Mega Ian Knot Feedback

Your site's great; I've used your Mega Ian Shoelace Knot many times. I also use your site as a reference for other things, such as Over Under Lacing, whenever I'm too lazy to remember what the amount of eyelets on a given shoe means in terms of starting the lacing.

– Larry C., Jul-2023

Also found out it's easier to do the Mega Knot by changing the loops placement - make the second loop cross the first one, so the second one ends up being the outside loop - that way it's easier to grab the loose end loops as they end up being the inside loops.

– Sal, Mar-2019

I tried what you said and bloody hell is that mega knot tight.... It doesn't take much longer to tie but its strength is unreal... My laces are para cord in my boots. I found the finished mega knot actually more use full so I will be sticking with that as I doubt I will find tighter anywhere.

– Dave, Feb-2017

It hit me that the Mega Ian Knot is a standard shoelace knot with the connectors between the finishing knot and the starting knot wound around the bow loops and the free ends.

Start to tie a standard knot with the Ian Knot or Two Loop method but before tightening it, wind the ear and free end on each side together through the center opening. You'll get a Mega Ian Knot.

– David T., Illinois, USA, Jun-2015

In 40 years of playing and studying knots.(also worked on marina, lashing and sheeting, rigging) i have never read, been shown or seen anything exactly the same so I can say in my opinion this is a new knot...

I am now forced by a strange source of information O.C.D to check every known source of information to officially say for certain.

I have forwarded your knot to knot enthusiasts and so far nobody has seen this either.

– David L., Wigan, England, May-2012

I decided to try and make the megaknot, with one hand a single loop around my fingers, and the other hand the normal two loops.

And what did I get? A perfect copy of the Ian's secure knot, as I analyzed it, but very quick and easy to make. Though it is not made perfectly symmetrical, it works much easier for me.

– Rob M., The Netherlands, Feb-2012

I especially love your Mega Ian Knot because... its secure enough for me to use without bending down to untie it all day. Simple as that, yet it saves us all exertion and frustration to tie our shoes again and again.

– Frank, USA, May-2010

I'm a programmer, and I really love how the Mega Ian Knot is like a generalization of the Ian Knot, but with more loops. I'm sure you know this, but you can tie the Mega Ian Knot with any number of extra loops. I've only done 3 loops (1 more than the normal Mega Ian Knot) but I don't see why you couldn't do more. Of course, difficulty and practical value goes down sharply as the number of loops increases :-)

– Casey R., Sweden, May-2009

A knot similar to the Ian can be easily tied, but it results in 4 loops per shoe instead of 2, for a unique look that some viewers may appreciate knowing about.

Begin similarly to the Mega “Ian Knot”, but instead of pulling single loops through, pull both of them. With practice, it becomes easy to keep the loop sizes even, and the knot is great for using up longer-than-desired lace. The knot is no more difficult to undo than a standard “Ian Knot”, but will make a helluva mess if you try to undo it via one of the loops.

– John D., Feb-2009

Personally, I tie my shoelaces under the tongue, so I like to make the knot very permanent that I tie the laces with; so I choose to use the “Mega Ian Knot” on the thin or rounded shoe-laced shoes, and the “Secure Ian Knot” for the my fatter-thinner laces.

– Corey C., USA, Dec-2008

I thought you'd like to know that I'm currently experimenting with tying a Mega Mega Ian Knot. I can only imagine that you've tried your Mega Ian Knot with more than just the one extra loop! It's definitely crazy that we can entertain ourselves with simple things like tying shoes!

– Zach, Michigan, USA, Nov-2008

I want to make an impassioned plea for the Mega-Ian.

I do love the simplicity and speed of the basic Ian knot, like an elegant piece of sleight-of-hand. I use the Ian for dress and casual shoes, and taught it first to both my daughters, who are quite adept at it and don't even know the reef or granny knots.

But I really think the Mega has the best of everything. My kids have mastered the Mega as well, as they are always concerned to keep their laces secure at school; and with the sort of athletic shoes I usually wear, I have been tying it every day for several years now. The Mega-Ian takes me no longer then the reef knot I grew up tying: 3 seconds for either knot.

