[HN Gopher] Ian's Shoelace Site
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Ian's Shoelace Site
Author : mhb
Score : 349 points
Date : 2023-09-25 16:55 UTC (6 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.fieggen.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.fieggen.com)
| hinkley wrote:
| I used the over under on my boots and slowly converted all of my
| others over. And the gap lacing for shoes that were just a little
| too tight (since I started walking more I just went up a half
| size.).
| blastro wrote:
| What a wonderful site
| aidos wrote:
| It's somewhat buried in there but I've been using the Ianknot for
| near on 20 years now. It's just a regular knot but it's faster to
| tie than anything else.
|
| The key detail is to not end up with a granny knot. The way you
| tie your initial overhand knot needs to match so that it sits
| correctly and doesn't come untied.
|
| https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm
|
| https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/grannyknot.htm
| jjice wrote:
| Agreed. I'm not sure about time ROI vs me learning it but I do
| get a little kick when people notice how fast I tied my shoes.
| nunez wrote:
| This site's so good. I use the Ian knot every time I wear
| sneakers. It is, by far, the best knot for keeping shoes
| tight...but it takes some time to get right.
| gnicholas wrote:
| I find the "Ian Knot" works fine for shoelaces, but only if
| there's a decent amount of excess string. When tying other things
| (aprons for my kids, drawstrings, etc.), I find that I often have
| an easier time using the "bunny goes 'round the tree" method,
| since it requires less excess.
| ramidarigaz wrote:
| I switched to the secure knot after finding this site a few years
| ago https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/secureknot.htm
|
| It's really excellent, my shoes never come untied and I don't
| have to double-knot
| philamonster wrote:
| Holy shit. This is what I have been looking for. Have some MTB
| high-top shoes that have impossible-to-remain-tied laces. This
| is perfect, thank you.
| bcjordan wrote:
| Been on the secure knot for nearly two decades. Looks great,
| perfect amount of grip (never unties) and easy pull to open.
|
| Make sure you tie it balanced!
| mikestew wrote:
| I'm more of a Surgeon's Knot[0] guy, myself. Just like a
| "regular" shoelace knot, with one easy-to-remember twist. I
| don't recall that knot having ever come loose without my
| intentional untying. Great for ultramarathons when the last
| thing I want to do after 40 miles is bend over to tie a
| shoelace. (Especially if I'm wearing Altra shoes, whose laces
| I'd swear are coated in Teflon and come undone if I look at
| them too hard.)
|
| [0] https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/surgeonknot.htm
| nicwolff wrote:
| I tie it that way too, but as that page points out, it's the
| same knot:
|
| > The whole twisted mess of the previous drawing will
| rearrange itself into exactly the same finished knot as my
| Ian's Secure Shoelace Knot.
| mikestew wrote:
| Damn, caught red-handed not reading TFA that I posted!
|
| I did glance at the Ian's version for sanity, but somehow
| missed that part in the link I posted; thanks.
| dylan604 wrote:
| i find it funny that as a kid, velcro laces are used, and then
| as senior, they come back. but in that time in between,
| "adults" are wasting their time fiddling with laces. it's one
| of the most useless things when other solutions are available.
| hotnfresh wrote:
| Loafers. Loafers are amazing.
|
| US adults (and, to a lesser extent, those in Europe--I gather
| the loafer caps out a _bit lower_ there as far as how "high
| up" you can dress it) can get away with wearing slip-on shoes
| a whole lot of the time, while also looking _smarter-dressed_
| than sneakers or what have you.
|
| Doesn't get you away from laces entirely, but can seriously
| cut down on how often you have to fiddle with them.
|
| (Or you can come at it the other way and become a Crocs Guy,
| of course)
| felixr wrote:
| Same here. I always had problems with laces getting undone. Not
| with this knot.
| jccalhoun wrote:
| Me too. It is easy to tie and untie but never comes undone.
| stronglikedan wrote:
| I just reverse the starting knot (go under the right lace instead
| of over) and keep everything else the same. You know you got it
| right when the loops fall perfectly to each side. It rarely if
| ever comes undone because it has better physics. And it's only
| one step to learn differently. There's a name for it, but I
| forget what it's called.
| toasteros wrote:
| Despite years in the Scouts, both as a participant and a Leader,
| I am embarrassingly bad at knots. I've always had a terrible time
| following visual directions given to me by someone trying to
| teach me a knot, and even worse at following picture guides,
| videos, gifs etc.
|
| I can reliably teach an 8 year old Cub Scout how to do a reef
| knot and a clovehitch and that's about it.
