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The “Granny Knot”

fieggen.com

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Re: The “Granny Knot”

#221

Post by memsom »

eythian wrote: post #212
jet_32951 wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Among American sailors you will find "reef knot" dominates: it is the knot used to "reef" or diminish a sail's useful area. Among Boy Scouts (and no offense intended here) you will find the term "square knot" dominates.

Scouts, but not in the US, was where I learnt it as "reef knot", it's pretty much the go-to knot there, to the point where I recall it making up part of a lot of designs on badges and such.

It was a reef knot in the Scouts in the UK also. And a granny knot was a reef know where the sequence was repeated (RoL/RoL or LoR/LoR rather than LoR/RoL IIRC.)

Re: The “Granny Knot”

#222

Post by globular-toast »

Someone1234 wrote: post #35
waynesonfire wrote: post #27

https://www.ted.com/talks/terry_moore_how_to_tie_your_shoes

People are very negative about these kinds of TED talks, but I actually improved my hand drying technique after the TEDx on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FMBSblpcrc That and using the back of my hand/arm to push off the water from my body after a shower keep our towels much dryer and nicer.

It seems amazing that some people have to be taught things like this as an adult. There seem to be certain things that some people will "just know", while others need to be explicitly taught. I needed to explicitly learn how to socialise. Nobody teaches you how to do it, but there are many rules you are expected to know and follow. I think a lot of these things aren't explicitly taught because it allows certain people to be superior to others. Finance is a good example of this.

Re: The “Granny Knot”

#223

Post by tomcam »

lwansbrough wrote: post #23
iandinwoodie wrote: post #6

A few years ago I switched from the "Granny Knot" to the "Ian Knot" [0] in order to (1) eliminate the need for "double knotting" and (2) straighten the bow. Despite the few embarrassing times early in the process where friends observed me struggling to tie my shoes, I can confidently say the switch has been worth it. [0] https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm

I did this too and also momentarily forgot how to tie my shoes! (Forgot the new method, and the old method.) Now I have saved literally minutes of my life on shoe tying.

I want to say sincerely that this exchange is life-changing. I'm old and in rapidly declining physical health. I feel like my brain is working just fine, but the fact of my always-bad memory has been leaving me with the existentially terrifying question "is that going too?"

I realize now I've been having these incidents all my life. Recently I've had the niggling sensation that maybe it's just self-delusion. Nope! Been going on the whole time, just like the lot of you. Thanks for sharing, and I mean that.

Re: The “Granny Knot”

#224

Post by mPReDiToR »

saalweachter wrote: post #159
birktj wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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.

That's called the Better Bow on the site.

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

Never comes undone.

Re: The “Granny Knot”

#225

Post by smeej »

mrtnmcc wrote: post #204
oldandboring wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been using the Ian knot since around 2005 and it's easily the most impactful "life hack" I've ever made. My shoes basically never come untied.

Was all excited to learn this knot until I realized none of my shoes have laces, I've fully converting to no-tie quicklaces.

I did the same thing! I fixed my granny knot habit years ago, but apparently also subconsciously weeded tie-every-time laces out of my habits--which is saying something, because I rarely wear anything but Chuck Taylors!

Re: The “Granny Knot”

#226

Post by benhurmarcel »

CollinEMac wrote: post #55

This is why I switched to only wearing sneakers that don't have laces. The fact that there's a whole site dedicated to tying your shoes properly tells you everything you need to know and yet this is largely a solved problem. You might think I look childish wearing velco/slip-on shoes all the time but I get a lot of compliments on my Adidas and my Metcons.

You can also wear a fleece everywhere. It's light and comfortable. But it just doesn't look as good and people will judge you differently for it in some contexts.

Clothing is just as much about comfort as it is about impressions.

Re: The “Granny Knot”

#227

Post by Zecc »

iandinwoodie wrote: post #6

A few years ago I switched from the "Granny Knot" to the "Ian Knot" [0] in order to (1) eliminate the need for "double knotting" and (2) straighten the bow. Despite the few embarrassing times early in the process where friends observed me struggling to tie my shoes, I can confidently say the switch has been worth it. [0] https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm

Same here. You might been interested in learning about the lace lock[0] as well, if you haven't already.

  [0]: https://youtu.be/LXjOLWgWq9k

Re: The “Granny Knot”

#228

Post by JoeAltmaier »

The ordinary shoelace knot is the 'slippery square knot'. It's 'slippery' because its tied with a loop so you can pull the free end to release. And it's 'square' because its symmetrical when tied right.

There are three ways to tie a square knot wrong. One of them is the 'Granny'. I don't remember the names of the others.

Anyway its the reason our climbing staff teach to never tie any climbing rope with a square knot - because you have three ways to kill yourself. Tied wrong it can just 'walk off the rope'.

Re: The “Granny Knot”

#229

Post by airhead969 »

Disclaimer: I was a Cub Scout and Boy Scout who learned a number of knots. Fishing also helps by necessity.

FYI: ABOK #80, #186, #464, #1206 are called Granny knots but not the Granny of shoe knots.

#1212 is the conventional shoe knot, #1215 - #1219 are alternate versions. I don't see a Granny shoe knot except maybe #1220 as a parcel knot, perhaps because it's "wrong" for the cosmetics of shoes. Granny knots were/are a derisive term for dangerous or improper knots. IIRC right rectangular prism parcels were wrapped in brown paper like a Christmas present but then wrapped once in twine, twisted 90 degrees underneath, wrapped again perpendicularly, and then finished with a Granny shoe/parcel knot at a 45 degree? angle. I guess one could also use other knots, but they maybe more difficult to untie.

https://archive.org/details/TheAshleyBookOfKnots has a bazillion knots categorized and with their uses.

Re: The “Granny Knot”

#230

Post by sloucher »

CollinEMac wrote: post #55

This is why I switched to only wearing sneakers that don't have laces. The fact that there's a whole site dedicated to tying your shoes properly tells you everything you need to know and yet this is largely a solved problem. You might think I look childish wearing velco/slip-on shoes all the time but I get a lot of compliments on my Adidas and my Metcons.

>The fact that there's a whole site dedicated to tying your shoes properly tells you everything you need to know

Similarly: half of the top 10 most-voted questions on StackOverflow are about Git.

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