zlacker

Doesn’t it still produce the same knot as the standard shoe tie knot? I thought it was just a faster method?

>>procin+(OP)
One is symmetric, the other one isn't.

>>procin+(OP)
Yes. I'd guess he means Ian's Secure Knot, which I also now use.

https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/secureknot.htm

>>procin+(OP)
You are right. It's the same bowtie knot, just tied in a single motion.

>>procin+(OP)
Yes, it does, but the Ian Knot is more reliable, especially in places where you don't have the instant muscle memory like shoelaces. If you learn the standard knot incorrectly it results in you doing a Granny Knot. But if you try to tie the Ian's Knot, you can't tie it incorrectly because it just doesn't work. And of course yes, it's faster.

ETA: Also, OP may have been tying a Granny Knot from time to time which results in shoelaces coming untied very quickly. So the Ian knot gets you both faster tied shoes and shoes that stay tied.

>>latort+j3
Some time after I started tying Ian's way, I surprised myself by effortlessly tying an apron behind my back.

>>procin+(OP)
You are correct, as indicated by the following quote on the page I linked: “The finished Ian Knot is identical to either the Standard Shoelace Knot [...].”

Changing my Granny Knot (unbalanced) to a Standard Shoelace Knot (balanced) would have produced the same result. However, I found the Ian Knot approach to be helpful in preventing me from absentmindedly reverting back to the Granny Knot.

>>procin+(OP)
Went to the shoes to test: Ian Knot is faster and the cord is “relaxed” (less internal stress to contribute towards loosening) rather than twisted.

I’ll try words to describe the Ian Knot: Cross the laces, tuck one under the other, and pull; let go, then pick up a “bunny ear” loop in each hand, one on either side of the pre-knot; with your middle finger, push the out-side of each “ear” through the opposite loop; with thumb and middle finger of each hand, grab the loops simultaneously as they come through; pull tight. Looks like a double knot (two loops, each around the neck of the other) with each free end fed back through, forming the loops and ensuring easy undoing.

>>ddlath+A
the ian's secure knot is one of those things that you don't think will make much of a difference to your daily life but it's like inventing a way to not stub your toe every now and again. well worth it.

>>latort+j3
Well, tying the Ian Knot still requires you to do your starting knot in the correct orientation. Mixing it up will still result in the Granny Knot. From the other responses, it sounds like some are still getting Granny Knots even when using Ian's tying method.

>>ddlath+A
I learned to tie Ian's Secure Knot when I had a pair of shoelaces that liked to come untied constantly (I guess the material was too slippery, or something). Never had the problem again.

Some other trivial life hacks aren't necessarily worth it in practice. With the T-shirt folding one, for instance, the bottom shirt of a stack of shirts tends to unfold itself when you pick up the stack, since one arm of the shirt is basically just folded underneath. The mild inconvenience outweighed the mild convenience for me, and I no longer fold shirts that way.

I'll probably tie my shoes with Ian's knot for life, though.

>>ddlath+A
Is it easy to do a tight Ian's Secure Knot? The only place I would need a more secure knot is when skiing and then I also need to tie the laces very tight. Keeping the laces tight while creating the loops seems slightly difficult.

>>birktj+mk
I'm not sure if it works in this context, but I tie a knot equivalent to Ian's Secure Knot, asymmetrically.

I use the standard "bunny goes around the tree" methodology, except I go around twice before pulling the loop through both.

It might be easier for your use case, because you can hold the knot with one hand while sending the bunny around the tree with the other.

>>birktj+mk
I'm a figure skater. I tie my regular shoes with Ian's secure knot. My skating boots are tied with more regular knots however. Ski shoes would be very similar.

Ian's secure knot doesn't really make sense on such long laces anyway, and making it tight is not very easy because you can't pull to tighten further like you normally would.

The main advantage of Ian's secure knot is that it doesn't come loose over time. But you won't have that problem in ski or skating shoes because you will be redoing much more of the lacing every single time you put them on; a much tighter one at that. So the few hours you'll have your boots on shouldn't make a difference, and if it does, there's something else off in your lacing technique.

>>ddlath+A
I like that one also, never comes undone. However there is one major downside: When one of the ends accidentally goes through a loop before pulling on it to untie your shoes, you end up with a very annoying solid knot instead that takes time to fiddle apart.

>>saalwe+9w
That's called the Better Bow on the site.

It's the one I use with my paracord laces.

Never comes undone.