We've discussed socks before, but over the weekend I found myself thinking about the sort of socks I wore when I started hiking. Big, thick, shapeless things, with not a terry-loop in sight and no hint of specific padding, just a load of heavy ribbed wool. They were always sold as "Fisherman's Socks" or "Trawlerman's Socks" or even "Lumberjack's Socks."
I discovered one place locally selling much the same item, even in the face of all the fancy technical stuff on the market, but the wool content turned out to be pretty low, and was bulked out with acrylic. Of course, memory may be playing me false about how "pure" those old socks were but I cannot believe that the old-fashioned heavy wool sock is dead and gone. Yesterday I priced up some of the latest Smartwool offerings (terrific socks, mind you) and they were selling at sixteen quid. Yes, eight quid a sock. Somehow I can't imagine the folks who work outdoors shelling out that sort of cash regularly, so where can good quality, simple, traditional socks be found these days?
And the first person to answer "On the end of good quality, simple, traditional legs" gets a slapping.
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