How to Tie a Ponytail with One Hand

By Shlomo Maital

one handed kuku

In Hebrew slang, “kuku” means “ponytail” – a hairdo where a girl’s hair is gathered and tied with an elastic knotting device, often just an elastic band.

   Tamar, a 15-year-old, had a problem. She had a bike riding accident and was unable to use her right hand as a result, while doing physiotherapy. Alin Hospital in Jerusalem, which specializes in children’s injuries, recently held a “Mike-a-thon Open Source” event, to gather ideas to help children in the rehab program in the hospital.   Tamar asked for a solution to her problem: Create a device so that I can tie my ponytail using only one hand, rather than two (normally one hand gathers the hair, the other hand slips the elastic over it).

   An Israel Aerospace Industries engineer, specialist in composite materials (used for aircraft wings), named Ilan Sherman came up with a solution for Tamar: an elastic with a small one-way mechanism that can only tighten, but not loosen, so that Tamar can create her ponytail with only one hand.

   Soon Tamar will have the use of both hands. But perhaps there are other young ladies who want to one-handed ponytails? Thanks Ilan!   Sometimes we need small ideas, not just huge world-changing ones….