Ian's Shoelace Site

[Wistar]

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]

Donated - it's been my go-to place for lacing methods for a decade or so.

[pg_1234]

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.

[SamBam]

As a U10 soccer coach, using Ian's Secure Shoelace Knot kept my players in the game much longer.

[tboerstad]

Thanks for the info. Been using one of the knots for years, donated now.

[foobiekr]

also donating right now

[dang]

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)

[janvdberg]

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]

>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.

[ramidarigaz]

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

[mikestew]

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

[philamonster]

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]

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!

[zarzavat]

I have been using this knot for years. As you say, it never comes undone. Not a single time in 6 years or so.

[felixr]

Same here. I always had problems with laces getting undone. Not with this knot.

[jccalhoun]

Me too. It is easy to tie and untie but never comes undone.

[dylan604]

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.

[aidos]

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]

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.

[wffurr]

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]

Ironically, granny is the only one left in the family who cares about tying a neat knot.

[ratsmack]

>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]

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.

[toasteros]

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.

[turtledragonfly]

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.

[starshadowx2]

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.

[mesarvagya]

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

[oalders]

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.

[s3p]

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 :)

[mcdonje]

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]

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.

[fady]

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!

[nunez]

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.

[bjackman]

I love that the Ian know exists. But after I learned it I tried it for a while and it didn't stick, I went back to the classic knot I learned as a kid after a week or so.

IIRC the reason was "yield" - I found my Ian knots were often wonky. So you save 2-3 seconds but the tradeoff is mental energy for doing "QA" on your shoelace knot!

But that was many years ago, I should try again. Maybe you just need more practice.

[jolfosh]

This just changed my life forever... I've always been flabbergasted that other people's shoelaces stay tied. Bless your soul for posting this.

[xp84]

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.

[stronglikedan]

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.