31–40 of 119 posts
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
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…
Until, at the ripe old age of 32, when a friend tipped me about Ian's shoelace site, and I finally learned how to tie my shoelaces properly.
It's a great example of not knowing what you don't know, because shoelaces, right?
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.)
So strange to see this here.. I spent a couple days reading the site a few years ago. It was during a time where I was looking for alternative ways to live my life and if I could have subtle improvements on everyday things. I learned a few knots and even now when I buy a new pair of shoes I consult the site to see what lacing style would suit the shoe and my foot. (since different styles put different tension on the…
> It was during a time where I was looking for alternative ways to live my life and if I could have subtle improvements on everyday things. I'm doing exactly this. Would you mind sharing some of the other alternatives you discovered?
-Cleaning my entire apartment very thoroughly and keeping it that way. Makes me feel a lot better overall.
-Positive mental attitude always and trying not to stress about things as much. I am a very cynical person and I believe trying to think about things differently is important.
-Constantly analyzing what I am doing and thinking and asking people what I could have done differently, even if I don't see it as a failure there is always something to improve. The key is thinking objectively and not worrying about those mistakes, but keeping those things in mind in the future.
-Really pushing myself to do things out of my comfort zone every single day.
-Focus on making progress on something non-work related every single day.
So strange to see this here.. I spent a couple days reading the site a few years ago. It was during a time where I was looking for alternative ways to live my life and if I could have subtle improvements on everyday things. I learned a few knots and even now when I buy a new pair of shoes I consult the site to see what lacing style would suit the shoe and my foot. (since different styles put different tension on the…
So... what other alternative ways to live your life did you discover? Love that idea!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
So... what other alternative ways to live your life did you discover? Love that idea!
I'm working towards owning no shoes with laces. Between my Dubarry boat/deck shoes and a pair of laceless Converse, my other shoes are eschewed!
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.
I have an adblock (ublock); I almost never clicked an ad willingly in my life. But on that website I clicked almost all the banners. This website is awesome. Designers, "content creators" and advertisers should learn from him.
[1] http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/grannyknottingcelebs.htm
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