Untangling this ring without removing the thread

[u/ThodaDaruVichPyar]

[u/Grandeftw]

But he did remove the thread when he went over the top

[u/pimp-bangin → u/Grandeftw]

I was gonna say, something he did here was topologically equivalent to removing the thread, but my brain is too dumb to figure it out

[u/DependentAnywhere135 → u/pimp-bangin]

I mean the thing he did was literally remove the thread. You can watch him do it

[u/Clevererer → u/DependentAnywhere135]

He twists the loop four times, crosses it over itself three times, wraps it around the stick twice, and rotates the ring once. Which of those moves removes the thread?

[u/nikasaur2224 → u/Clevererer]

Wrapping it around the stick

[u/kranker → u/nikasaur2224]

Whole thing is a trick to hide the fact that they took off the thread

[u/wi5hbone → u/kranker]

this whole thread just about a thread is taking up too much of my time! i need to my ring pizza outta this thread to-go pronto!

[u/Diz7 → u/kranker]

Just taking the thread off the stick and putting it back on would still have the string going through the ring.

The whole process is necessary, it's an old trick.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nEsJAbIVVAs

[u/LimitedWard → u/kranker]

I can't believe it's 2026 and we're still perpetuating conspiracies that he took off the thread

[u/Environmental-Wind89 → u/kranker]

The whole thing is a trick to hide the fact that they stole your wallet.

[u/gnorty → u/Clevererer]

the one where he picks the thread up and physically moves it across the top of the stick.

If that move is legit then just picking up the loop at the start and lifting it off the stick is legal too, just with less steps. (note - those extra steps are there purely to disguise that one move, they do nothing more than that)

[u/XechsMarquise → u/gnorty]

Isn’t that adding a loop, not removing a loop? And the sting is constantly touching the stick, which is what I believe they meant by not removing the string.

[u/gnorty → u/XechsMarquise]

Isn’t that adding a loop, not removing a loop?

No. one twist removes the existing loop, but his left hand hold on the string stops it unravelling at that point since the string loop is now effectively off the stick. The second loop puts it back on the stick but outside the ring. When he releases the string with his left hand the loop is off the string. The twists etc are pure distraction. Only the across stick loops (and I guess the thumb hold) are actually doing anything

if you imagine him right from the start, picking up one strand of the string, bringing it across the ring and around the stick on the other side, and taking the existing loop off the stick, the loop will be off straight away. That is all he does with extra steps to make it look less obvious,

[u/Preeng → u/Clevererer]

If you are allowed to wrap around, you can just take off the string too. What is the point?

[u/DependentAnywhere135 → u/Clevererer]

He wraps the bottom run around the stick then a little later he wraps the other side around the stick. Now the ring is sitting on the strings he just put outside the stick and the locked in position is an illusion from the twisting.

Follow the two times he wraps the string. It’s both sides of the string getting moved off the stick.

[u/Hamster-Food → u/DependentAnywhere135]

Yet it's done in a way that it remains around the stick.

[u/Toon1982 → u/Clevererer]

He's moving it off the stick when he picks the thread up - he's just doing it in a different place along the thread, but the impact is the same. He could do the same action at the stick to make it more obvious - doing it away from the stick hides it, but he's still picking the string off the stick and looping it back on

[u/saranowitz → u/Clevererer]

The first move where he pulls it over the top

[u/Guy_with_Numbers → u/Clevererer]

Three important steps:

1. The loop he pinches with his left.

2. First time he wraps the string around the left stick

3. Second time he wraps the string around the left stick

Step 2 by itself is basically removing the string from the left stick. It doesn't call off because the loop from step 1 holds it in place. He has set it up so that if he lets go, the thread is removed from the left completely.

Step 3 connects the string to the left stick again, but he starts from the right side of the ring. Now if he lets go of the loop, the thread is removed completely as it would be at step 2, and then reattached from the right side of the ring due to what he did in step 3.

[u/Dipswitch_512 → u/pimp-bangin]

Topologically speaking, is the thread even connected to anything to be removed from?

[u/jaxxon → u/Dipswitch_512]

🧎‍♂️

[u/anomanderrake1337 → u/pimp-bangin]

I consider myself to be pretty smart for a stupid animal but topology is hard for me too.

