I love hanging and wish I knew someone that could practice with me, thank you so much it took a lot of effort not to give up leaving 🖤
Yeah try to check the fetlife community in your area perhaps. If you haven't already. But I know, Shibari takes a lot of practice! And knowledge about anatomy. One of the friends who ties me told me she studies 2 hours a week and has done so for 5 years and she still doesn't consider herself very knowledgeable.
Even if someone isn't into it they could be your "safety buddy". Though for me personally they'd have to become a friend first before I'd trust them enough with that.
I was that for a friend when we started out though she has a full time Dom now so she doesn't need it anymore. But we were always watching each others' backs in the club.
I'll second finding a local event and making some friends. It's a great way to get both spotters, community and inspiration. There's at least one community in almost every urban area, and most of them (at least here in Europe) are very friendly.
In Europe there's a lot of overlap with the sex positivity movement, and around most of the larger venues people are also very sex worker positive, so you might even get some collabs out of it ;)
If you want tips in Europe, feel free to dm me, I should know most of the organisers, or can ask around for your area.