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Ian's Secure Shoelace Knot
- nticompass 5mo agoI 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.
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- teddyh 5mo agoAnimated: <https://www.animatedknots.com/shoelace-bow-knot-fieggen-method https://www.animatedknots.com/shoelace-bow-knot-fieggen-meth...>
- gargalatas 5mo agothat's different.
- teddyh 5mo agoOops, you’re right.
- benji-york 5mo agoAlthough that's a different knot (I use the one originally referenced), I taught my kids the knot in the animation and it's worked out well. Added benefit: adults are impressed when they see my kids tie their laces.
- orphea 5mo agoYou can also tie two knots but in the opposite directions: https://youtu.be/8DBhTXM_Br4?t=1711 https://youtu.be/8DBhTXM_Br4?t=1711 (Veritasium)
- burnt-resistor 5mo agoVeritasium is owned by private equity.
- orphea 5mo agoIt is, but luckily, private equities don't decide whether knots untie or not, so the video may still be helpful.
- john4569 5mo ago[dead]
- hx833001 5mo agoThis 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.
- jjice 5mo agoLearned 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!
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- dtj1123 5mo agoI 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.
- linsomniac 5mo agoI learned it around 5 years ago and it just makes tying my shoes feel so effortless, I also feel like it holds on a little better than the previous knot I was using. It took me a while to get the mechanics down.
- SockThief 5mo agoI switched too and love it. It's arguably just a bit faster then the one I learned in childhood, but it's so much more reliable. I got couple of snickers I use daily and don't untie them at all, and the Ian's Knot [0] stays firmly knotted for months! [0] https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm
- jonathanlydall 5mo agoI 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.htm https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/standardknot.htm Edit: I see he has a page dedicated to this mistake here: https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/grannyknot.htm https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/grannyknot.htm
- twodave 5mo agoI tried writing a similar comment. Yours is much clearer. This 100%. As a runner I used to have to re-tie multiple times per run. I corrected my mistake with this same fix probably a decade ago and haven’t had a loose shoelace since.
- dzhiurgis 5mo agoI learning this on sailing trip, reefing knot is simply shoelace knot, but you need to make sure each loop is opposing. Game change. And then you learn about bowline.
- zimpenfish 5mo agoBack when I was running, I used the "lace lock" method[0] because a loose heel would drive me to distraction (and because I wore clown shoes with wide toe boxes, there's no pressure from the front to keep the foot stable.) [0] e.g. https://www.coachweb.com/gear/running-gear/heel-lock-lacing-how-to-tie-a-runners-knot-to-stop-your-heel-from-slipping https://www.coachweb.com/gear/running-gear/heel-lock-lacing-...
- yuppiepuppie 5mo agoBest investment in the last 5 years for me - elastic shoelaces. Never have to tie my shoes again
- vermilingua 5mo agoBet they pair well with cargo shorts
- yuppiepuppie 5mo agoBetter! swimsuit :)
- jmole 5mo agodepending on your sole preferences, I bet you would like the Xero Prio Coast shoe. I just got a pair – elastic laces, slip-on ergonomics, barefoot sole, large toebox. They are fantastic.
- al_borland 5mo agoYou may be interested in Birchbury as well. They also have a wide toe box and elastic laces, while having some more classic and clean looks. I especially like the dress shoes. I’m not sure what magic they used to still make them look normal, while feeling like wearing a wide toebox slipper. Though they don’t treat them with any water proofing to help with breathability, which I didn’t find out until they showed up. This always makes me paranoid to wear them out in the rain. Keep that in mind (or add your own treatment)
- lee_ars 5mo agoStumbling 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 https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/secureknot.htm), and have been using that ever since for every pair of laced shoes I own.
- WarmWash 5mo agoThis is my choice knot too, works really well
- sonar_un 5mo agoI came across this site in the late 90's / early 2000's as well. I've been using the Ian Knot ever since, and even forgot how to tie my shoes "normally". I will teach it to anyone who will listen to me rant about knots.
- ErroneousBosh 5mo agoIf you just tie a reef knot, that'll work just as well.
- rndz 5mo agoMore than 10 years ago, somebody shared this clip with me: https://youtu.be/zAFcV7zuUDA?is=QDFb5Wxd_tJ-pJ61 https://youtu.be/zAFcV7zuUDA?is=QDFb5Wxd_tJ-pJ61 Been tying my shoelaces like this ever since.
- burnt-resistor 5mo agoDelete the ?is=... part because it's tracking information that uniquely identifies you.