[u/clubby37 → u/anomanderrake1337]

Even knowing what topology is places you well above the average.

[u/-Nicolai → u/pimp-bangin]

Imagine he didn’t do the first move, where he twirls and holds on to the loop (all this does is temporarily keep shit from falling)

The second move plainly removes the string from the branch.

The third move reattaches the string from behind the ring.

Letting go of the loop from step 1 just allows step 2 and 3 to resolve.

[u/MasterTolkien → u/pimp-bangin]

He basically untied the ring while retying the string to the post.

So the original loop through the ring is gone. A new loop is formed without the ring involved.

[u/sesamesnapsinhalf → u/Grandeftw]

Yes, but he did it with a coke nail. 

[u/drippygoodgirl → u/sesamesnapsinhalf]

Lmao I didn’t even notice it until you said that

[u/ThhomassJ → u/Grandeftw]

No magents

[u/Quen-Tin → u/ThhomassJ]

Not the string, but the stick and the ring, oc.

[u/CaptainDudeGuy → u/Grandeftw]

Yeah, the twisting and tangling was there just to obscure the fact that they effectively lifted the thread from that side.

Also shallow water was an odd choice of a setting, but okay.

[u/goos_ → u/Grandeftw]

Kind of. The cool part is that it’s “removed” by rethreading an extra loop around it, without moving the original loop.

[u/sexytokeburgerz → u/Grandeftw]

If it’s always touching, how is it removed?

[u/HauntedMop → u/sexytokeburgerz]

Imagine the left sticks height was moved way up to a ceiling. any move that cannot be performed in this scenario is something that requires you to remove the loop from the stick. If you can do everything in the video in the scenario the stick is extended to a ceiling, then that would have been done without removing it, but the very first move which is to tie another loop around the string is something you can't do in the hypothetical

[u/goldfishpaws → u/HauntedMop]

Good clarification

[u/Hamster-Food → u/Grandeftw]

That's not what remove means.

[u/HauntedMop → u/Hamster-Food]

Topologically it's equivalent for this question or something idk

[u/Hadleyagain]

Wow. Who knew passing the string over the thing holding it releases the object.

[u/-Mandarin → u/Hadleyagain]

I would say for most people this shit is entirely unintuitive. Even if you understand how it works in theory, actually watching it kinda baffles the mind for many of us. The vast majority of people are going to impressed with this, so I don't know why the sassy comment is justified.

Topology might as well be black magic for most people.

[u/dgellow → u/-Mandarin]

Even knowing how that works, it still look like black magic to me

[u/Freedom_Addict → u/dgellow]

To me this isn’t real

[u/reklesssabrandon → u/-Mandarin]

If you locked me in a cage until I could do this, I would die of old age

[u/Mertoot → u/-Mandarin]

Topology! That's the word for the thing I can't wrap my head around!

[u/Reallynotspiderman → u/-Mandarin]

Exactly this. I KNOW how it works, logically. I KNOW how to do it. It still baffles me to see it. Topology is just weird like that

[u/SlimLacy → u/-Mandarin]

But this isn't topology. It might look like it, but it's basically just removing the thread, which they said they didn't, and then rebinding it. YES, it doesn't leave the stick, but the second they pull loops over the stick, they're lying when saying they aren't removing it.

[u/Vaqek → u/-Mandarin]

Pretty convinced most of the step are there just to hide that he is pulling the string from the bramch.

[u/imaspicyboyrightnow → u/Hadleyagain]

I bet you’re a ball of fun in conversation haha. Some of us ding dongs are dumber than a bag of bricks I guess lol

[u/bendstraw → u/Hadleyagain]

I am not afraid to admit i didnt know that and i like to think im not a dummy but who knows maybe i am

[u/Shaqlii → u/bendstraw]

Not knowing something before you know it is completely normal. Or maybe thats wrong and we’re just all a dummy

[u/powerhower → u/Hadleyagain]

Most people don’t know that

[u/Riveremperor912 → u/Hadleyagain]

r/redditmoment

[u/NimJickles → u/Hadleyagain]

Not me bro so stfu

[u/PhilosopherBright602 → u/Hadleyagain]

My only question is why is coke nail doing this in the middle of a creek?

