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Ian's Secure Shoelace Knot

Ian's Secure Shoelace Knot

mooreds

Comments (133)

  • jonathanlydall
    I only realized in my 30s that I had been tying my shoelaces wrong my whole life and a super minor change in my method has changed them from coming undone multiple times per day (unless double knotted), to instead staying tied the whole day with just a standard shoelace knot [0] (also on Ian's site).This article's web page actually has the essential note:> NOTE: If your finished knot comes out crooked (eg. loops pointing heel-to-toe), it's probably because you tie your Starting Knot the opposite way to mine. This will result in an un-balanced knot, which sits crooked and comes undone more easily. See my Granny Knot page for more information.Back when I still used to browse Imgur, there was a post illustrating how to identify and fix this easy to make mistake. It turns out that I was starting with the lace left-over-right as opposed to right-over-left (or vice-versa, not sure off-hand).This quite literally changed my life, just a small muscle memory tweak and now my laces easily stay tied the whole day with a regular knot which is also super easy to release as well.[0]: https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/standardknot.htmEdit:I see he has a page dedicated to this mistake here: https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/grannyknot.htm
  • lee_ars
    Stumbling across Ian's site almost two decades ago was kinda-sorta life-changing, because I'd been tying the "granny knot" my whole life and had to resort to double-knotting to keep my damn shoes tied.Ditched the granny knot for the Ian's Secure Knot (https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/secureknot.htm), and have been using that ever since for every pair of laced shoes I own.
  • alper
    I use Ian's (Fast) Knot and that's good enough for me.https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm
  • nunez
    If you love this, you'll love learning about tying huarache running sandals:- http://borntorun.org/shop/howtotie.html- https://xeroshoes.eu/pages/tarahumara-sandals- https://importantbutnotatall.wordpress.com/2011/08/22/huarac...Infinitely many ways to tie these.I've been rocking these almost daily for three years now. No other sandals like it. My feet feel extremely free.They are also extremely easy to make; all you need is soling material, barge cement (if you're slapping two soles together), paracord and scissors.Vibram soles can be had on Etsy or from cobblers. You'll probably want a molded EVA midsole if you want arch support; I haven't made sandals with any, so YMMV.Leather's a great upper and can be found at leather shops (Tandy's here in Houston is great, and they deliver). You can also use EVA or the inside of a bottom sole as an upper for more friction.I primarily use these for walking. (They're awesome for running; my knees, not so much.) The arches in my feet are as flat as tables. Getting the knots right enough to prevent the heel strap from stretching out was a massive challenge that I recently figured out. Once I did, these became unbeatable.I've been debating making a video on the entire process. I'll do it if there's enough interest here. (I don't post on Reddit anymore.)
  • kobieps
    I learnt about this knot 16 years ago from a comment on cpbotha's blog :https://cpbotha.net/2010/04/07/weekly-head-voices-20-a-lamar...It has changed my life. I was also part of mountain rescue at the time, and nobody in the team knew about it. Now everyone swears by it.So if you're part of any kind of first responder team - please tell your colleagues about this knot!
  • delichon
    When I was six or seven my older brother untied my shoelaces when I wasn't looking, and I tripped on them and almost fell down. This was apparently a traumatic event for me since it has affected my behavior ever since. I've double-knotted my shoelaces every time since then, usually remembering why. For about the last 57 years. When I was about 12 the same brother tried it again and failed due to the double knot. It was a moment of triumph.But the double knot still sometimes comes untied somehow so I've never been entirely happy with it. Maybe if I take the effort to overcome my muscle memory and learn Ian's knot, it will quell the PTSD from being victimized at a young age and I can find inner peace.
  • chardan965
    Happy to chime in and say that years ago now I learned both Ian's Fast Knot and Ian's Secure Knot, and when I use shoes that I have laces, I enjoy both!Here's my story about the secure knot: I used to do a lot of road cycling, and I got back from my first 100mi/day ride pretty tired and went to untie my shoes. I couldn't, because I'd used the granny knot I learned when I was a kid-- so I wound up cutting them off. I'd learned Ian's Fast Knot before then, and decided to see about the Secure Knot. Well, happy to say, over the next 6+ century rides, Ian's Secure Knot was a dream-- it stayed put the entire day and always came undone for me-- a TERRIFIC knot!
  • stronglikedan
    That's a lot of work. Just reverse the first foldover you make from the direction you were taught as a kid, but do everything else the same (i.e., square knot). If the bow ends up perfectly horizontal to your foot, then you did it right, and it likely won't come undone.Ian's has it's place in like camping and hiking and such, but for everyday use, it wastes precious seconds and you have to have the dexterity of a surgeon to pull it off efficiently.