For longer laces or when trail running I often use a further iteration, a Mega-Ian with another initial turn, giving the neat row of five securing loops across the middle. I've even used a Mega+2 iterations with 7 loops, which I admit is very hard to do neatly. But the Mega's a snap after a bit of practice. I've taught many people who commented on it how to do it on the spot, including the folks at my local running store, who were in awe when they saw me tie my shoes.

I make my plea only because you seem to downplay your lovely creation a bit, remarking that even you have trouble with it, and saying it's unnecessarily difficult. My kids even teach the Mega-Ian to their friends--and they're only 7 and 9. I am very grateful to you for putting it out there, and I think it's the best. Keep up the good work!

– James D., Oregon, USA, Aug-2008

It could perhaps be just me who cares about having the first basic knot tight on the shoes. With this knot, this was a bit harder as it takes some time to fasten this knot after the exchanging part.
...

Seems like a great knot for hiking where you meet different terrains and need something solid, while the secure is perhaps more for daily use where you want a secure knot as it takes so much less time to make.

– Thomas, USA, Jul-2006

I may even try your mega knot to confound my youngest from attempting to untie my shoes when I'm not looking.

– Paul E., USA, Jul-2006

I use “boat shoes” -- the sort with a square-cross-section leather shoelace that comes undone much too easily. I find the Ian's Secure Knot does not hold as long as I would like, but the Mega Knot does the trick -- and looks surprisingly neat.

– Pam W., Jun-2006

While hiking in Europe this summer, I wanted to shorten up my laces a bit more, so I tried something which I imagine you've done, but was new to me: I took hold of the laces much higher up, and spun down an extra time when making the loops for the Mega. The result was, of course, a Mega with five loops cinching it, rather than three--and a bit less lace left over. I got lucky that first time and it came out perfect, though I see with experience it's hard to get the loops all sliding well enough to cinch. It looks really cool, though, with those five neat rings lined up. I kept tying it all through our Europe trip, and in fact was just tying it to head out on my unicycle (for which less loose lace is better). Definitely requires that both ends be pulled to undo it!

Anyway, I thought I'd drop a note to tell you we're still having fun with your knots, and see how far you may have gone with the natural extension of the Mega. In fact, it's not so much a variant of the Mega; the Ian forms the first loop structure that makes the knot, the Mega adds a loop, which can be continued, and so in a sense it's the Ian sub-1, Ian sub-2, Ian sub-3, etc.

– James D., Oregon, USA, Jul-2005

Hey, I noticed that you have a Mega “Ian Knot” but not a Mega “Ian Secure Knot”. Why is this? To make it “Mega” (information coming from how you made the Mega “Ian Knot”) you just double the last few steps. Well I tried this and it makes the knot so secure I can barely untie it. It would probably come out as about 5-6 units. Now there can be another variation that I've come up with also. If you tie the Mega “Ian Secure Knot” with a double overhand knot in the beginning you could call this the Super Mega “Ian Secure Knot”. This may come out as about 8-10 depending on how tight you pulled it. Just a thought.

– Joe, USA, Aug-2005

I grab the laces higher up, one behind finger and one behind thumb as if to tie a regular Ian Knot. Then I spin my pinched fingertips once each in opposite directions, coiling up the fingers past where I'm gripping the first half-loops. Now I'm down where I need to be, with the loops I need having been very quickly and conveniently obtained. I pass them through--easier now that the coils are spindled out of the way up by my next knuckles. Then--this is key--I use my last two fingers, pinky and ring in American parlance, previously uninvolved, to grab the loose ends of each lace, which are found lying conveniently under where those fingers are tucked naturally into the palm. Once I have a hold on them, pulling the loops I just passed across tightens only the parts that need be tightened, without my losing the whole end. It's foolproof. The knot takes me maybe a third of the time it took before I started spindling the loops and grabbing the ends.

– James D., Oregon, USA, Jul-2005

The Mega-Ian is a great knot (a Gigant-Ian knot?), more directly descended from the clever, symmetrical Ian-Knot than the Secure-Ian, and I have no trouble tying it, though it's far from instant like the Ian.

--STEP 4 should mention that the loose-end loops will pass each other on the right, as traffic does in most countries (not sure about Australia), as shown in the diagram. While tying it “on the street” without the diagram, I started passing them the other way, with the right-hand loop coming on my side of the other (toward my torso, passing on the left) and it makes a 2-looped finished knot instead of three.

– James D., Oregon, USA, Jun-2005