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Surgeon's Shoelace Knot
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This is the most common secure shoelace knot: Make a Standard Shoelace Knot, but
before pulling tight, loop around and through for a second time. My Mum taught me this secure knot when I was still
quite young.
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Step 1:
Tie a Starting Knot as shown, then make the right (blue) end into a "loop" by simply
doubling it back onto itself.
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Step 2:
Take the left (yellow) end and pass it around to the right, going behind the right loop.
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Step 3:
Continue the left (yellow) end around the right loop to end up in front.
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Step 4:
Start to feed the left (yellow) lace into the "hole" that has just been made. Up to this point, the knot is exactly
the same as the Standard Shoelace Knot.
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Step 5:
Pull the left (yellow) lace through the "hole" to form a "loop" on the right hand side. Unlike the
Standard Shoelace Knot, don't pull it tight just yet!
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Step 6:
Wrap the right (yellow) loop around the left (blue) lace for the second time so that it once again ends up in front.
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Step 7:
Feed the right (yellow) loop back through the "hole" for the second time. This is the "secret recipe" that makes
this knot secure.
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Step 8:
Now, simply pull the loops to tighten the knot. Believe it or not, the whole twisted mess of the previous drawing
will rearrange itself into exactly the same finished knot as my Ian's Secure Shoelace
Knot.
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Finished Knot
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The finished knot should be a tight, closed knot with a double wrap around the middle, as compared to the single
wrap of either my Ian Knot or any Standard Shoelace Knot.
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Because the Surgeon's Shoelace Knot isn't formed symmetrically, the finished knot can end up looking crooked,
especially if there's not enough slack for the laces to rearrange themselves during tightening.
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My Ian's Secure Shoelace Knot is an improvement on this knot that uses effectively the
same core technique but more easily ends up as a symmetrical finished knot.
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Technical Details
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Knotting Terminology
Note that what is traditionally known in knotting terminology as a "Surgeon's Knot" is actually based on a
Double Starting Knot rather than a double-wrapped finishing bow. Both benefit from the
increased friction of the double-wrap, but that friction applies to different parts of the knot:
- In the traditional Surgeon's Knot, the extra friction applies to the first stage (the starting knot), which helps
keep the sides of a wound from opening up, particularly while the second stage is being tied.
- In this shoelace variation, the extra friction applies to the second stage (the finishing bow), which is
exposed to daily forces and thus needs the most assistance.
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This page last updated: 08-May-2008. Copyright © 2003-2008 by
Ian W. Fieggen. All rights reserved.
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