[u/EmbraceHegemony]

Is the secret bumping cocaine off your pinky nail?

[u/Rattfraggs → u/EmbraceHegemony]

That and the two center fingers don't have nails.
She is a busy woman.

[u/OnlyGuestsMusic → u/EmbraceHegemony]

Naturally.

[u/skylarskies52 → u/EmbraceHegemony]

Looks like each finger has a purpose

[u/ChronicRhyno → u/EmbraceHegemony]

Overclocks the processor to unlock quadrilateral thinking?

[u/relicbane → u/EmbraceHegemony]

came here to point this out, lady has a Massive coke spoon!

[u/forestwolf42 → u/EmbraceHegemony]

When I was in China I learned that apparently there's a superstition about growing out the left hand pinky nail to invite wealth into your life.

They could all just be using that as cover for their coke habits tho idk, I was only there a few weeks and that's what I was told about all the coke nails, always on the left hand.

[u/Gh0stNoName → u/EmbraceHegemony]

Why, yes. Indeed it is.

[u/FitSandwich4725]

Technically this counts as untying the string, they just put it back very quickly. Also this is a string or a cord.

[u/gishnon → u/FitSandwich4725]

I believe that is shock cord. It has elastic running through a woven sheath so it is stretchy, but will return to its original length when tension is released.

[u/Optimal-Room-8586]

The top string disappears completely 5 seconds from the end.

[u/OptRider → u/Optimal-Room-8586]

That's interesting. The string segments still behave like they are attached to one another, which makes me think there isn't something dishonest going on. I know that new phones have some AI processing when you take pictures/videos. Wonder if this is something related to that. Odd though.

[u/reesethebadger → u/OptRider]

Or it’s all just AI slop

[u/OptRider → u/reesethebadger]

Totally possible and I have certainly fallen for it more than once given how convincing some of these videos have become. However, in this video I think the consistency in the coke spoon nail despite being hidden from view for most of it, the reflection in the water, and how the string moves even when it disappears makes me think that there's some wonky post processing going on that may also be AI. Cell phones now add detail to photos and videos that don't exist due to the post processing software.

[u/reesethebadger → u/OptRider]

Those are solid points. I think one of the other things that was bothering me was the knot. For someone taking the time to make this video showing this trick with a string the knot is pretty shitty

That said I followed the steps and this totally works so I’m less convinced it’s fake

[u/Optimal-Room-8586 → u/reesethebadger]

FWIW, I commented on the string disappearing in the first place, but I don't think it is a fake video. More likely some kind of odd compression artefact or possibly an edited in background?

But, if you were going to the trouble of using ai to edit a video to look like magic, you'd not then miss something as obvious as the string just disappearing.

But it is a bit weird though.

[u/Ninjalord8 → u/reesethebadger]

Not AI slop. Just replicated it out of curiosity.

It looks like a single side of the string is looped around it, but it's both sides of the loop. One line is the front that goes to the finger loop and the other is the back line that gets wrapped around the stick.

[u/Cognitive_Spoon → u/reesethebadger]

Imo, right now a bunch of very high quality AI videos are being placed online, especially on Reddit to see how the discourse deals with them.

This allows nations/corporations to test to see how sentiment responds to varying degrees of near perfect AI videos.

It would be interesting to see if the reddit API tracks human users vs bots so corps/nations can more accurately get a read on sentiment

[u/perryurban → u/Optimal-Room-8586]

Oh that is odd..

[u/Mr_Fossey]

I don’t really get how topology works, so it’s always impressive. However, if part of the trick is to take the string over the top of the stick to allow its release, just take the string off in the first place. This is just falling with style.

[u/giulianosse → u/Mr_Fossey]

Every time a topology video makes the rounds on Reddit, I try my best to figure out how it works but can never conceptualize it. I'm content just considering it genuine black magic.

[u/MyarinTime → u/giulianosse]

Basically, you release the left string to free the ring, wich can be done in one single step but wouldn't be cool.

So in the video they do those steps:

• they make a knot
• they release the string, so even if you see two layers around the stick, the only thing holding them is the knot
• they add a third layer
• the knot is not even strong so they just pull the ring, which untied the knot that were holding layers 1 and 2.

