Ian's Shoelace Site:
http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/knots.htm
OMFG!!! It took a while to figure out what the heck the diagrams were showing, but I realized that I've been tying the "granny knot" ever since I learned how to tie my shoes. Luckily for running I usually double knot the shoes, so the laces never come undone, but it is amazing that I finally learned how to tie my shoelaces so the first knot and the finishing knots are balanced and thus less liable to come untied, unlike with the granny knot...
Okay, that probably made NO sense whatsoever to 100% of you out there. But you gotta believe me. Check out these pictures below.
THE BALANCED KNOT (correct, unlikely to come untied)
THE UNBALANCED KNOT (incorrect, more likely to come untied)
Quoting directly from Ian's website:
Whilst there's only a subtle difference in tying technique, there's a big difference in security. This is not simply an "Old Wives Tale"; it's based on millennia of established knowledge. In fact, there's even a poem taught in Scouting, which goes something like:
Right over left, left over right,
Makes a knot both tidy and tight.
The difference arises from the forces of friction on adjacent contact points within the finished knot. In simple terms, this means that in the balanced knot the adjacent bits pull in the same direction and actually tighten the knot. In the un-balanced "Granny Knot", the adjacent bits pull in opposite directions and tend to work the knot loose.
Wow, I am amazed...! No matter how long you live, there is something new to be learned... about tying your shoelaces! Ha ha ha! I think I will stop surfing the web anymore because I don't want to learn all the other things I've been doing wrong all this time. Just let me grow old and crotchety, happy in my know-nothing-ness...
1 comment:
Ummmm, I could never tie my shoes the way most people tie them so I do the bunny ear method. Still do even after I finally learned how to do it the "popular" way. Does that make me dumb?
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