Tying Traditional Laces With Secure Heel Strap.Technic

The Huarache sandal has seen a great deal of innovation with the introduction of new strapping systems to make them easier to wear and to make adjustments with no tying required. Not only do they eliminate the need to tie the Huarache to your foot, they now include a variety of heel strap designs to keep the heel strap from slipping off your heel and add comfort to that strap. We all now have a choice of elasticized strapping, cushioned heel , rubberized heels and silicone covered heel straps to name a few. I am sure there is more out there but you get the idea.

But today’s discussion is not about these new innovations, it is about the original traditional laces which can be tied for casual wear or for all terrain wear. Yes, the traditional laces are the original all terrain strapping systems that have been used for thousands of years. Traditional laces can be tied so that the heel strap does not slip off your heel while remaining comfortable to wear.

Traditional laces are comprised of a variety of different materials ranging from leather lacing, polypro cord, polypro webbing etc. The material you use is personal preference and easy to find locally so you will always have them available. I personally like the polypro/cord or polypro/webbing over the leather because they are water resistant and will not shrink or stretch when wet. They are also soft to the touch and do not require any break in period.

Even with the all-terrain strapping systems that are available I always carry a pair of traditional laces with me because they can easily be fitted to any sandal should the need arise.

The two biggest complaints against traditional laces is one, having to learn how to tie them and two, the heel strap slides off the heel. Learning tying styles for Huaraches can be frustrating and intimidating for some people which is why the new strap and buckle systems are so popular. I for one like the great versatility of the different tying styles and find them to be fun to learn and figure out. As for the heel strap slipping off, I have found a few tying technics that eliminates that problem as well or better than the strap and buckle designs with cushioned, elasticized or rubberized heel straps.

One such method I recently found includes a very simple but effective way of doing this with any type of traditional laces. For this article I am using my ½ inch wide polypro/nylon webbing material to demonstrate this technic of tying a traditional lace in a slip on slip off style with a more secure heel strap.

To do this I simply tied it in the minimalist tying style and then instead of cutting the excess lace off I looped the extra length of the lace through the heel strap on the outside of my foot and then back over the top of my foot and tied it to the inside heel strap with a simple overhand knot. I then cut the excess lace leaving about an inch from the knot. This creates a security strap that pulls up on the heel strap to keep it in place on your heel.

When removing the sandal from your foot you simply slide the knot on the inside of your foot forward to loosen and the sandal can be easily slipped off and back on. After slipping the sandal back on you simply grab the one inch of strap coming out of the knot on the inside of your foot and pull it back towards your heel to secure the heel strap in place.

I know that it sounds complicated so I am adding these step by step pictures to show how simple it really is.

Step one: Adjust toe and heel strap to fit comfotably to your foot.                                       

Step two: Bring strap over top of toe strap and then back under the toe strap bringing the tail out towards you.  

Step three: Tying the simple overhand slip knot.

Snug up the slip knot.

 

Step four:  Slide the tail under the heel strap on the outside of your foot.

 

Step five: Bring the lace back over the top of your foot and under the heel strap on the inside of your foot.

 

Step six: Wrap the tail back under its self to make the final slip knot.

Step seven: Push the tail back through the loop you created in step six.

 

Step eight: Pull the tail snug.

 

You now have a more secure way of tying the minimalist slip on slip off style with a traditional lace to hold the heel strap from slipping off your heel.

To remove the sandal, just slid the slip knot on the inside of your foot towards the bottom and slip the sandal off. When slipping the sandal back on your foot, just grab the tail end of the lace coming out of the slip knot and pull up to snug up the lace.

To see a video of this tying style and other tying styles go to my You Tube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/54rong.

To learn more about Ron G’s custom made Huaraches, please visit my Web Site at: www.allwaysbarefootsandals.com. Or visit my Facebook page “Huarache Sandals”

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Happy Trails.