Odd Things

[John Smith]

I was thinking ... we send the spaceships as far as Mars, and the laser guided bomb can kill a lot of people with amazing precision. Yet my damn shoelaces untie at least 3 times a day. How can that be?

[fred rosenberger]

i have a tip to help keep your shoelaces tied, assuming you use the standard bow-type knot most americans use.

it's hard to explain without showing, but i'll try. most people usually start with a 1/2 hitch. you wrap one lace around the other and pull it tight. but instead of wrapping around once, go around twice. this makes it less likely to come lose while tying the actual bow.

once you've done that, you make a loop with one lace. I usually make it with my right thumb and index finger, using the lace on the right.. you then wrap the other (left) lace around the loop, and then tuck it up through where your thumb is.

What i do it as i wrap it around, i catch it between my thumb and index finger, then wrap it around AGAIN. There should be TWO loops around your thumb now. Now pull the lace through BOTH of these loops, and pull tight.

ever since i discovered this, my shoes only come untied when the cat grabs them when i walk past, and often not even then.

They can then be untied just like normal, using either lace to pull them loose.

there's also something called a 'double-knot', but if you don't untie them correctly, you get a BIG ugly nasty knot that takes a while to undo...

I don't know if that made ANY sense, but if you figure it out, you'll never have this problem again.

[Frank Silbermann]

Clothing fashions are based on tradition, not efficiency. The look of a wool suit and tie, for example, are based on the economics of early 19th century clothing manufacture and technology. If you wanted efficiency, you could buy shoes that fasten with velcro, and wear a zippered jumpsuit.

[Marc Peabody]

Velcro was invented over 50 years ago.

[John Dunn]

Newshoelaces don't untie so easily...

[Warren Dew]

One thing to do is make sure the laces aren't too long. Sometimes laces untie themselves because the end of the lace gets stepped on.

[Erin Goettl]

In the eighties they used to have those shoelaces that looked like a coil and you would just wrap those together -- those puppies would NEVER come untied unless you really wanted them to.

[Peter Rooke]

Maybe its your knots - as the old saying goes: "Three round turns, would hold the Queen Mary". [as in the naval ship HMS Queen Mary, and non the monarch! :roll: ]

----------------------
(As King Henry VIII, to the Pope) "Now I'm going to marry my first wife, then I'm going to divorce her. Now, I know what you're going to say but wait, my story gets better! I'm going to marry my second wife, then I'm going to kill her! Cut her head off! Ahhh, you weren't expecting that, were you? Third wife, going to shoot her! Fourth wife, put her in a bag! Fifth wife, into outer space! Sixth wife on a rotissimat! Seventh wife will be made out of jam...'"
[Eddie Izzard, 1999 - "Dress to Kill"]
[ January 06, 2005: Message edited by: Peter Rooke ]

[Nathaniel Stoddard]

Originally posted by John Smith:
I was thinking ... we send the spaceships as far as Mars, and the laser guided bomb can kill a lot of people with amazing precision. Yet my damn shoelaces untie at least 3 times a day. How can that be?

I started double-knotting a couple of months ago for this reason. It's really changed my life.

[Richard Hawkes]

After tying my laces I secure them by wrapping each shoe in brown parcel tape

[Peter Rooke]

If you don't wish to tie knots then: Toggle - suitable for anoraks as well .

[Chris Baron]

Originally posted by Richard Hawkes:
After tying my laces I secure them by wrapping each shoe in brown parcel tape

That's what i'm doing too. And if i run out parcel tape, i buy quality cotton shoelaces.
cb

[John Smith]

It's always like that -- I ask a metaphysical question, but all the replies address shoelaces instead. I think I need to learn how to phrase the questions better.

[Peter Rooke]

The Better Bow (Knot)

In the old days, after building a bridge the Roman engineer in charge would have to stand under it while the first legion marched over - guess they tied good knots and hitches.

and the laser guided bomb can kill a lot of people with amazing precision

Who aims the laser at the target? - Its a shame really, good inventions end up being used to kill people. Not long after the sewing machine, we got the WWI machine guns

[Joel McNary]

Originally posted by Peter Rooke:
The Better Bow (Knot)

That's great...now if I can find some color-coded shoelaces...