I just learned the Ian Knot.

How much of my life have I wasted tying shoes the “standard” way?

If you don’t know what the Ian Knot is, watch:

Youngest is still struggling with shoelace tying. Understandable because he rarely wears shoes with laces, so far too often when he wears those shoes we don’t have the time to teach him properly. Couple that with the fact that knots are useful, and I’ve been on a kick to get the kiddos to learn a bunch of basic knots (Oldest fights it and refuses to learn… then every time I see him struggling to tie something up, I remind him how much easier things would be if he’d listen to his old man once in a while and learn proper knots). All the basic ones they teach in Boy Scouts: square knot, two half-hitches, taught-line hitch, bowline, sheet bend, clove hitch, etc..

Might as well start with shoelaces.

And yes, while the rest of the household knows how to tie laces the old fashioned way, we’re all going to learn the Ian knot. Well, we’ve mostly got it… doesn’t take long. But mastering it so we can tie it super fast will just take practice.

So what are some other useful knots?

Figure 8 knot is simple, and good to know about as a stopper.

Lark’s Head is another simple one, useful too.

I read about the Trucker’s Knot and think that would be useful to learn. I don’t know it myself.

Of course there’s the basic overhand knot, but you tend to learn that one as you do other knots.

It’s good to learn about the granny knot… just so you can recognize it, since you’ll probably tie it a bunch while learning the square knot.

What are some other essential knots to know?