How to lace skates?

[Christy]

I recall a thread recently where different ways of lacing skates were recommended, but despite searching the forum for the last few hours I can't find the thread 
so I was wondering if the kind people who provided the information would mind posting it again PLEASE.

[rachelplotkin]

I was not the original poster but I believe this is the link you are referring to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMd3EpUSFcY

[nicklaszlo]

Search returns no results for "lace" but many results for "lacing."  Odd.

[Christy]

Thanks for the link but it's not the Edea information I was looking for. It was more generic about skate lacing patterns. I think AgnesNitt was one of the posters and can't remember who the other poster was.
Yep, lacing has loads of results, especially about replacing stuff 

[Query]

I couldn't find the threads either, with skatingforum's tool, but if you search Yahoo or Google for

  lacing 2014 site:skatingforums.com

you will find lots.

E.g., this recent one.

Edea's technique (in which holes are fed from on top rather than from below) is good for really, really locking in the way you lace - but is fairly difficult to tighten and loosen.

Many people have come up with lots of techniques for lacing loose in one part of their boot (e.g., where their boot fits extra tight, or where they need to bend their ankle), and tight in other parts. Typically you lock off the lace section from the rest with an overhand knot. There are also people who love to wrap around some or all of the metal hooks from the top rather than the bottom, or who use up extra space by wrapping around them from the bottom, then back down again. And lots of us don't use the top hooks at all. And many of us tie double knots, so the top part doesn't come undone.

There are a bunch of methods of pulling the laces extra tight - e.g., push fingers on the holes of the level below while you tighten the current level, use lace pullers... I like to leave a little looseness at the bottom-most level, and tighten everything else up - then I pull the bottom one tight, and work my way up a second time.

Again, you can pull the lace through the holes straight through to the sides, instead of forwards, because the latter creates a bend that makes it hard to create tension.

I also like to tie the bow tie as a double slipped granny knot, instead of an overhand knot followed by the around-and-in movement. That is, after tying the overhand (which I sometimes turn into a surgeon's knot with an extra loop), I grab both ends, looped around, and tie a second overhand. (A bow tie IS a double slipped granny - but if you tie it that way, it stays tighter, because you don't loose tension during the around and in movement.

I've also stopped using flat laces, which can almost cut into my fingers if it gets too twisted. I use round nylon utility cord (sometimes called parachute cord) from a rock climbing or camping goods store of a diameter that fits tightly through the holes. If you use too small a diameter, round cord slips loose too easily - but done with slightly larger cord, it doesn't slip, so you don't need the finger locking technique I mentioned above. I like bright orange cord against my black boots - Halloween colors, though utility cord comes in more conservative colors too. Too bad boot covers hide my Halloween color scheme. 

A lot of people take up extra lace by looping the laces around the back. If that is done before you tie the bow tie, it comes loose, because the lace gets stretched every time you bend your ankle. (Maybe some hockey skates are OK with this - if they can't bend at the ankle at all.) If it is done after, and you don't leave enough loose lace, bending your ankle unties the bow tie.

I still think a good method would be to use downhill ski style tightening clips. One type of ancient rental boot was set up that way, and it worked very well.

Anyway, there are some many different methods, and so many different needs in boot fit, that you should just find one that works well for you.

[Christy]

Yes - that's the one. Thank you so much for finding it. Interesting that it isn't found internally but can be found externally??

[alejeather]

Yes - that's the one. Thank you so much for finding it. Interesting that it isn't found internally but can be found externally??

One quirk of the site's search function is that you have to be careful to search while you're on the forum's home page, or else it doesn't search the whole forum, and only searches the sub-forum you're in. It's not clear from the search box that it does that.