- NelsonMinar 5mo agoThis is the classic Terry Moore 3 minute video. It boils down to "tie a square knot". It changed my life too! I love this video because it's both the perfect TED video and the perfect parody of a TED video.
- frankmatranga 5mo agoI 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.
- kernel_sanders 5mo agoMy kids learned to tie their shoes this way from this site and never knew differently. They're 20 and 17 now.
- twodave 5mo agoRunner 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.
- alper 5mo agoI use Ian's (Fast) Knot and that's good enough for me. https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm
- ericpauley 5mo agoThis is definitely the go-to knot over secure knot. Been using it every day for 13 years. Yes, it comes apart every so often (maybe a few times a year), but the tying time savings far outweighs those few instances.
- Groxx 5mo agoPlus you get to have rare "wait what, how the heck???" encounters if anyone around you pays attention randomly. It looks like magic compared to the usual methods people learn.
- ericpauley 5mo agoThe best part of this is that you forget you're tying your shoes differently, so when the "how the heck" moment arrives you're also surprised!
- tiltowait 5mo ago> Yes, it comes apart every so often Laces type matters a lot here. I've run countless miles with a fast knot without it ever coming undone. The secure knot does feel like a cheat, though. It's like a double knot that you can untie like a single. Witchcraft!
- KomoD 5mo agoI also use this one, it's great.
- flexagoon 5mo agoThis is a life changer. I've literally had friends ask me how I tie my shoes so fast a few times after learning this method.
- carterschonwald 5mo agothe moment this clicked after reading it a few years ago its been my daily driver. that resource is a treasure
- robot_jesus 5mo agoAgreed 100%. But for me it was many, many years ago. But this is my daily shoelace knot and it works amazingly well.
- oldandboring 5mo agoLearned 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.
- rahimnathwani 5mo agoFrom the site "The finished Ian Knot is identical to either the Standard Shoelace Knot or the Two Loop Shoelace Knot."
- oldandboring 5mo agoThanks, I don't know how I would have made it through the day without somebody on HN going "ackshually...."
- delichon 5mo agoWhen 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.
- deepsun 5mo ago[flagged]
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- Hnrobert42 5mo agoThis really bothers you, huh?
- ssl-3 5mo agoI worked with a guy once that liked to do stuff like untie peoples' shoes -- while they were standing on a ladder, working with their head inside of a ceiling. One time, he even managed to re-tie the laces of my boot to a rung on that ladder. I almost fell down and ate shit due to this nonsense, and he found the whole thing to be particularly hilarious. I don't think I was a victim here, nor do believe that I have PTSD, but I can definitely say that I learned that this dude was a fucking asshole. Am I better for having learned that? Does my past tolerance for his dumb shit make me a better person today? Am I better off where I am today than I might be if I had responded by beating him with a Crescent wrench until he was unrecognizable? Anyway, he didn't last at that job. The last I heard about him was several years later; he was in some kind of recovery house a couple of hours away after he pissed someone off to such an extent that they became motivated to try to saw his foot off with a broken coffee pot. I thought that was pretty funny. (To answer my own rhetorical questions: I'd probably be a better person today if I hadn't been forced to learn to be so detached in the first place.)
- lowercased 5mo agoI just switched to slip-ons the moment I could buy my own shoes.
- globular-toast 5mo agoFine for slippers or driving shoes but no good for active wear.
- lowercased 5mo agoI got elastic (?) self-holding laces for my running shoes, which effectively make them a slip-on as well.
- onraglanroad 5mo agoThat makes sense for people who can't see their feet without a mirror.
- brandonpelfrey 5mo agoFriend 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.
- vrganj 5mo agoGreat 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.
- arcticgeek 5mo agoI find taking the rabbit around the tree twice also works well.
- zenoprax 5mo agoAlternative 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.
- DanTheManPR 5mo agoIt'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.
- fdr 5mo agoI'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)
- SwellJoe 5mo agoI 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.
- xp84 5mo agoWow, he even made navigation that puts the links on little shoelace ends. Indeed, this is the kind of thing that was widespread, and which the soulless modern net never has.
- SwellJoe 5mo agoA tremendous amount of care went into the site, and it shows.
- Wistar 5mo agoThe site owner, Ian, says he is seeking an alternative to google ads. Seems the site may be struggling financially. https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/support.htm https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/support.htm
- sunshowers 5mo agoThank you for the link! Just donated. That site changed my life in a small but persistent way — my shoelaces haven't come undone in more than a decade now.
- cpfohl 5mo agoSwitched 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!
- rahimnathwani 5mo agoThere's a 'tying neatly' section on the technical info page: https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/secureknottech.htm#observations https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/secureknottech.htm#observat...