  • lwansbrough
    I learned his fast knot about a decade ago and never looked back. It's probably saved me dozens of seconds over that time.
  • xp84
    I adopted this about a decade ago as what I tie shoes with, and I have done it for things like my kids' athletic shoes. And the advice about the accidental granny knot[1] is really life-changing. For anyone whose bow sits vertically after tying and whose shoes come untied spontaneously, you need to spend the 5 minutes to understand this. It's a free life upgrade.On a related note, I have taken to replacing standard shoelaces on all my shoes as soon as I buy them with these elastic shoelaces with buckles[2]. You don't even have to unbuckle them, basically all your shoes become slip-ons. Probably not applicable if you're playing basketball or running track, but they work fine, look clean, and completely remove the need to ever tie laces. Highly recommend and you can buy them for like $1 each from sites like aliexpress or temu, I'm sure Amazon has them for $7 or so too.[1] https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/grannyknot.htm[2] https://www.aliexpress.us/w/wholesale-elastic-shoelaces.html...
  • proee
    My problem with this knot, is going from step 2 to 3, I get a bit of slippage from the orginal starter knot (step 1). For my running shoes, getting the tightness just right is critical, so not sure how to dial this in?
  • kimjune01
    oh this again, i found this on stumbleupon circa 2007
  • raphaelrk
    According to my App Store history, on May 30, 2010, I downloaded the app "Ian's Laces — How to tie and lace shoes (Lite)". Since then, I've very rarely had to tie my shoes :)
  • SwellJoe
    I always use this site as a canonical example of The Good Internet. The kind of site that is rare today but used to be most of the internet, and we're all worse off for the change.Lightweight handmade HTML and CSS. Very little JavaScript. The site is fast as hell, instant transition between pages, it'd make a React SPA blush.The URLs don't change. The navigation is familiar and unchanging. Back button works as expected. Bookmarks into the site don't break.It costs him almost nothing to run, so he isn't compelled to fill the pages with bullshit ads that disrupt or interrupt. It's got a handful of ad banners at the top and bottom, as ads used to be. I'd prefer it had no Google ads, since surveillance is part of the deal one makes with Google, but it's not the worst offense.Edit: Also, because it uses core/standard web technologies exclusively, he has never been required to change it to keep it working or update a bunch of stuff for security reasons. Maintenance cost is effectively zero...whenever he wants to work on the the site, he can. He's never been compelled to drop everything to perform npm acrobatics to get a security update rolled out.
  • dtj1123
    I switched to Ian's original shoelace knot about ten years ago. It's saved me something like four hours of shoelace time since then. Bloody brilliant.
  • johsole
    Like many I also discovered this about 10 years ago and love.One other thing I've been doing lately is also to use bar lacing instead of cross lacing. A small change that makes shoes much more comfortable.
  • liendolucas
    It never occurred to me that I could tie shoes with a different knot. This is excellent. It takes a bit of practice to undo a lifetime habit of tying my shoes with a weak knot. Well worth it!For some reason I have a pair of sneakers that they will always untie way many more times than any other shoes that I ever had, no matter how hard you make the regular knot. No more!
  • hangonhn
    I've used this knot for almost 2 decades now since learning about it from this exact website. It looks really nice, easy to take apart on purpose, and has never come undone. I run 4 to 5 times a week and used to run marathons. That's literally 10k+ miles over that timespan and it has never come apart unintentionally.It's also just so simple to learn.
  • NyxWulf
    This is an interesting knot, the thing with knots though, you have to spend enough time with them to get familiar with tying them blindfolded from memory. My experience is most people don't care enough to do it.So I have a simple alternative to tying my shoes that you can teach and learn easily. Knots are all about the number of turns or wraps, so when tying your shoes instead of crossing the laces over once, do it twice. When you wrap around the loop, do that twice too. You may have to try it to understand, but it is easy and readily understandable to anyone who can already tie their shoes. The best part is the way you tighten it down and untie are are exactly the same as you have always done. It almost never comes untied, but still releases easily.
  • rndz
    More than 10 years ago, somebody shared this clip with me: https://youtu.be/zAFcV7zuUDA?is=QDFb5Wxd_tJ-pJ61Been tying my shoelaces like this ever since.
  • nunez
    This is a doubled-up version of Ian's Knot: https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htmI've been using this knot for years; I want to say since college (at least 10 years now). It's stupid fast to do once you learn it and it doesn't slip off ever.Highly HIGHLY recommend learning it.
  • nticompass
    I learned about this site from the TV show "Going Deep with David Rees" (episode 2)! I recommend that show if you haven't seen it.
  • hx833001
    This is the best knot. Looks amazing aesthetically and simply does not come undone. Unless you want it to, in which case a quick pull on one end unties it instantly.
