
Shoelace knots - reviseddamage
http://fieggen.com/shoelace/knots.htm
======
brianpan
I've been tying Ian's "world's fastest shoelace knot" for a few years now. It
took me about a week or two to get comfortable with it and it really is
amazingly fast.

It's interesting to experience your brain relearning a habit that has become
so ingrained. Reminds me of the Smarter Everyday backward bike episode [1]. In
fact, I just tried to tie my old 2 loop knot and accidentally tied Ian's knot
again.

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFzDaBzBlL0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFzDaBzBlL0)

~~~
malone
I've just been practicing Ian's fastest knot for the last 10 minutes and I can
definitely see the speed advantage already.

My only issue is in keeping the starting knot tight. I usually use the
standard shoelace knot which makes it easy to keep tension on the lace at all
times, and that keeps the starting knot tight. But I'm finding with Ian's
fastest knot I lose tension when I'm pushing the two loops towards each other,
which causes the starting knot to loosen slightly. Is that something that can
be solved with more practice?

~~~
brianpan
I don't know when I made this change, but apparently I use my middle finger to
hold down the starting knot. I tie it exactly as pictured (left hand/yellow
string behind, right hand/blue string in front), except starting at step 1 my
left hand middle finger is holding down the starting knot. This keeps the
tension while tying the knot.

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sp332
And don't miss the Lacing Shoes part of the site.
[http://fieggen.com/shoelace/lacing.htm](http://fieggen.com/shoelace/lacing.htm)
There's a section at the bottom of the comparison page for solving shoe
problems by lacing them differently.

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minikites
The secure shoelace knot is delightful:
[http://fieggen.com/shoelace/secureknot.htm](http://fieggen.com/shoelace/secureknot.htm)

~~~
baldfat
As a teacher of 250 3-5 year old students every week I tie 25+ knots a week.
This knot has saved all my fellow teachers a ton of time. Seems like they make
shoe laces that are slick and won't hold a knot no matter what. Now I tie this
once and that is it for the rest of the day.

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mc808
I'm still waiting for the patent to expire so I can try this knot:
[http://www.google.com/patents/US5997051](http://www.google.com/patents/US5997051)

(I just noticed it says the fee has lapsed. Does that imply it's free to use?)

~~~
yitchelle
Why would anyone patent a shoe tying knot? a serious question.

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micheljansen
It took me until my mid twenties to discover that the reason my shoelaces
would sometimes come undone, is because there is a "right" and "wrong" way to
do the Standard Shoelace Knot. Doing it wrong results in the "Granny Knot":
[http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/grannyknot.htm](http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/grannyknot.htm)

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ksenzee
I taught Ian's Fast Shoelace Knot to my 91-year-old grandmother a while back,
when I first ran into this site. She liked it well enough that she still ties
her shoes that way. It's a nifty knot.

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filoeleven
Reminds me of the TED talk on how to tie your shoes. I was surprised to learn
I've been doing it wrong for a quarter century.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAFcV7zuUDA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAFcV7zuUDA)

~~~
deathanatos
I never managed to learn that method. My father tried to teach me, and I just
never could memorize it. He's also left-handed, which I think complicated it.

The square knot is basic knot tied between two rope ends; the first half of it
is much like the first half of the shoe's knot. You then repeat the first
half, but swapping which end is on top. Like the shoelace knot, if you do it
right, it stays inline (and remains symmetrical and pretty); if you do it
wrong, it gets ugly.

Really (at least to me) this is because the shoelaces knot _is_ a square knot;
the "bunny ears" are simply added slipknots to make it easier to untie your
shoe. But I've never seen the "standard" method taught to tie a square knot,
likely because I've never seen the square knot taught with slip knots; those
just being something you add if you want them.

Which is how I tie my shoes; I use what the article calls the "two loop
knot"[1]. Two methods, same knot, though I always thought my way was the
standard, not my dad's. Oh well.

[1][http://fieggen.com/shoelace/twoloopknot.htm](http://fieggen.com/shoelace/twoloopknot.htm)

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slaxman
Ian's Secureknot
([http://fieggen.com/shoelace/secureknot.htm](http://fieggen.com/shoelace/secureknot.htm))
is my favourite. I never again had to stop running during a marathon to re-tie
my laces.

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joe5150
I really appreciate this guy's devotion to shoelace tying, and I especially
appreciate that this is the website where I figured out how to tie my shoes so
that the laces lay horizontally rather than heel to toe. All my life nobody
had ever explained to me that there was an order to tying shoelaces that would
result in one or the other.

