Discussion: knots

Had trouble keeping shoes tied despite using double knots. Now trying this technique:
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-240-...

This knot is used by a lot of orienteers I know:

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

From my experience, it has never come undone during a race and i never need to use tape to secure the knot.

The one in RW is the plain Ian Knot, meant to look good, the second is Ian's Secure knot, which I and many others use. It works.

AC, I had no idea such a site existed. I am shocked and I curse you.

I think that people use tape mostly to keep branches and sticks from inserting themselves through the loops of the knot and tripping them. I suppose that securing the knot would also occur as a side effect of the taping, but that is not the primary purpose.

Those Salomon kevlar laces sure are nice. I have never had them untie. When other laces get wet, they stretch, and must be re-tightened. The Salomons don't stretch at all when wet and the loop tucks away under a flap. No tape is necessary.

I currently use the Salomon laces on non-Salomon shoes. They originally came with a pair of Salomons, and then when those shoes wore out, I moved the laces to another pair of Salomons (previously without), and then to a pair of Vasques. The laces finally wore out on the 3rd pair of shoes, so I picked up a pair of replacement laces and put them on my new Montrails.

Since none of the shoes, other than the originals, have the little lace pocket, I just keep the lace ends short and unlooped so that they don't catch on anything.

This lacing system works best on shoes with the nylon webbing "eyelets".

If you read the customer reviews of those laces at the above link, you'll see that people have a lot of trouble installing and assembling the laces, and the instructions aren't really that helpful. Some tips: pay attention to which side of the gear is up when you insert. Also, lacing through the lock is a lot easier if you use a lighter to fuse the ends of the lace, and use a safety pin to thread it through the lock. It's not easy, but I'd rather have the headache upfront than tying, re-tying, taping, and whatever other issues come up with traditional laces.

Such useful information, thx all. Having wet laces stretch is another annoyance. Patrick, would you please check the link you posted above as it doesn't seem live...

Link is fixed. I had a typo in there. Sorry about that.

RE - the runner's world knot. This is the standard knot that many people use. Just a slicker method of tying. Coach calls it the Ian's knot. When I teach basic knot classes, I call it the slippery square knot.

Many people unknowingly tie this knot incorrectly. No matter which technique is used, it is quite easy to be careless and accidentally produce a slippery granny knot.

The same site referred to by AC has a nice description of the error.
http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/slipping.htm

my solution, i tie my laces when i first get shoes and they never become undone =)

I don't think it's the knot, but rather the lacing pattern, that makes the shoe "at one" with your foot. I like this lacing pattern for security. Nice effect on your competitors at the Start line too.