Ian's Shoelace Site - Ian Knot Technical Info.

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Ian's Shoelace Site

Ian Knot Technical Info.

This page contains some technical information on the Ian Knot, including its knotting origins, its advantages and its limitations.

Ian Knot Technical Description

What It Isn't:
First and foremost, the Ian Knot isn't technically a new "Knot", as the finished result is identical to other conventional shoelace knots. To be true to both the English language and knotting terminology, it should be called a new "Technique" or "Method". However, this is a grammatical subtlety that should probably be left to the purists.

What It Is:
The finished Ian Knot is identical to both the Standard Shoelace Knot and the Two Loop Shoelace Knot. In fact, all three of these form exactly the same finished knot, which is known in knotting terminology as a "Reef Knot" (or "Square Knot") with "Drawstrings" or "Ripcords" (the loose ends that you pull to untie the knot). The Ian Knot differs only in the manner and speed of tying; the finished knot is just as secure and just as easy to untie.

What It's Like:
The core of my technique is almost identical to that used in the "Tom Fool Knot", which is a similarly "instant" knot that is usually tied with rope, using the whole hands instead of just the fingertips. The Ian Knot could be described as a more intricate variant of the Tom Fool Knot.

Whilst the Tom Fool Knot is described in various knotting books, the definitive reference The Ashley Book of Knots even has a drawing of an old sailor tying a Tom Fool Knot on the front cover! (see top-right of this page).

Note that the Ashley Book of Knots has some inconsistencies. The "Tom Fool Knot" is shown as both #1141 and in more detail as #2534, the final illustration of which is actually that of the "Handcuff Knot", which in turn is shown as both #1134 and #1140, and which uses the same core technique as my Crossed Ian Knot.

My Own Technical Observations

How Does It Compare To Regular Shoelace Knots?
When I first invented the Ian Knot, I was curious to see how it differed from the tried and tested conventional knot that I had been using until then. For several months, I tied one shoe the old way and the other shoe with my new Ian Knot. This led to the following conclusions:

The Ian Knot was quicker to tie, taking only a split second compared with a couple of seconds for the conventional knot.
The Ian Knot was easier to tie than the conventional knot regardless of the prevailing conditions (ie. hot or cold, light or dark, wet or dry).
The Ian Knot was functionally identical to the conventional knot, thus it stayed tied just as reliably, was just as easy to untie, and was just as prone to occasionally get tangled when untying. (Eg. Due to a loose end inadvertently going through a loop during the day's activities).
The Ian Knot caused less wear & tear on my laces than the conventional knot. (The lace of the shoe with the conventional knot became tattered and eventually broke, thus ending the experiment).
However, the Ian Knot was harder to tie than the conventional knot when the laces were too short or when something had to be tied extra tight.

Harder To Tie Tight?
The latter limitation has been mentioned by many web site visitors. As it turns out, this is mainly a problem when learning the Ian Knot, whereas the opposite is true once you have mastered it. As I explain below, working with shorter sections of lace (and hence smaller loops) is actually the secret to forming a tight, secure Ian Knot.

The Ian Knot: Tying It Tight

The Problem:
The most common difficulty that I experienced when first learning the Ian Knot was that it ended up too loose. This was due to the fact that the simultaneous inward movement from both sides of the Ian Knot meant that neither side could maintain outward tension on the Starting Knot. Also, because both hands were busy manipulating the laces, neither had a finger free to hold things in place as I was able to do with other knots.

That said, anyone learning the Ian Knot finds themself in a similar situation to anyone learning a traditional shoelace knot, where it is only with practice that the finger movements become more confident and the knot can be tied more tightly.

The Solution:
When learning, it's natural to begin with large loops to allow for easier manipulation. After gaining confidence, start using progressively smaller loops. This helps in many ways, some of which will only become apparent when you actually try them:

The fingers stay closer to the starting knot, meaning that it is not released for as long.
The fingers can in fact be so close to the starting knot that they actually hold it in place to some extent.
The loops swing in an "arc", maintaining tension the whole time.
The finishing knot requires less tightening down once the loops are pulled through, again reducing the length of time during which any drop in tension could loosen the starting knot.

With very short loops, the laces actually swing in the 3rd dimension. Looking at the diagram in steps 2-3, the part that goes over the right thumb swings towards yourself, whilst on the left lace, the part that sits behind the left forefinger swings away from yourself. The tension on the starting knot is then coming from exactly the right directions to keep it tight. Put technically, the laces swing in a conical arc, the vertex of which is at the centre of the starting knot.

Put more simply:

Keeping the loops small and tight helps maintain tension in just the right way to keep the Ian Knot tight from start to finish.

An Alternative Measure:
Whilst practicing the Ian Knot, one useful measure is to tie a Double Starting Knot, which helps keep everything tight whilst working on the Ian Knot. It's sort of like using "Training Wheels" until the Ian Knot has been mastered, after which the regular Starting Knot can once again be used.

Should It Be Called An Ian Knot?

Is The Ian Knot Original?
I occasionally receive an e-mail from a web site visitor who tells me that they either used an identical knot, or were shown an identical knot by someone else, BEFORE 1982, implying that because this other knot pre-dates my Ian Knot, I probably learned it somewhere and am passing it off as my own. The most common reason for this ends up being that they have confused the Ian Knot with another knot, most often the very similar looking Two Loop Shoelace Knot. However, there are several other possible explanations:

They, too, did the same as I did and analysed the conventional knot to come up with this simpler variation, or -
They knew the "Tom Fool Knot" and adapted it to the shoelace, or -
They learned it from someone else who had done one of the above.

However, consider the following e-mail excerpt:

"Anyway, I want to say congratulations for coming up with the Ian knot, it's a good knot. I came up with the same knot in my second year of school, so I would've been about five years old. Still, you'd beaten me to it by some six years".

Besides lending credibility to my claim of having invented it totally on my own, it also reinforces my first conclusion: That anyone who analyses the standard knot could conceivably end up working out this same, faster method. The technique is so simple that it's hard to imagine that more people haven't "discovered" it.

Naming It The "Ian Knot":
Despite endless research into the subject, I have yet to discover any other name for this shoelace tying method. The fact that others are coming up with essentially the same knot independently doesn't preclude me from having named my invention the "Ian Knot", nor does this detract from my efforts to document the procedure and to actively and freely share it with users all around the world.

Please see my Testimonials page to read some of the other e-mails that I've received about the Ian Knot.

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The Ashley Book of Knots

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