By: Blonde Two
Walking with teenagers has many things that occur over and over again. It seems that tying laces is one of those commonalities. Every year, and almost every walk, teenagers have trouble tying their laces and keeping them tied. I wanted to send them a link for an instructional video to help them but I couldn’t find one. What’s the solution to this problem, I asked myself? Make a video myself of course. With the help of my very able assistant, Blonde Two, I set about making the videos you see here. The first one teaches how to tie a ‘surgeon’s knot’. This knot should be tied at the top of the cross over bit of the laces that are inside normal lace eyelets. It can help the lace between it and the toe stay at the tension that you set it as without too much slipping. After the surgeon’s knot the laces can be hooked around the quick-tie hooks at a different tension if desired. Both Blonde Two and I like our feet to have quite a bit of room around the toes but want our boots quite secure around the ankle. This system of lacing makes sure that the laces give two different tensions to fit this desire.
The best thing to do with this knowledge is give it a try on a decent length walk. Only when walking for an hour or two will you know if the system is right for you.
My own method is easy and can also be undone quickly pulling one end as in a normal shoe lace tie. All you need to do is when you have formed the first bow which you normally take one turn round take two turns before passing through to form the second bow. My laces never come undone that way. It is a strange thing but I have suggested this method to many friends and acquaintances but they seem to rebel against the idea, I suspect because most people don’t like being bossed about and maybe think you are criticising them for the way they are doing something. However, thanks, and I will give your method a try.
Contrary to my own perceptions many people eulogise about some wonderful feeling they get of anticipation for some possible epiphany to come when putting on their boots at the beginning of a walk. For me it is just a tiresome chore.
I quite enjoy taking my boots off at the end of a walk… Mind you I am not sure everyone around me enjoys the experience quite so much!
Not seen that method before and will try it. I have a collapsed arch so one foot has a big lump on the top which rubs if I am not careful. I use two laces in each boot – one is permanently knotted with a reef knot, quite tightly, on the toe side of the lump. The other is tied in a bow like a normal lace but starting above the bump, and can be varied in tension according to terrain. Works quite well for me.
That does sound like a good solution. I found the new method prevented the laces from slipping during a rather steep (up and down) walk on the coast path.