# Poll: On men's shoe laces and the tying thereof **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 1, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807 "2017-06-01T00:22:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/1 "2017-06-01T00:22:43Z")
Lately, I’ve noticed that (men’s) shoe laces have gotten too short. You try to make a proper [double shoelace knot](https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/standardknot.htm) and end up with a little spherical mess because they’re too bloody short. I was telling my hubby this, last week, and he said that today’s young men don’t tie them at all, they just tuck the ends inside the shoe, except for exercise. I don’t look at guy’s shoes nearly as much as he does, so I don’t know. What do you guys do? Please refer to [this handy table](https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/knots.htm) so we can all agree on terminology. (This poll is public.) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/2 "2017-06-01T00:27:09Z")
Oh boy! A Poll: Poll!!! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/3 "2017-06-01T00:29:21Z")
Being older and fatter than I used to be, I opt for Velcro. It’s easier, and I’m too old to care what other people think of it. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/4 "2017-06-01T00:30:23Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Oh boy! A Poll: Poll!!! Hey, I like to make \*doubly \*sure. Hence the double knot. :o ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/5 "2017-06-01T00:31:43Z")
Umm, you know you don’t have to use the laces that come with the shoes-- you can buy longer laces. However, I like you, apparently, am a woman who buys men’s shoes (they run wider are sturdier, and tend to have less pink), and never find the laces are too short. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/6 "2017-06-01T00:35:28Z")
Double knot is my standard. Dress shoes come with absurdly short laces but the last two pairs of sneakers I bought have ridiculously long laces that I have to triple knot to keep from stepping on them. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/7 "2017-06-01T00:50:39Z")
Incorrect use of “Hi, Opal!” It should only be used as the third item of a three-item list. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/8 "2017-06-01T00:57:11Z")
Your link to the “proper double shoelace knot” goes to a standard knot, not a double knot. I just tie a standard knot. I have had to replace shoelaces on occasion when the stock laces were unsuitable. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/9 "2017-06-01T00:58:04Z")
Actually, I find the laces too damn long. With the kind of knot I grew up tying, I keep walking on them and pulling the knots loose. I now tie a double-double knot, giving me a ridiculous **four** loops. And while I’m at it, I hate round shoe laces. Good laces should be flat and made of cotton! ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/10 "2017-06-01T01:02:39Z")
Other than dress shoes, I haven’t worn shoes with laces for years. I wear work boots for every occasion that doesn’t need dress shoes. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/11 "2017-06-01T02:58:27Z")
Most of my shoes are slip-ons, though when I wear sneakers, I tie them the old fashioned way. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/12 "2017-06-01T03:15:31Z")
If the shoes support it I like to use the lace-lock system. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/13 "2017-06-01T03:58:31Z")
I wear nice Timberland Pro Oxfords with composite toes most of the time. They are business casual/dress shoes that are extremely well made and meant for heavy use even in industrial environments but you can wear them anywhere. I still haven’t even worn even a single pair of laces out in 4 years let alone the shoes themselves and I have been given 3 pairs so far that may outlast me even though I am not that old. I just use a standard, single knot and it hardly ever comes untied. The key is that the laces they come with are heavy duty and flat. Rounded laces are bad news and will come untied without fancier knots. I just replace any rounded laces on my other shoes with heavy duty flat ones of the appropriate length and that eliminates the problem. You don’t want the really cheap ones because they will fray fairly quickly. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/14 "2017-06-01T04:32:19Z")
Double bow. I do a normal bow and then cross and loop the rabbit-ears a second time. I may be close to the “double knot” illustration but its hard for me to tell from that. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/15 "2017-06-01T04:46:04Z")
Standard knot. If the loops are exceptionally long, then the tied laces may have the loops fucked into the shoe. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/16 "2017-06-01T05:44:10Z")
I used to do a double knot until I learned, in my late 40s, that I had been doing it wrong all my life\*. I now find a single standard knot suffices. \*You can easily tell if you are doing it correctly by tying a single knot and looking at how the bow naturally lies. It should fall across the foot, if it falls along the line of the foot then you have a weaker knot which is more prone to becoming untied. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/17 "2017-06-01T06:30:48Z")
I do Ian’s secure, though I don’t call it that. Also follow the directions to make sure you’re doing a square knot and not a granny knot. After years of double knotting, I find that this one almost never falls apart, though I generally double up with boot style laces that are round in cross section. But these are also more generous with the laces. The important question is: what type of shoes? Dress shoes have short laces. Skate style shoes have plenty long ones. Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/18 "2017-06-01T09:04:47Z")
> [@Mudshark](#): > > Standard knot. If the loops are exceptionally long, then the tied laces may have the loops fucked into the shoe. That seems like a messy and difficult method. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/19 "2017-06-01T09:37:09Z")
Nice guide. Double starting knot + “better bow” on top. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/20 "2017-06-01T10:18:44Z")
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