Things that piss me off, part N

[gominokouhai]

Socks.

Seriously folks. Man has sent rockets to the Moon, split the atom, provided socialized healthcare. Acheieved miracles in every field of human endeavour. EXCEPT we still can't invent a sock that doesn't have a razor-sharp seam made out of some sort of adamantium steel wool that runs right across the most delicate part of my toes, where the cuticles are. Socks hurt. I can't imagine why that might be part of the design brief, which means that now, 6000 years after we invented civilization, we still fail at making socks.

If I ever need to do any serious walking I need to bind each individual toe first with micropore tape before I subject them to the inevitable cruelties of their cotton-and-polyamide foot-coverings. Socks really ought to be spelled with a ‘U’ in place of the ‘O’.

Cogitating upon this, as I often do, it often occurs to me that I only ever buy one brand of socks, and have done so for the past nineteen years, so perhaps the problem is just with my socks. Then, inevitably, I realize that this is complete bollocks. I do in fact often buy different brands of socks, but I always end up throwing them out because other brands are worse.

Human 21st-century sock technology is utterly woeful, and as a species, we should be ashamed.

Comments

[highlyeccentric]

Oh man. I was plagued by Sock Problems all the way through primary school. Socks, seriously.

Does it help to wear your socks inside-out?

[gominokouhai]

For about an hour. Then the steel-wool seam wears through to the other side. This shouldn't even be possible.

[digitalraven]

I had a pair many years ago that were engineered with that seam on the outside. Could never find them again.

Most of the time, I find the socks most comfortable when the seam rests just under my toenails, thus limiting where it can go from there. But perhaps because of my penchant for steel-toed footwear, I've never had the problem you describe.

[brucec]

They're ridiculously expensive (£12 per pair!), but Smartwool socks are great for walking. The seams are on the outside and are very thin.

[(Anonymous)]

Have you tried wool socks for walking? That's pretty much all I ever wear, does the job fine. I have plenty of cotton and artificial fibre mixed ones for daily use, can't say I have had that problem.

[nickys]

I suppose tights are out of the question? The seam tends to run along the end of the toe in most of them, rather than on the top.

[gominokouhai]

I'm an actor. I own tights. They're not always convenient for daily wear.

But yes, for some reason they can engineer the seam properly on tights, but not on socks.

Solution

[(Anonymous)]

The reason socks suck is because most people only care about price, so they buy crappy cheap socks, so manufactures only make crappy socks.

However, there is a significant market segment for whom price is not the only factor. Apparently, if you're diabetic, getting a cut on your foot is a life-threatening situation. As such, you would like to minimize things such as steel wool seams running across your toes.

So, the answer is that you search for "diabetic socks," and are surprised to find that they aren't nearly as expensive at you feared they might be.

- Jeremiah

Re: Solution

[gominokouhai]

Ooh. I did not know this. Thank you.