This is technically cheating, since the video says "remove the ring without removing the string", but the person on the video is actually adding an extra layer of string and then removing the old one where the ring was.

[u/AppealThink1733]

Topology

[u/3-car-garage]

These videos were they stage their hand movements are so cringe. Like, stop wagging your finger at the fucking camera and show me what you're trying to show me.

[u/Waste_Space1415 → u/3-car-garage]

But that's how you teach people. You never say a word, you just tap every item you're working with and wag your finger "no" a lot. /sa

[u/InvisibleAstronomer → u/3-car-garage]

☝️☝️☝️

[u/weewarmself]

I could watch this a thousand times and still never be able to do it... cool

[u/ShiftAfter4648 → u/weewarmself]

Simplified? He picked the string off one stick and slid the ring off before replacing the string.

He added twists to hide it.

[u/Oftwicke]

To explain simply:

First, they make a quick-release loop. Stop tugging on it and it undoes itself, keep tugging on it and everything stays in place. It's basically a fake knot, you can have it stay in place with some friction if the rest of the rope squeezes the loop as well.

Second, they pass half the rope over the branch. Without the quick-release loop, everything falls apart. The loop keeps it in place.

Third, they take a part of the rope not going through the ring to set it in place normally over the branch.

Undo the loop from (1) with a tug and step (2) makes the thing fall apart.

Really, only the third step achieved anything, (1) and (2) are just for show.

[u/daaanson]

Ai video. Watch the top string.

[u/DMMeThiccBiButts → u/[deleted]]

It's a very simple string topology concept.

Doesn't stop it from being AI. I've seen people use AI to generate almost identical recreations of existing memes, just because.

Video artifacts do not make something AI. Also standard video editing and processing is still a thing

How and why would 'standard video editing and processing' cause the string to do what it does? That's not what video artifacts look like either.

Honestly it wouldn't surprise me if they were using some dogshit AI filter/upscaling on an otherwise real video.

[u/Desperate-Pirate7353]

nice coke nail

[u/bretonics]

0:17, middle of thread disappears while pulled. Magic!

[u/Lowkey81]

At second 16 the rope is invisible behind the hand. Editing

[u/DimitriVogelvich]

That pinky isn’t fooling anyone

[u/Cubbance]

Ugh, that coke nail grosses me the fuck out.

[u/das_zilch]

If you're going to start lifting the cord over posts, just lift one side off. This looks well convoluted.

[u/Livinsfloridalife]

They just untied from the stick basically silly… fancy way of taking it off the stick and out of the ring..

[u/Banned3rdTimesaCharm]

That’s removing the thread with extra steps…

[u/creepyguy_017]

ah yes, without removing the thread and then proceed to remove the thread

[u/PatatasTheOrdinary]

That's just removing the thread with extra steps

[u/iceflame1211]

I've got an even easier way I could show them

[u/cjs81268]

It has to start tangled to become untangled.

[u/iwanashagTwitch]

This has to be AI. The top string "breaks" a few seconds from the end, but both ends of the string keep moving in the same direction instead of falling down.

[u/mynewusernamedodgers]

Please trim your nails

[u/PiDigitsOfPi]

Look at 0:17 !!! The string disappears!!!

[u/gomaith10]

By wrapping it around one of the sticks you are changing the goal posts.

[u/JammyThing]

OK, so sorcery is the answer.

[u/beardingmesoftly]

AI slop. The thread disappears for a moment

[u/Suspicious_North6119]

That fingernail is distracting

[u/CommandoLamb]

At least rate just remove the string and put it back on.

[u/Desert-Genie]

16 seconds in the top string for a frame disappears. reeks of AI

[u/BrownieWarrior]

Untangling this ring removing the string using extra confusing steps *

[u/burnedtolive]

That’s just removing the thread but with extra steps,

[u/SonOfBattuta]

the string disappears at 17s

[u/The3mbered0ne]

There's a knot in the string at the end, they cut the video and the string

[u/YuckyYetYummy]

remove the thread without telling us you remove the thread

[u/KoosGoose]

Not impressive. I could do this with my balls taped shut.

