# Boat Shoes: Tied or Slip-on?



## sbdivemaster (Nov 13, 2011)

When you're donning your boat shoes (aka Topsiders, Docksides, whatever...), do you start with the laces undone and tie them, or do you leave the laces tied and slip them on like loafers?

Conversely, when doffing, do you untie the laces and remove, or just slip them off like loafers?


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## CdnTrad (May 27, 2012)

Laces always tied. Slip 'em on and off like loafers. Probably not the right choice if I were ever to actually wear them on a boat mind you....


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## arkirshner (May 10, 2005)

The laces tie?


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

I find that every once in a while I have to re-tie my boat shoes so they're snug again. Apart from that I just slip them on and off.


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## blairrob (Oct 30, 2010)

I don't think I have ever 'slipped' them on, (I am a sailor though I prefer bare feet on the water), but I've only been wearing them for 30 years or so. Now, if I recall, I used to flip them off quickly still tied in the old days when other clothing articles were also being launched with, um, 'a breathless abandon' but that has not happened in some time and may well be just a creation of a faded memory.

Regardless, listen to your mother. Don't jam on tied shoes. You never know when _you_ might be invited out sailing.


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

If that happens I'll just... tie the laces tight. Problem solved. Though I'm unlikely to be invited out sailing in the middle of the high desert.


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## Walter Denton (Sep 11, 2011)

The only reason I wear boat shoes is that I can slip them on. I don't actually find them that comfortable to walk in. My boat shoes always stay tied with a square knot. Like Jovan, I occasionally need to tighten the knot.


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## tgadd (Sep 20, 2012)

arkirshner said:


> The laces untie?


IFYP



Jovan said:


> I find that every once in a while I have to re-tie my boat shoes so they're snug again. Apart from that I just slip them on and off.


Totally agree here. They are loafers until the knot becomes loose.


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## Himself (Mar 2, 2011)

Slip on all the time, after they've broken in. They may need periodic adjustment.


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## blairrob (Oct 30, 2010)

You guys have no respect for your mothers. I know for a fact each one of you was told to '_untie your shoes before you put them on!_'


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## RM Bantista (May 30, 2009)

sbdivemaster said:


> When you're donning your boat shoes (aka Topsiders, Docksides, whatever...), do you start with the laces undone and tie them, or do you leave the laces tied and slip them on like loafers?
> 
> Conversely, when doffing, do you untie the laces and remove, or just slip them off like loafers?


When boat shoes are the order of the day, the shoe box is removed from the shelf, the laces untied, the shoe trees taken out of the shoes, and the shoes are put on with a shoe horn; then, the laces are re-tied as the shoes are worn about my activities. At day's end, one may occasionally remove the shoes, still tied, with a boot jack if one pleases, put the trees in them, brush, and re-box for return to the shelf, but it may be better to untie prior to removal, re-insertion of the trees and so forth. One has only ever had two pairs of boat shoes, and those have yet to require replacement. Wore a pair last week...
For loafer duty, one has loafers.
Do as thou wilt is the whole of the law, but YMMV,
rudy


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## P Hudson (Jul 19, 2008)

always tie and untie.


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## Snow Hill Pond (Aug 10, 2011)

P Hudson said:


> always tie and untie.


Hmmm...interesting.


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## FiscalDean (Dec 10, 2011)

Both pairs of boat shoes in my rotation are Allen Edmonds so I treat them the same as all my fine dress shoes; untie when removing, insert shoe trees and tie when putting them back on.


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## D&S (Mar 29, 2009)

Not much point in saving them for the water... sailing gear has entered the 21st Century:

https://www.sperrytopsider.com/stor...0074DM&searched=true&CID=gripx3site_mseahiker


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## CdnTrad (May 27, 2012)

D&S said:


> Not much point in saving them for the water... sailing gear has entered the 21st Century:
> 
> https://www.sperrytopsider.com/stor...0074DM&searched=true&CID=gripx3site_mseahiker


Probably great for sailing, but boy are they ugly!


