>>Tomte+(OP)
Ah! This page was on the front page of somethingawful a good ten years ago. At the time I had shoes with particularly slippery laces, so I started using Ian's Secure Knot, and never looked back: http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/secureknot.htm

>>Tomte+(OP)
This is how I do 'Ian's knot': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbaHxsilsKI

>>Tomte+(OP)
This is a fun page: http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/linking.htm

>>Tomte+(OP)
I'll vouch for the "Ian Knot". Throughout my life I had to double-tie the classic shoelace knot or else it would come loose a some point during the day. Then I tried the Ian Knot. It is significantly faster and easier. And, now I have some laced shoes that I just slip on because they stay tied for weeks instead of hours.

http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm

>>Tomte+(OP)
Last year, I learned Ian's Secure Knot[1]. It took under an hour of study and practice once, and my life was slightly improved every day from then on. Never had my laces come untied since then. Great ROI.

[1] http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/secureknot.htm

>>Tomte+(OP)
One thing that's worth noting about the classic bow shoelace knot is that no-one seems to know how to do them. The right way to do it is with the bow knot reflected relative to the base knot below it, like a reef knot, rather than oriented the same way, like a granny knot. I never knew this until a few years ago and since I've started doing it, I've stopped needing to double-knot my laces - they're secure enough for me with a single knot done properly. I always try to explain this to people when I get a chance, and no-one else seems to know about it, either.

I see there's a page about this on the site: http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/grannyknot.htm

>>Tomte+(OP)
http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/cialacing.htm

This is fascinating: Coldwar era CIA agents lacing their shoes as "a form of covert signalling, using straight segments interspersed with one or more visible crossovers at different positions."

>>Tomte+(OP)
Fun tech crossover, the word "aglet". In addition to the shoelace word, it was also the name of a Java mobile agents framework from IBM ~1997. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aglets

>>Nelson+PK1
There is an episode of Phineas and Ferb in which the boys decide to spread the word about aglets:

http://phineasandferb.wikia.com/wiki/Tip_of_the_Day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evcsj1gx1CE

>>Tomte+(OP)
I've recently stopped lacing my shoes after discovering Lace Anchors:

http://www.laceanchors.com

I personally don't use them (too expensive) and use a knot instead.

I haven't noticed a difference in fit or comfort for casual shoes.

>>Tomte+(OP)
I do the standard shoelace knot the other way round from his page ( http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/standardknot.htm). I bet I've saved at least 1 minute over the past 35 years from doing this.

1. start with left over right starting knot

2. hold loop in left hand, thumb and index finger

3. feed other lace round the front, holding it with right thumb+index finger, then round the back, then through the hole, so it lands on the pad of your left thumb

4. use left thumb and right index finger to push/pull loop through hole, then grab it with left middle finger as it comes through (your thumb can remain in place)

5. use right thumb and 2nd/3rd phalange of right index finger to hold other loop (you'll probably be in roughly this position already by now)

6. well done, you've caught the rabbit :) (In this story, it does not escape.) Now pull its ears.

(If you'd rather have the loop in your right hand, no problem, but start with a right-over-left knot in step 1 I suppose.)

This is a superior approach, I think, because of how the lace meets your stationary thumb at the end of step 3 rather than your stationary finger, allowing a smoother step 4. I'm struggling to explain this coherently but basically you need multiple digits on the other side in order to quickly move your grip on the loop from one side of the main knot to the other. But if it's your thumb on the other side, you've only got the one digit...

(Maybe I just got it wrong while trying it out, though? This is after all literally the habit of a lifetime. The above is just based on my trying to figure out why the other way round felt inefficient, even after taking into account the basic difficulty of actually doing it in the first place.)

>>bbrian+5O1
I tried no laces (slip-ons and zippers) now I'm trying out Xpand[1]. Have you considered those?

[1] https://www.xpandlaces.com/

>>Tomte+(OP)
I used this site to learn about the Army Lacing [1] for a pair of boots that would normally take ten minutes to take off when I get home.

It seems silly, but learning an improved lacing method has not only saved me a lot of time in a given day, but its prevented unnecessary stress. The method gives a fantastic, tight fit that's incredibly easy to loosen.

[1] http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/armylacing.htm

>>kome+JH1
I agree, and it's also amazing to me to see how well he's maintained the site in the ten years since I first saw it, including a tongue-in-cheek, clickbait-style granny knot celebs page[1], that produced a laugh-out-loud moment for me.

[1] http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/grannyknottingcelebs.htm

>>sbierw+gC1
Oh interesting! I've used the Ian knot for about 10 years now and hadn't even considered looking for anything else.

Quite a lot of sailing has given me a good appreciation of knots. It's amazing how (when you're doing a lot of rope work) you can get a real instinctive sense of the pressures on a knot and how to create the best knot for the situation. In ocean racing there are places you have unusual needs (like tethering the running backstays to the cars while you adjust the angles).