  • zenoprax
    Alternative view: it works best for flatter laces. I have a pair of running shoes with thicker round laces that don't stay tied unless I use the traditional method.I'm curious about the physics involved to cause such an obvious and singular failure.
  • cpfohl
    Switched to this knot a few years back for any day when we're walking/hiking a lot. I also tie my children's shoes this way if they're having a struggling day.If anyone's playing with this you may find that after you tie the loops together they're sitting funny; you basically have to swap the sides the loops sit on!
  • tyleo
    I learned the fast shoelace knot from this site years ago. Highly recommend it: https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htmIt’s both functional and a great party trick.
  • DanTheManPR
    It's just a good knot. The only downside is that it is very slightly more complex than a regular shoelace knot (you pass-through both loops instead of just one). But otherwise, it's only upsides: completely secure, unties exactly as easily and quickly as a regular shoelace knot, and it even lays more horizontally than a regular shoelace knot.
  • jjice
    Learned this about five years ago on HN and it's the only way I've tied my shoes since. It's so fast and perfect every time. It's worth the ten minutes in your living room learning to tie your shoes again like a child!
  • amelius
    But when will we have Marty's self-tying shoes?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liI1E_ZZV5w
  • layman51
    I have some athletic shoes that come undone so easily and I think this knot will help me out a lot.
  • t1234s
    I always refer to this site when I get a new pair of Adidas to get them laced up cool.
  • twodave
    Runner here. I found some time ago that starting out the classic shoelace tie right-hand dominant and finishing it left-hand dominant results in a very stable knot. Lacing them high enough to keep the ends short helps too. It has been thousands of miles since my last loose shoelace.
  • frankmatranga
    I have truly never had a shoe come untied after switching to this knot years ago. My friends think I’m crazy when I rave about shoelaces to them and try to get them to see the light. Jokes on them! They’ll be left behind re-tying their shoes till the last day their feet walk the earth.
  • anon
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  • fdr
    I've been tying this for years. Good knot. I only have failures if I hit a snag (and no easy-release knot is going to be able to get around that)
  • arcticgeek
    I find taking the rabbit around the tree twice also works well.
  • fl0ki
    Been using this knot exclusively since 2013, it's stood the test of time.
  • lowercased
    I just switched to slip-ons the moment I could buy my own shoes.
  • brandonpelfrey
    Friend shared this site with me like 10+ years ago, I've been using this knot ever since. Kind of amazing it's so generally unknown given how good it is.
  • teddyh
  • cryber
    I have been doing this for...12 years to great success
  • orphea
    You can also tie two knots but in the opposite directions:https://youtu.be/8DBhTXM_Br4?t=1711 (Veritasium)
  • kernel_sanders
    My kids learned to tie their shoes this way from this site and never knew differently. They're 20 and 17 now.
  • yuppiepuppie
    Best investment in the last 5 years for me - elastic shoelaces. Never have to tie my shoes again
  • cubefox
    I'm still hoping we could collectively agree that it's childish to view technologically superior Velcro as childish, and then replace shoelaces with Velcro.
  • carterschonwald
    the moment this clicked after reading it a few years ago its been my daily driver. that resource is a treasure
  • nikolay
    That's how I've been doing it since I was a kid (in the '80s) without anyone telling me about it. It's interesting how people put their names on some common-sense stuff! Disgusting!
  • vrganj
    Great knot and amazing site. It has a distinct "old internet" feel to it, and I mean that as nothing but a compliment. I miss those days, pre platforms capturing everything and making us angry at each other for their engagement metrics.
  • emsign
    Ian Fieggen's fast knot changed my life.
  • oldandboring
    Learned the Ian knot back in my early 20s (25 years ago now). Pound for pound this is easily in my top 10 highest value things I've ever done/learned. My shoes do NOT come untied anymore, period, ever.Funny thing is, if you don't know how to tie it, you probably just notice how it looks when it's done (almost exactly like the granny bowtie) so you (understandably) assume it's just a different method to arrive at the same result, like how bunny-ears and rabbit-goes-around-the-tree do. Of course it's not the same result at all.
  • ChrisArchitect
    Some previous discussion:Secure knot 2024 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42155457General Shoelace Site4 Months ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46848231
  • burnt-resistor
    "Double Slip Knot" (ABOK 1219 p. 221) is the canonical name with prior art. Calling it [your name] knot is pompous "discovery" of lands already occupied revisionist history. The main problem with it is that the free ends and loops cannot be balanced easily like a standard Bow Knot (ABOK 1214 p. 220). A Bow Knot may also be fixed by adding an opposing Half Knot ("The Shoeclerk's Knot" (ABOK 1215)) while losing the slip feature that the Double Slip Knot retains.
  • john4569
    [dead]
  • Lapsa
    [dead]