~~~
c17r
I was a Boy Scout and was (still am) a big fan of knots. But it never dawned
on me until this site that the "bunny ears" method is just a square knot with
ripcords.

~~~
kbutler
We often teach Boy Scouts that tying their shoelaces correctly (a square knot)
leaves the laces across the shoes, but if they go lengthwise along the shoe,
it's a granny...

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Intermernet
As it hasn't been mentioned yet, I thought I'd point out Ian's book
"Laces"[1]. I bought it for a friend of mine who collects sneakers and ended
up re-lacing most of my shoes before giving the book to him.

>"Laces" comes with color-coded laces that match the lacing diagrams, and has
an "interactive" front cover that can be used as a practice shoe. The pages
are filled with trendy looking shoes laced in amazing patterns.

Out of print, but worth it if you can get hold of a copy![2]

[1]:
[http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/iansbook.htm](http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/iansbook.htm)

[2]: [http://www.amazon.com/Laces-100s-Ways-Pimp-
Kicks/dp/14027520...](http://www.amazon.com/Laces-100s-Ways-Pimp-
Kicks/dp/1402752016)

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wspeirs
I'm honestly not trying to take anything away from Ian, but he didn't "invent"
the "Ian knot", just renamed the handcuff knot:
[http://www.animatedknots.com/handcuff/](http://www.animatedknots.com/handcuff/)

~~~
andrewla
You should take a closer look. The so-called "Ian knot" is not a distinct
knot; it is just a different way of tying the standard bowknot. It is
definitely not the handcuff knot.

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JulianMorrison
[http://fieggen.com/shoelace/secureknot.htm](http://fieggen.com/shoelace/secureknot.htm)
will hold your laces ties where a standard knot will work itself undone. This
is particularly useful for round, synthetic laces.

Takes longer, though.

~~~
Bognar
I use this knot once every few years - when I get new shoes or new laces. This
knot is so amazingly strong that I only ever tie it once, then I just slip my
shoes on and off.

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fho
Late to the party ... but this is really one of the things that makes the
little things in life a little easier. Found Ians site about a year ago and
spend some time after that convincing people that they have been tying their
shoes wrong their whole lifes. Was met with much skepticism, but ultimately
most of them tried and never looked back. There is still one guy who "praises"
me for showing him how to tie his shoes because before he had to retie his
shoes several times a day.

I followed Ians suggestions and use the "fastest knot" on a daily basis. For
hiking and sometimes also for running I use the secure knot, mostly because
the fast one actually can become undone on very slippy laces.

TL;DR: Knots are great, rethink your habits from time to time

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pmarin
A month ago I had to use the Spider Web Lacing[1] because my new Reeboks had
ridiculously long laces[2].

[1]
[http://fieggen.com/shoelace/spiderweblacing.htm](http://fieggen.com/shoelace/spiderweblacing.htm)

[2]
[http://fieggen.com/shoelace/excesslength.htm](http://fieggen.com/shoelace/excesslength.htm)

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xwintermutex
I think that learning of (and avoiding) the Granny Knot [1] is the best I ever
learned about shoelace knots. If your shoelaces occasionally get loose while
walking, check it.

[1]
[http://fieggen.com/shoelace/grannyknot.htm](http://fieggen.com/shoelace/grannyknot.htm)

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kak9
Wish he would also put how easy they are to untie. I've realized that the
ideal knot is optimizing not just how secure the knot is and how fast to tie
it. But also how fast to untie it, which is often anti-correlated with how
secure it is.

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toolslive
I've been using the 'ninja' for years.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt3dHE6-dYg&gl=BE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt3dHE6-dYg&gl=BE)