Believe it or (k)not, there a branch of mathematical topology dedicated to knot theory.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knot_theory

http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm

>>Tomte+(OP)
I like the Turquoise Turtle Shoelace Knot.[1]

It's almost exactly like the "standard" shoelace knot I've used most of my life, but with just an extra tuck, and it virtually never unintentionally gets untied. It's fast, easy to put on and easy to take off. Highly recommended.

I also like Perry's Perpetual Knot.[2][3][4][5][6]

The idea behind it is that you only ever tie it once, and then only ever have to loosen and tighten it rather than re-tie it.

On one pair of shoes, I had Perry's Perpetual Knot adjusted so that I never even had to loosen or tighten it either. From then on I'd just slip my shoes on and off without needing to adjust it or re-tie it.

[1] - http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/turquoiseturtleknot.htm

[2] - http://web.archive.org/web/20051203081429/http://web.ukonlin...

[3] - https://s24.postimg.org/ng1fp6lj9/perrys_perpetual_knot.png

[4] - https://i.imgsafe.org/bee20e4850.png

[5] - http://i.imgur.com/mzyXuet.png

[6] - I'm uploading the instruction image to a bunch of image hosting sites, so hopefully the instructions will be available "perpetually", since archive.org doesn't even seem to have saved them.

>>bbrian+5O1
If you ever need some joggers then the Salomon quicklace system doesn't really count as laces and is generally pretty awesome.

http://cdn.planetshoes.com/images/11141/11141_119_zoom.jpg

>>wwalse+m42
http://thewirecutter.com/ comes close

>>Tomte+(OP)
I've been using the Mega Ian Knot (http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/megaianknot.htm) for the past 6 months or so.

It's the most secure of the knots and is visually appealing, but is somewhat tricky to tie. I've got a fair amount of experience with knots, but it took me about an hour of practice to be able to tie it reliably and (relatively) quickly.

I'm not necessarily recommending this to other people; in the effectiveness-difficulty tradeoff, it carries a fairly substantial difficulty penalty that probably isn't really worth it. But there's something about using the ultimate shoelace knot that appeals to me, so I thought I'd mention it.

>>dijit+HC1
Techniques from Japan that changed my life:

T-shirt folding. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5AWQ5aBjgE

Gift wrapping. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qi8ZXUH_wY

>>Tomte+(OP)
this site comes up often and it usually sparks conversations about shoelaces, but i want to see the algorithms(o) and database schema

the consistency in the images, and the seemingly exhaustive quantity, implies they were algorithmically generated

i would love if each image had a build array that documented how to draw the laces using a minimalist(i) notation representing connections and nodes

this paired with simple client side code could have the images created dynamically with less work for the server and less data being sent across wire.. a random photo(ii) from the 'dis' method(iii) was 2.7K

instead it seems the server either stores or creates html with the images hard coded and serves up the images associated with the method, though the image file names are encouraging of a meticulously normalised underlying abstraction

i think an appreciation, either conscious or unconscious, for this underlying abstraction is part of the attraction to this project

(o) http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/2trillionmethods.htm

(i) http://www.fieggen.com/software/info.htm

(ii) http://www.fieggen.com/la/ya-d+.png

(iii) http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/displayshoelacing.htm

>>gp7+T42
I bought the wrong boot! http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-winter-boots-for-men-a...

Thanks for the recommendation. This looks great.

>>justif+2l2
It's possible that you didn't find: http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/create-a-lace.htm which strongly hints at them being algorithmically generated either up-front or JIT.

>>dri_ft+lH1
No joke, here's a TED talk on the subject: https://www.ted.com/talks/terry_moore_how_to_tie_your_shoes

>>stygia+t12
As an alternative, Baxter boots[0] are also worth considering. I bought a pair of Gringos[1], as they were cheaper than Blundstones, and have been pretty happy with them.

If you really want the full dress boot option and are prepared to spend a lot, there's always RM Williams[2] of course. However, I've heard reports their quality has suffered in recent years. I have three pairs of Yearling Craftsman boots now between 15-25 years old. They've all been re-soled multiple times and the older ones are looking a bit worse for wear, but I've certainly had my money's worth out of them.

[0] http://baxterfootwear.com.au

[1] http://baxterfootwear.com.au/products/gringo/

[2] http://www.rmwilliams.com.au/

>>rangib+hG2
I believe the woman to whom you are referring is named "Marie Kondo".

The NYTimes wrote up a fairly lengthy article about her in July 2016, which I've been meaning to read: "Marie Kondo and the Ruthless War on Stuff". [0]

[0] https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/10/magazine/marie-kondo-and-...

EDIT: link information

>>Lewton+9w2
You can easily fold a shirt with a sheet of paper.

Here is a video (she uses a magazine, but you just need a single sheet) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yaMc9Sz-YE

Probably not as fast but very effective if you need to travel with a couple of shirts.

>>Tomte+(OP)
There is also a book on the mathematics of lacing your shoes:

The Shoelace Book: A Mathematical Guide to the Best (And Worst) Ways to Lace Your Shoes

https://www.amazon.com/Shoelace-Book-Mathematical-Guide-Wors...