- hangonhn 5mo agoI'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.
- xp84 5mo agoI can still remember as a teenager having to bend down and re-tie my shoes multiple times a day, and then in my early 20s I received Ian's hardbound book[1] as a gift, learned this knot, and just like that, I simply never had to do that again. What a gift of time! [1] https://www.amazon.com/Laces-100s-Ways-Pimp-Kicks/dp/1402752016 https://www.amazon.com/Laces-100s-Ways-Pimp-Kicks/dp/1402752... - it even comes laced with a set of special laces on the front to learn with, that uses the 2 colors his diagrams use.
- sonar_un 5mo agoYep, I am a runner too, ran 6 marathons with this knot and run 20 miles a week. It just never comes undone.
- xp84 5mo agoI 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 https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/grannyknot.htm [2] https://www.aliexpress.us/w/wholesale-elastic-shoelaces.html?spm=a2g0o.home.search.0 https://www.aliexpress.us/w/wholesale-elastic-shoelaces.html...
- tyleo 5mo agoI learned the fast shoelace knot from this site years ago. Highly recommend it: https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm It’s both functional and a great party trick.
- burnt-resistor 5mo ago"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.
- xp84 5mo agoI'm pretty sure knot techniques can't be copyrighted, so nobody owns it or has the exclusive right to name it. Someone can call it the Ham Sandwich knot if they want. Who cares? Besides, I'm pretty sure Ian has done a lot more to spread the knowledge of this particular knot than anyone else in history.
- endgame 5mo agoAshley is the canonical list of knots, so it's good for people who haven't heard of ABOK to hear about it since we're talking knots today. Probably time to drop another coin in Ian's tip jar too.
- rahimnathwani 5mo agoFrom the site: Years later I found out that my new knot was not new and that I had simply re-invented an existing knot, which appears elsewhere under two different names: “Double Slip Knot” (#1219) in “The Ashley Book of Knots” by Clifford Ashley; “Seaman's Shoelace Knot” (or “Seemännische Schuhbandschleife”), which appears in the German book “Knoten, Spleißen, Takeln” by Erich Sondheim.
- Syzygies 5mo agoThere's the finished knot, and there's his way of tying it, which is easy to grasp. That strikes a chord for me. In grade school my teachers could not distinguish between these perspectives, for the standard shoelace knot. I found their method stupid, and they thought my method was wrong. This was but one of many lessons that helped me to learn to think for myself.
- NyxWulf 5mo agoThis 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.
- Lapsa 5mo ago[dead]
- ChrisArchitect 5mo agoSome previous discussion: Secure knot 2024 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42155457 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42155457 General Shoelace Site 4 Months ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46848231 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46848231
- cryber 5mo agoI have been doing this for...12 years to great success
- amelius 5mo agoBut when will we have Marty's self-tying shoes? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liI1E_ZZV5w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liI1E_ZZV5w
- NetMageSCW 5mo agoTen years ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike_Mag https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike_Mag
- amelius 5mo agoLooks like it could have been an Apple product also. Same design language.
- onraglanroad 5mo agoIf Back To The Future were remade today, Marty would be going back to the good old days of 1996.
- fl0ki 5mo agoBeen using this knot exclusively since 2013, it's stood the test of time.
- nikolay 5mo agoThat'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!
- emsign 5mo agoIan Fieggen's fast knot changed my life.
- t1234s 5mo agoI always refer to this site when I get a new pair of Adidas to get them laced up cool.
- nunez 5mo agoThis is a doubled-up version of Ian's Knot: https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm I'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.
- mmanfrin 5mo agoCame here to post this one. I intentionally tried to train myself to do this about 10 years ago and the muscle memory came a lot quicker than I expected. It's a very secure knot and the sides hang to the side, not wonky like the ones most of us learned.
- nunez 5mo agoIt took me a few months to nail it; jealous you got it more quickly than I did! This was kind of like learning Vim. I struggled with how to computer for two weeks and lost the desire to learn literally anything else after mastering it. (I still prefer Vim with my plugins over VSCode!)
- layman51 5mo agoI have some athletic shoes that come undone so easily and I think this knot will help me out a lot.
- nunez 5mo agoIf you love this, you'll love learning about tying huarache running sandals: - http://borntorun.org/shop/howtotie.html http://borntorun.org/shop/howtotie.html - https://xeroshoes.eu/pages/tarahumara-sandals https://xeroshoes.eu/pages/tarahumara-sandals - https://importantbutnotatall.wordpress.com/2011/08/22/huarache-tying-101/ 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.)