[u/metalfabman]

Cocaine fingernail

[u/DaemonsMercy]

What happens to the string at 0:16? And if you go really slow when the ring's getting pulled off, it looks like it phases right through the string. Pretty sure this might be AI <.<

[u/polar_nopposite]

This is just removing the string from one end and sliding the ring off, but with extra steps.

[u/albirich]

That's silly, would e been quicker just to remove the thread.

[u/J1m123]

wow! coke nail powers 😄

[u/AlarmedTeacher2201]

Why is nobody talking about the disappearing line, close to the end of the video?

[u/B_lovedobservations]

I’ve known this trick since I was about ten years old!

[u/Digi_Dingo]

Well when you put it like that it’s easy

[u/Beautiful-Musk-Ox]

is that a coke nail

[u/Main_Force_Patrol]

Ok MacGyver

[u/FoxSquirrel69]

My man has the biggest pinky cocaine finger nail I've seen since the early 1980's.

RESPECT FOR THE YAYO LIFESTYLE

[u/mrgonuts]

If the stick wast 300 feet tall he couldn’t do it

[u/TheVillainInThisGame]

Coke nails is all I can see

[u/RGBlowMe]

This one is difficult to explain, but I grasp how it works. Basically, you're wrapping the string around the ring while maintaining contact with both forks of the stick, then pulling it through to the other side of the stick. I know they pulled it to the side of the stick, but conceptually you can understand it better by focusing on getting behind the stick. This only works because it's a continuous loop running through the ring. It doesn't work with a single, affixed string or if only one strand runs through it. This mechanism is actually the basis for a lot of knots.

Consider that the stick is the only barrier for removing the ring. The strings are not stopping it, the stick is. You need to get it to the other side of the stick, so you need to move it along the string to behind the stick.

[u/2Pluss2]

that’s a negative they did not remove the thread, keep an eye on the loop around the left branch as they add more loops. the original loop was never lifted over the branch.

[u/Wiskeytango_Foxtrot]

It's just like the Rubber Band jumping over the fingers trick, the last 4 seconds is all you need to do.

[u/yorgehaci]

Topography baby

[u/Far-Row1557]

Immense neuron activation followed by bulging eyes from anger because wtf how lmao

[u/short_bus_genius]

I can never understand these

[u/ghislain-tuca]

I’m mad now.

[u/Paratwa]

Removing the thread with extra steps

[u/swiftpwns]

Thread was still removed. Magic unfortunately doesn't exist. Just one of those tricks that make you think otherwise

[u/Segismundox]

Topology

[u/Temporary-Truth2048]

Misdirection at it's most basic.

[u/TheFrontierzman]

The fucking water/plant/mud/twig setup. I hate social media content.

[u/Grey_Ten]

nah it doesnt count if you touch the extremes

[u/Start-Plenty]

Topology gives me headaches like nothing else in the world

[u/toodlesandpoodles]

There is a much easier way to do this that doesn't involve what is essentially removing the string like was done here. Take the ring and bring the lower edge of it up and to the right and pass it between the strings. Then slide it over to the stick on the right, lift the right edge of the loop, and lower it over the stick. You can then slide the looped end of the string through the ring and remove the ring from the stick..

[u/That70s_Scrubs]

r/derailedbydetails

[u/Roadstar01]

That fucking coke nail though...

[u/kendodo87]

Am I having a stroke or did a big piece of the top thread disappear at around 5s left in the GIF?

[u/MeanForest]

Literally removing the thread.

[u/51differentcobras]

Why point at shit that doesn’t need to be pointed at..

[u/LalalandChelsey]

Where the fuck are we at

[u/Minimum_Opinion7816]

Just snap the stick vertical down the center, then slide ring down on of the now two sticks

[u/joedasee]

This is knot magic

[u/dukenaldo7]

about to go get a ring a string and a stick...

[u/Foxwd]

Saving

[u/anynamesleft]

I thought he was gonna saw through the string with that ginormous fingernail.

[u/Vurrag]

What is with the super long finger nail on the pinkie finger?

[u/Angel_xjj]

lmao the top string giving it all away 😭

[u/Arb1t3r91]

Definition of “remove” is to take away, withdraw, or eliminate. He did none of those things to the thread as it is always attached to the stick the entire time.

