the synthetics for a short while. I started buying from a Georgia rope manufacturer and was able to fill the gap for a while.
Meanwhile, India stepped up and started to produce a miserable weave cotton rope. Nothing like the "standard and stock rope" found in shops for years.
Loftus imported a synthetic with the feel and look and body of the cotton and that is what I sell on my web site, along with some superb cotton rope as well. Then there is the cotton rope from China of late, and the Elite or Euro Rope, all great substitutes for the U.S, grown cotton.
Now, just a word about hardware store and walmart nylon ropes. These are NOT for a professional rope performer, they are okay for the casual performer who does a cut and restored or a nightmare, but they are not suitable for rope "manipulators". Magicians rope should be able to bend in half. Nylon can only arch in half and has a loop, as it is too stiff to fold.
So, its okay to be frugal and buy that nylon or starch laden clothes line, but magic rope is unstarched, flexible, supple and noticeAbly different in side by side performances.
--------

I've had good luck at .99 & $1 stores as well as garage sales finding suitable cotton real rope. The diameter varies but have found that smaller diameter rope has it's advantages when unmentionable additives are introduced especially in close quarters.

I like the rope from Loftest, best of all these days.

The closest to cotton and priced right.
http://www.rope.ws

Answer to the original question of this thread.....NO!
Ted L

Ted L --- you are correct.

I don't think it will become obsolete. There will always be a substitute. Ribbon, String Yarn, braiding it yourself. As long as there is fiber there will be rope.

The magician of the future will probably use the computer mouse cord or something like that!

Metatron