One day while being frustrated trying to install Speed Laces on a pair of sneakers with tiny fabric eyelets instead of larger, metal-rimmed holes, I searched around and found Yankz. Elastic laces, Yankz don't require you to install external fittings/hardware to your eyelets. With Speed Laces, you have to attach separate housings which lock the lace in place at each eyelet. With Yankz, you're simply lacing them through like you would a normal pair of laces and then locking them in place. Putting them on a new pair of shoes takes only a few minutes: begin threading them through from the top (ankle) down to the bottom (toe); lock the ends into the plastic clip that doubles as a loop holder for the excess length of lace that comes from the top of the shoe; adjust the loop with the slide lock and you're done. If the loop is long enough, hook it into the toe clip.

I'm on my fourth pair, most recently for a pair of hiking boots. It's a little more complicated getting them set up on boots using only five or seven pairs of lace hooks/eyelets, but it's do-able, and the result is hiking boots that go on and off almost as easily as bedroom slippers. Since the laces are a bicomponent (elastic core, woven outer), once they're adjusted correctly they stay put, no need to pull them tight when putting the shoes on. Plus, the woven outer creates a lot of friction so the laces resist being pulled through the eyelets. It's worth noting that the elastic does not hold forever. After two years, when my running shoes were worn out and I removed the laces, I noticed my first pair of laces looked over-stretched, much like the elastic waistline of an old bathing suit. Point being, much like a pair of shoes, the laces don't last forever.

$7.50 for solid colors (various available), $8 for reflective. Worth it.

-- Evan Marks

Yankz Sure Lace System
$8
Available from Amazon

Manufactured by Sporting Innovations Group, LLC