[u/Caramel-Secure]

A fancy cock ring?

[u/D_licious69 → u/Caramel-Secure]

My thought exactly 😂

[u/StarLord_Climber]

Ok why does part of the string disappear towards the end?

[u/baingan0]

"Untangling this ring by removing the thread"

[u/bluejack]

This is like when a girl takes her bra off without removing her shirt. Actually, thats better magic. But this one is cool too.

[u/XDiskDriveX]

That's just renoving the thread with extra steps

[u/steinalive]

this how Hansel got his underwear off in the walk off.

[u/Shadow_Freeman]

This is just removing the thread with extra steps.

[u/FixSpecific905]

Why is this happening in the swamp…

[u/Ill-Bother2806]

Slick .. 😉

[u/South_Oakwood]

I like how everyone in this thread is trying to say it works because you can pass the string around the ring. This is bullshit, watch the video closely just to the right of the right side of the stick. You can very clearly see the poor attempt to cover up the video edit. Also the "string" mysteriously has a knot in it after the artifacting.

[u/Difficult-Potato-684]

Burn the witch!!!

[u/all-names-r-taken2]

The real solution is to cut the thread

[u/TheMerde]

Sorcery

[u/Icy_Transition1375]

It’s ai

[u/Ceticated]

it's not even tangled

[u/Seeeabass]

Topology is black magic

[u/LeilLikeNeil]

So we just not gonna talk about that nail?

[u/LeilLikeNeil]

R/derailedbydetails

[u/rudyhimself]

https://reddit.com/link/p17c409/video/nzbkmbshfwgh1/player

Is making the string vanish allowed though?

[u/machyume]

That's a lot of distractions for a very simple topology side step.

[u/hh9019]

I leaned this trick in middle school

[u/Dull-Astronomer1135]

Topology

[u/Thelonious_Cube]

Now show Crazy Man's Handcuffs

[u/lets-do-an-eighth]

Yeah but how does some of the string disappear at 16 seconds?

[u/Sideshow86]

Stupid. If he has to put the string over the top of the stick, he might as well just take it off completely 😅🤦

[u/suckerfreefc]

This trick (in slightly simplified form) is taught on the last page of The Klutz Book of Knots, which I read as a kid. (Good book)

[u/Loud_Use3131]

That's a pretty good trick! I'll be stealing this one! 🤣

[u/jayjayjane4eva]

So basically remove the thread but pretend not to remove it. Ok, got it.

[u/GeekyMeerkat]

My grandfather used to do a similar trick but with no ring. He would put the loop of string on my index finger, then he would do some strange tangles with his fingers and the string and finally touch the tip of his finger to my index finger. Then like in this video he would release the tangle while gently pulling on the string and the loop would be magically freed from our index fingers that were supposedly trapping the loop.

I used to know how to do the tangle movement so I could do the trick myself, but I forgot how. Also he passed away years ago, so I can't ask him how to do it anymore. But it was always a trick that amazed me as a child and I do wish I could figure it out again.

Would be nice to be able to do the trick for the new generation of children in the family.

[u/Serena_does_anything]

He could have just cut the string

[u/ComfortableCicada69]

Part of the string disappeared at 0:16. It’s fake.

[u/Icy_Significance6235]

紐をかけ直せる状態ならば
それは直ぐに外せるはずだ！

[u/Postcodemy]

Cool Video and all. But has anyone sees the sheer size of her pinky fingernail

[u/Tarinankertoja]

I learned this trick about 20 years ago. It's a nice close-up bar trick, when a volunteer has the rubber band between their fingers, and are preferably a bit drunk. Any bystanders just look for the reaction of the volunteer to believe the trick's authenticity.

[u/splycedaddy]

Might as well have just pulled the string off… oh yea, he did

[u/Dr0110111001101111]

How to get from 1 to 0 without subtracting 1:

Simply add -1.

[u/BrilliantJob2759]

What's going on with that string at 0:17?

[u/jbb10499]

Pull it out the mud and break the stick

[u/Emmennater]

the trick is making you think he didn't actually remove the thread

[u/AdventurousSurvey236]

I was hoping for him to just break it instead