|
| For my shoelaces, I was making two buddy ears and just tying them
| together. I'd seen the Ian knot in a TED video as well as on this
| site and just couldn't _get_ it. I tried over and over again only
| for the laces to flaccidly flop out of my hands, or for me to end
| up with a simple overhand knot.
|
| It struck me one day, like a bolt of lightning, all of a sudden I
| was able to tie it. And boy am I glad I did. I _think_ I was able
| to piece together how I needed to avoid a granny knot, but
| otherwise the inspiration was completely inexplicable.
|
| Tying my laces with the Ian knot is such a small thing, but if
| you piece together enough of those little things your life will
| change drastically - for the better. If you can only do one thing
| for yourself this week, learn the Ian knot.
| supportengineer wrote:
| I am impressed. For any human endeavor, there is a passionate
| community for it.
| s3p wrote:
| This was so cool to see again. As a kid, I couldn't learn how to
| tie shoes, and it was actually this site (and the Ian knot) that
| helped me finally learn to tie them. I still tie them this way :)
| wffurr wrote:
| I didn't learn how to tie my shoes correctly until I read this
| website in my 20s. As a child, I was constantly harangued about
| keeping my shoes tied, but none of the adults doing the
| haranguing ever stopped to teach me the difference between a
| granny knot and a proper square knot. Thanks, Ian, for filling in
| that gap in my childhood education.
| kazinator wrote:
| Ironically, granny is the only one left in the family who cares
| about tying a neat knot.
| fady wrote:
| This guy is super cool. I reached out to him a while back to
| provide feedback and we ended up chatting back n forth for a few
| weeks. Hope you're well my friend!
| perdomon wrote:
| I saw someone tie Ian's knot at a running shoe store in Austin,
| TX six years ago. I assumed I'd never see it again, but here it
| is. Ian, you brilliant bastard. God bless you.
| turtledragonfly wrote:
| Here's a nice short TED talk on tying your shoes right:
| https://www.ted.com/talks/terry_moore_how_to_tie_your_shoes
|
| It doesn't use the "Ian's Secure Shoelace Knot", but it shows
| that for the typical way of tying your shoes, there is a "strong
| form" and a "weak form", and shows you how to tell the
| difference.
|
| I got lucky and have been tying the strong form my whole life,
| but it's sorta 50/50 depending on how you learn.
| mesarvagya wrote:
| For people who want to give different knots a try, Ian also has a
| practical book [1]
|
| [1] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1402752016
| mcdonje wrote:
| I use the Ian Knot. It didn't take too long to get used to and
| it's nice and quick. Feels like a hack.
|
| I recommend it if you have enough extra focus-energy left in your
| day to put some thought into shoelaces.
| corysama wrote:
| I switched to the Ian Fast Knot maybe 15 years ago. Took a few
| minutes to figure out the motion, but then it's easier than a
| classic knot.
|
| Now I just leave my shoes tied and slip them on and off. The
| knots come loose once a year or two.
| dang wrote:
| Related:
|
| _Ian 's Shoelace Site_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35377589 - March 2023 (4
| comments)
|
| _Ian Knot (2003)_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27728002 - July 2021 (66
| comments)
|
| _The "Granny Knot"_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26867300 - April 2021 (255
| comments)
|
| _C.I.A. Lacing (2014)_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24091391 - Aug 2020 (89
| comments)
|
| _Ian Knot_ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16454796 - Feb
| 2018 (47 comments)
|
| _Ian 's Shoelace Site_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13399095 - Jan 2017 (116
| comments)
|
| _Shoelace knots_ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10200917
| - Sept 2015 (43 comments)
|
| _Shoe Lacing Methods_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9966073 - July 2015 (5
| comments)
|
| _Shoelace Knots_ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1914731
| - Nov 2010 (1 comment)
|
| _Fast. Easy. Clean. Shoelace Knot._ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1063086 - Jan 2010 (41
| comments)
|
| _How to tie world 's fastest shoelace knot_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=111756 - Feb 2008 (11
| comments)
| Wistar wrote:
| I discovered this site two decades or so ago. I used it to teach
| my then young son--whose name is, appropriately, Ian--how to tie
| the fast Ian Knot. My spouse, a kindergarten teacher, used it to
| learn how to tie student's shoes with Ian's Secure Knot which has
| been very helpful as kid's shoes with conventional knots tend to
| come untied on the playground.
|
| It is sad to see that Ian is struggling to fund the site:
| https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/support.htm
| dissolved_boy wrote:
| Donated - it's been my go-to place for lacing methods for a
| decade or so.
| pg_1234 wrote:
| It's a handy site, but it's worth noting that;
|
| "Ian's Secure Knot" is just a rebranding of a knot that is also
| known as the "Berluti knot", "Tibetan Trekking Knot", "Sherpa
| Knot" or the "Double slip knot".
|
| It's a great knot, the best way to tie your laces, but spin it
| as much as you like it's just a bow with a double twist on the
| second twist, and has existed since long before Ian or Berluti
| tried to claim it as their own.
| cycomanic wrote:
| It's worth noting that Ian is acknowledging that his not an
| the Tibetan Trekking Knot are the same (and also the double
| slit knot). He just says his is a different way of tying it.
|
| And I second that it's the best knot for tying laces.
| Especially if you have synthetic laces (common on some
| trekking shoes) that come undone easily.
| tboerstad wrote:
| Thanks for the info. Been using one of the knots for years,
| donated now.
| kazinator wrote:
| When I wear laced shoes, I tend to lace them like this:
| https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/pics22/Stb120s.jpg
| starshadowx2 wrote:
| I had the photo of the week here once, back in 2016. I used to
| love doing different shoelace patterns back when I wore Converse,
| and this website was the best resource for that.
|
| Just checked and another of my photos is one of the Best Of ones,
| that's neat.
| howinteresting wrote:
| I found this site and switched to the secure knot many years ago,
| and my shoelaces have literally never come undone since. One of
| those quality of life improvements that I now take for granted.
| petree wrote:
| I think I first found this site around 2007 or 2008. I've been
| using Ian's Secure Shoelace Knot ever since.
| oalders wrote:
| He also has an iOS app which is pretty helpful. My kid needed to
| tie her shoes a specific way for marching band and Ian's site +
| app were really valuable in getting her set up. I got in touch
| with him afterwards and he was really nice to chat with.
| Definitely reminds me of the early days of helpful stuff you
| might find on the web.
| hackerdangluck wrote:
| [dead]
| xp84 wrote:
| The Two Loop Shoelace Knot is something I'll always use. It's
| especially excellent for using on little kids shoes, which will
| come untied all the time. This one never comes untied by itself.
|
| I actually discovered this stuff via a real-life physical book
| (complete with practice laces built into the cover!) which was
| published sometime more than 15 years ago.
|
| Edit: Fixed the name of my favorite knot.
| jolfosh wrote:
| This just changed my life forever... I've always been
| flabbergasted that other people's shoelaces stay tied. Bless your
| soul for posting this.
| lampiaio wrote:
| One of the timeless treasures of the internet for sure. It's a
| pity that, nowadays, that kind of content is customarily hidden
| inside the noisy mazes of some unnecessary Discord server or
| social platform.
|
| It's time we stopped calling those aberrations "walled gardens"
| but rather _damp dungeons_.
| LanceH wrote:
| I think this would be a series of youtube videos with titles
| like, "The only lace you'll ever need!", "I can't get my shoes
| off now!", and "This lacing should be illegal!"
| mwigdahl wrote:
| "Teens react to this extreme shoelace knot!"
| [deleted]
| janvdberg wrote:
| Side-note: sites likes these are the old internet that I got to
| know and love and they embody the spirit of what makes the
| internet a wonderful place: highly niche sites run by dedicated,
| passionate people that could only be discovered by word of mouth.
| This is digital heritage in its purest form.
| Larrikin wrote:
| >that could only be discovered by word of mouth
|
| This site was one of the top sites on Dogpile and then Google
| in its heyday. Google was the better search engine when it was
| new, but it wasn't impossible to find things on the early
| internet before that unless you knew someone.
| ratsmack wrote:
| >My own Ian Knot (yes - I'm the inventor) is the World's Fastest
| Shoelace Knot. Make a loop with both ends and simultaneously pull
| them through each other to form an almost instant knot.
|
| I doubt he invented that, because I've been tying my shoes with
| that knot my entire life and I'm 70 years old. My dad showed me
| this because it's the way he tied his shoes and he was born in
| 1912.
| GuB-42 wrote:
| Ian probably re-invented it, like many people before him, but
| unlike your dad, and I guess, many other dads, he made a
| website, and the website became successful.
|
| There are only so many ways to twist a string, and practical
| knots tend to be simple, knots get reinvented all the time
| before ending in a book. This is also why there there is no
| approximation in knox tying. If your knot is slightly different
| than what's on the book, it is probably another knot (see:
| square knot, granny knot, thief knot, grief knot), or just a
| mistake no one bothered to give it a name.
| arglebargle123 wrote:
| Hey, it's the Ian knot guy! I taught myself the Ian knot like 20y
| ago and it's one of the best small life skills I've learned. My
| shoes haven't come untied since. I think I tried to tie a
| traditional shoelace knot a few years back and I barely remember
| it.
| [deleted]
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(page generated 2023-09-25 23:00 UTC)