- noman-land 5mo agoI would be interested in seeing a video of you DIYing a pair of these from scratch.
- cubefox 5mo agoI'm still hoping we could collectively agree that it's childish to view technologically superior Velcro as childish, and then replace shoelaces with Velcro.
- liendolucas 5mo agoIt 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!
- chardan965 5mo agoHappy 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!
- johsole 5mo agoLike 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.
- stronglikedan 5mo agoThat'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.
- lillesvin 5mo ago> [...] for everyday use, it wastes precious seconds [...] You should probably try the Ian Knot then: https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm (good video demo here: https://youtu.be/6cBtqhq5P28 https://youtu.be/6cBtqhq5P28 Took me about 5 minutes to learn properly some 15 years ago, and according to this chart: https://xkcd.com/1205/ https://xkcd.com/1205/ that's definitely worth it.
- lwansbrough 5mo agoI learned his fast knot about a decade ago and never looked back. It's probably saved me dozens of seconds over that time.
- kobieps 5mo agoI 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-lamarckian-knot/ 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!
- raphaelrk 5mo agoAccording 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 :)
- proee 5mo agoMy 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 5mo agooh this again, i found this on stumbleupon circa 2007
- jmbwell 5mo agoOne of my favorite artifacts of the pre-platform era of the web. Valuable stuff presented clearly … all clearly handmade with care. Not a monetized journey conversion experience in sight
- alessivs 5mo agoI've been using this shoelace knot on all kinds of laced shoes–even those featuring bad quality, tubular, inflexible, shoreline convenience shop-like laces since 2010-ish; in fact, I've found it to be the only efficient knot that works on those kinds of laces and guarantee several hours of security. Despite not being optimized to train procedural memory, I made sure to enter the lacing procedure in an Anki-like application (called SuperMemo before its decline) so I could recall how to do it over the years to this day. Other people have benefited from my epiphany as I've taught them this knot. I consider this knot a fundamental life skill, comparable to learning to ride a bike or change a bulb.
- brador 5mo agoDouble cross tuck is still the champ. Nothing comes close to its simplicity and hardiness. Zero fidliness unlike this nonsense.
- dimastopel 5mo agoI use the Ian Knot [0] (also called the World's Fastest Shoelace Knot) with my Vivobarefoot. Moved to it from Bunny Ears method at the age of 45. Never thought I'll switch the way I tie my shoelaces at such and age. [0] https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm
- cactacea 5mo agoHighly recommend the book Fixing Your Feet if you found this useful, it is a gold mine of helpful info. I used to get really awful blisters even on short hikes but after applying some of the lacing techniques from this book I don't get blisters at all. https://www.fixingyourfeet.com/fixing-your-feet/ https://www.fixingyourfeet.com/fixing-your-feet/
- skogstokig 5mo agoThis is very similar to the Berluti shoelace knot. A plus is that the knot lies horizontal and is symmetrical, while still being able to untie like a regular shoelace knot. https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/berluti-knot.htm https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/berluti-knot.htm https://youtu.be/ds-EtA4Uw6s?si=cWFXylbmamqCmtw6 https://youtu.be/ds-EtA4Uw6s?si=cWFXylbmamqCmtw6
- zeeveener 5mo agoI think I've evolved beyond knots and just accepted that elastic laces are my future for all but my proper use-for-high-intensity running shoes.
- waltbosz 5mo agoI want to shoot a video and get expert feedback on the knot I invented for tying my shoes. It's fast to tie, is easy to untie, and very secure. It has never come untied on its own in all my years of using it. It's tad unconventional looking for a shoe lace knot, but never has anyone every commented on it. Looking at knots again, I guess it's just a slip knot.
- netfortius 5mo agoTo me untying laces, so I can take my shoes off ASAP, its far more important than the reliability of the knot. I just need to pull an end, and free my feet, without things tangled by mistake.
- LeoPanthera 5mo agoI started buying laceless shoes about a decade ago and I’m never going back.
- brikym 5mo agoI love the cute little page navigation buttons. I learned this knot ten years ago and I love it. Pro tip is to make sure the loops are longer than the ends otherwise the ends have more tension and will loosen the knot.