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Some might argue, I suppose, it's a bad and probably useless habit, but I tie and untie my boat shoes each time I put them on or take them off. Someone, probably my dear departed Mother, told me it would extend the life of my shoes. Real men always listen to their mamas, even when they are no longer there!


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## IvanD (Jan 5, 2012)

Mine are permanently tied with a reef knot and have not needed any adjusting all summer, except for the bow which is only to tidy up the excess lace anyway.


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## Bandit44 (Oct 1, 2010)

eagle2250 said:


> Some might argue, I suppose, it's a bad and probably useless habit, but I tie and untie my boat shoes each time I put them on or take them off. Someone, probably my dear departed Mother, told me it would extend the life of my shoes. Real men always listen to their mamas, even when they are no longer there!


Sage advice.


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## rwaldron (Jun 22, 2012)

I always tie them after putting them on and untie them prior to taking them off.


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## Dieu et les Dames (Jul 18, 2012)

I slip mine on and off like loafers. I re-tie them when the knot becomes loose.


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## ArtVandalay (Apr 29, 2010)

Double knot, slip-on. I've tied them once, and they haven't come undone since.


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## sbdivemaster (Nov 13, 2011)

Good mix of responses.

As a child, I never tied or untied, just slipped them on - you know, wiggle them back and forth until they were on. I'm sure many here would cringe at the fact that plenty of the guys I went to school with didn't even bother with that much effort - just crush the heel down and wear them like a pair of slippers. (Shoe horn? What's that?) Of course, the heel counter was eventually ruined, but it didn't matter much as growing feet required a new pair every year (if not more).

By the time I hit high school, I was wearing the Double-L Lace Up Mocs, so they had to be tied and untied. Moving out west for college, I kind of abandoned the boat shoes and mostly wore Deckers, Birks or sneakers. (Still kicking myself for sending my last pair of Double-L's to the thrift store.) Well, I finally decided to get some new boat shoes. Seeing as my feet won't be growing anymore, I want to take care of them. I have fairly high arches, so slipping them on while they are tied is going to cause some damage to the heels, so I untie them to put on, but it's no problem to slip them off while still tied.

I was just curious as to how others dealt with the situation, and I see that I'm not alone. Phew.


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## arkirshner (May 10, 2005)

tgadd said:


> IFYP


New Member Tgadd,

Although the humor in my post may have been too subtle by half, it was posted as intended,.Only moderators have that right to "fix" posts. If you wish to disagree with any of my posts, please quote it and explain where I am wrong. On the other hand, if you think the converse, inverse, or contrapositive of a post is funny, then please quote the post, and as your reply post the converse, inverse, or contropositive and wait for the LOLs to follow.


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## Starch (Jun 28, 2010)

If "boat shoes" refers to the classic leather Topsider or a reasonable facsimile:

They stay tied and slip on and off. This does no more harm to them than you do to pennyloafers by slipping them on and off (less harm, really).

This is among the reasons they're not particularly good shoes to wear when you're actually sailing.


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

Starch: We've been informed in the past by a member that real sail boating types untie and retie them snugly when taking off and putting on.


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## seathingie (Jan 7, 2011)

Having grown up sailing, I always untied and tied my shoes lest they be lost if I went overboard. And avoid wearing them on land so the siping doesn't get ruined. I have my "land topsiders" and they never get untied and tied unless they get too loose.

If sailing in warmer climes, barefeet are good unless you are in the tropics on a teak deck and then the deck is too hot.

And those new topsiders are horrendously ugly.

seathingie


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

^Well, there we go! :icon_smile_big:


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## godan (Feb 10, 2010)

Starch said:


> This is among the reasons they're not particularly good shoes to wear when you're actually sailing.


It is delightful to see this sensible comment originate in Seattle. Memories of my distant youth, sailing on Lake Washington, recall often being barefoot in the rain. Whatever shoes we had then would slide around on wet decks, and bare feet seemed to stick.


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