- dang 5mo agoRelated. Others? Ian's Shoelace Site - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48288156 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48288156 - May 2026 (2 comments) Ian's Shoelace Site - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46848231 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46848231 - Feb 2026 (72 comments) Ian's Secure Shoelace Knot - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42155457 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42155457 - Nov 2024 (21 comments) Ian's Shoelace Site - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37646964 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37646964 - Sept 2023 (64 comments) An Interview with Ian Fieggen, Shoelace Expert - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35604020 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35604020 - April 2023 (2 comments) Ian's Shoelace Site - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35377589 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35377589 - March 2023 (4 comments) Ian Knot (2003) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27728002 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27728002 - July 2021 (66 comments) The “Granny Knot” - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26867300 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26867300 - April 2021 (255 comments) C.I.A. Lacing (2014) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24091391 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24091391 - Aug 2020 (89 comments) Ian's Shoelace Site - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21153182 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21153182 - Oct 2019 (2 comments) Ian Knot - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16454796 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16454796 - Feb 2018 (47 comments) Ask HN: How many times will the shoelace story be submitted? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14105633 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14105633 - April 2017 (4 comments) Ian's Shoelace Site - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13399095 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13399095 - Jan 2017 (116 comments) Shoelace knots - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10200917 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10200917 - Sept 2015 (43 comments) Shoe Lacing Methods - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9966073 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9966073 - July 2015 (5 comments) The "Granny Knot" - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7107814 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7107814 - Jan 2014 (1 comment) Why shoelaces come undone - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3671112 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3671112 - March 2012 (1 comment) Shoelace Knots - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1914731 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1914731 - Nov 2010 (1 comment) Fast. Easy. Clean. Shoelace Knot. - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1063086 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 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=111756 - Feb 2008 (11 comments)
- nickzelei 5mo agoI did a double take seeing this on the front page. I came across this website only yesterday after searching how to properly lace a heel-lock. I bought a new pair of shoes and my right shoe wants to slip out of the heel ever so slightly. As a result, I came across this absolute gem of a website! Glad to see it here as it's a wealth of knowledge. Who knew there were so many ways to tie and lace up shoes. There's even methods to design your own! Amazing.
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- edgardurand 5mo ago[flagged]
- calini 5mo agoEyy, I stumbled upon this website when I was 10, glad to see it’s still up!
- mistyvales 5mo agoWasn't this just posted?
- snitty 5mo agoI've been using this knot for a decade or so, and my shoes have come untied twice. Both times I stepped on a loose end and pulled it open. It's incredible
- gcanyon 5mo agoDid the Klutz book of Knots first popularize this knot? The method they gave is different, but I think it's the same. It's been forty-some years...
- adm4 5mo agoyep... I remember the day I saw a short ted talk explaining the correct knot. I had been doing it wrong for decades. thanks for even more knots to try.
- xdennis 5mo agoThis is similar to how I ties my shoes, without the double twist though. Even as a kid, I thought of it as a problem decomposition: 1) tie a knot 2) fold ends in half 3) treat the folded strings as a single string and go to step 1 and exit
- sethammons 5mo agohttps://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/betterbowknot.htm https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/betterbowknot.htm This is my go-to knot. Boots and shoes. They never come undone and a single tug undoes the knot. Said bye bye to the double knot years ago.
- jaggederest 5mo agoIf you like that, you'll really like https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/doublehelixlacing.htm https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/doublehelixlacing.htm Basically, it reduces the friction so you can yank once to get your laces perfectly tight, or pull upwards to loosen them, instead of having to adjust each section independently. Combined with the double lock knot, it's ideal for high boots or above the knee boots with ~14-20 eyelets like the tall doc martens.
- abustamam 5mo agoI tie my shoe laces with Ian knot. I know it by muscle memory. But when I try to tie something that isn't facing me (like my daughter's hat) then suddenly I completely forget how to tie any knot except good ol square knot.
- 0xbadcafebee 5mo agoAnd if you're really into nerdy efficiency, you get velcro shoes.
- mc3301 5mo agoslipons, loafers, crocs, sandals for 90% of my life. BOA for bikes. Occasionally I have "traditional" lace-up shoes, and replace the laces with those elastic pull-string shoes. Was gonna teach my kid how to tie shoes only to realize, they also have no shoes with laces. I just noted that I probably haven't tied laces in over a decade.
- txhwind 5mo agoThis is the first shoelace knot my parents taught me. We call it "butterfly knot". It's always my default choice with muscle memory, unless the shoelace is not long enough to create the "bufferfly wings". It's secured enough for daily use, and easy to release. Also the best choice for apron knot.
- thefz 5mo agoIan's works wonders for running shoes, but alas tying it requires a lot of free string, and sometimes whati is left after looping for heel lock is not enough.
- apolo64 5mo agoI've spent my life doing a weird fast knot I learned from somebody in middle school and just found out it was invented by this man. Thank you Ian ! https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm