Not Bushcraft - socks, have they become less durable?

[Paul_B]

Sorry but this isn't really bushcraft related but there's some very knowledgeable people on here who might know about them.

Are they now so poorly made that they're disposable?

I've been wearing socks the whole of my 47 years. Once my feet stopped growing I could keep socks as long as they lasted. Right now I've got socks dating from my teenage years that look washed out but intact. I've been throwing out holed socks bought 2 months ago. What's that about?

Hiking socks are extortionate lately but I still get them. Bridgedale or superfeet socks from my 20s are just a bit thin but intact. I've thrown out socks bought a year or two ago. I got a very thick pair a year and a bit ago. I only use them half the year at the most in the colder months. They're looking thin on the heel.

How do they fail? Wear or poor quality?

The ones I wear to work, inside steelies, wear out the quickest. Could it be poor boot fit? I wear £25 free issue steelies. A bit too wide but extra inner soles make them fit. Could that be the issue?

Any place to buy really durable socks from?

 

[Janne]

Same as jeans and most cotton items.
I too have a feeling they (all) wear out in no time.

I have my feet 'tlc'd' from time to time, and the skin is soft, so no rough skin anywhere.

Some years ago I suspected that maybe the drums of the washing machine and tumble dryer were rough, I checked them ( several generations of them) and they are perfect.
We only buy Miele appliances, so good quality.

Could also be the washing chemicals, but we use various brands in two countries, so that seems to be impossible.
I think the materials the clothing is made from is of a lower quality than before.

My socks wear a hole under the pad of the big toes, then heel.

I too have a few socks that are 20+ years old, and they are ok.
So it can not be the inner sole of the shoes.

Have you encountered T-shirts that shrink a lot top to bottom? So after one wash, they stop at or even above the navel? Makes you look like a pop star from the 80's? Bananarama? ( Bananarama with hairy beer belly)

Makes good cloth to polish the cars with....

 

[santaman2000]

Paul it might be the socks your getting now are less durable. It might also be that your walking pattern (your gate) has changed and you’re putting more friction on the parts that are wearing out.

 

[Janne]

Big toe / heel action for me? Unlikely.
Quality is down since production was moved to countries with ultra cheap work force.

 

[Paul_B]

I think my work socks aren't great. Supermarket bought and cheap but should last longer than two weeks in one case.

My work boots are too wide for my feet so the laces are as tight as they can go I have a few insoles inside too. In fact once they wear I just put a fresh one on top. I suspect my heel moves when I walk. But that's probably common and doesn't explain one pair of socks 2 years old that lasted from a batch where the rest went ages ago.

I'm thinking of buying myself some good safety boots. There's a German or Italian company that makes hiking boots and safety boots. They're 2 or 3 times more than the work provided boots but in Europe they're supposed to be very popular. Coca cola and other big firms provide their workers with them. They're a narrow heel with standard width forefoot so closer to my fit I think. Grisport iirc

Mind you my socks for work I use when out of work.

As to sock quality, Bridgedale are a good hiking sock maker but they're failing a bit quickly compared to years back. Other good hiking sock makers also seem to fail early. There's certainly something going on here. The sock conspiracy deepens!!!

 

[Janne]

To counteract the falling cotton quality, they now mix in synthetic fibers
I am sure you have read 'Cotton Rich' on the packaging?

I only buy pure Cotton. My feet prefer that.

Not Bushcraft? I think it is. Socks are a vital part of the equipment, safety vise and comfort vise.

Try to walk a week with a backpack in the mountains with holed socks.
I did that once. Since then I have always carried several spare socks.

 

[Paul_B]

I now check for holes and tear the sock apart as soon as they appear. It stops then getting washed and mixed in with good socks again. A bad habit I used to have

 

[Woody girl]

There is a brand of sock from the USA that has a lifetime guarantee. I can't remember exactly. I know they are not cheap. I'll check them out tomorrow. I've not realy bothered to look as I make most of my own socks nowadays using alpaca wool for winter and am about to start knitting some summer ones from cotton as soon as I've finished the ones I'm making now.
I do darn socks. Maybe you should get a darning mushroom and learn to darn socks make them last a bit longer . (I can just see your face at that suggestion! )

 

[Janne]

Mum used to darn, I did darn my hand knitted wooden ones. 40 years ago or so.
The socks I buy and wear are very thin.



You should see me sewing a button. You would cry of happiness. Or - it would spark joy in you!
I use a technique that was taught to dad in the early 40's.

That is another of my peeves. Buttons come off clothes after a year or two at most.

Young people today do not realize how they are $cr3wed by the manufacturers.

 

[Robson Valley]

I have always imagined (correctly) that socks are disposable items.
Potentially to be used as mittens before they hit the fire.
I know enough to use a lightbulb in a sock as a foundation for darning.

I have a variety of floor coverings throughout my house. Seem to be equally abrasive to socks.

 

[Janne]

Buy highest quality possible, and repair.
It is a joy putting on a pair of shoes you have had for 30 years.

 

[Woody girl]

When you've spent a week or more making your own they most certainly are not a disposable item!

 

[Woody girl]

A few of my more colourful creations.

 

[Paul_B]

There is a brand of sock from the USA that has a lifetime guarantee. I can't remember exactly. I know they are not cheap. I'll check them out tomorrow. I've not realy bothered to look as I make most of my own socks nowadays using alpaca wool for winter and am about to start knitting some summer ones from cotton as soon as I've finished the ones I'm making now.
I do darn socks. Maybe you should get a darning mushroom and learn to darn socks make them last a bit longer . (I can just see your face at that suggestion! )

I wish I could darn but I suspect my socks won't take darning. Btw it's funny but my socks go from no hole to big hole in one work day. By big hole I. Mean all around the edge of my heel pad. Or across the front part of the heel pad. So basically go from nothing wrong to virtually a hole big enough to stick my foot through.

Could make them toe warmers to use with complete socks in colder weathers perhaps.

Btw I grew up watching my sister darn her points and ballet shoes. Seems it keeps them going longer by putting a pad of thread on wear points.

 

[TLM]

On the subject of wear. On synthetic fibres recent trend has been to use thinner fibre on yarn which is more comfortable but less wear resistant on products. I don't think basic wool has changed in any way. In the summer I use mostly synthetic cotton not very often in the winter wool or wool mix. My personal favorite is Leka's basic Merino wool sock in black. Not for really cold as they are fairly thin but down to about -10C. Dear mother has kept me supplied in thicker wool socks mainly of the heelless type. The same law of fibre thickness and wear holds for wool too.

 

[Paul_B]

Shoes? We are very fortunate living near a female cobbler in the old school style. So cheap and so good at her work. A rare thing these days I'm afraid.

Trouble is I don't use leather shoes these days. At work safety boots, everywhere else I'm in outdoor style trainers. Can't repair those so easily, especially when they hole at flex points.

My partner wears leather footwear and used her. Franchise shoe repair shop charged £65 for one boot zip repair and took 6 plus weeks. It failed within a year. Cobbler cost £12.50 and took 1 week to fix.

Always better to repair than replace. I'm always repairing jeans. They go in the same place due to thinning and splitting at one point. Easy to repair and repair and repair. Doubles their lifespan I reckon.

Should see me sew. Jeez it'll have you snatching the needle off me it's so painful to watch. My trouble is poor light for such fine work. I'm very shortsighted and clumsy. I'm also a trying perfectionist so I don't want a bad job. So I take my time. Kills my back and eyes though.

 

[Janne]

We have a proper cobbler here too. Jamaican. His stock of leather is awesome. I take even my leather top sandals to him.
British Made Clarks.

Not many people today are interested in these trades. Or interested in buying proper quality, and repair.
I know ladies that only wear a multi thousand evening dress once.

Criminal behaviour. IMO.

 

[Paul_B]

About 30 to 40 minutes drive from us is a full cobbler who's business is new shoes from scratch. Complete custom made complete with making his own wooden lasts unique to each customer.

He's xth generation cobbler. He learnt by watching his dad and grandad doing the job. Learnt the old way by doing it from an early age. Back then every town and even village had cobblers. His family had two or three shops in the area, now only one.

Probably very expensive but they'll fit from the day you first walk out the shop. His guarantee.

Of course some parts of the world this is actually the norm. I know people who've lived in south America, Colombia to be precise. Every item you might want is made somewhere in the city. There's a bed making district, shoe district and even one guy who makes and repairs umbrellas. This guy finds broken umbrellas tossed into bins or left on the streets. He recycles the parts often using several broken umbrellas to repair or make another one. Everyone is probably better than the ones he used to make it.

That's just Colombia for you, simply the norm. The certain the UK used to be like that. We're disposable now, not good. Good quality that can be repaired and the places to do the repairs is what the world really needs. IMHO only of course.

 

[Paul_B]

British clarks, and I live very near where clarks had a factory, isn't very good these days.

We grew up wearing Clark's or startrite kids shoes. Pricey but very well made and very good for kids growing but tender feet. I started doing the same for our son. Yes, very expensive. Startrite shoes for a 6 year old once cost £64.!!!! Too much but we needed shoes and didn't want supermarket cheap shoes. Clark's had shut their shop in a town that used to make the shoes.

I work with a couple of people late 50s to early 60s who used to sew Clark's shoes. Now made in China or Indonesia or somewhere in Asia.

 

[Woody girl]

I worked for clarks at Shepton Mallet for a short while.very exacting standards and you didn't get on the production line untill you were 99.9% perfect. After a week or two you were expected to be 100%. (Why did I leave? Motorcycle accident... car reversed into me in a car park! Damaged my leg and put me off work for a few weeks. Used that time to find a more enjoyable job managing a garden centre. )
Yes quality has suffered over the years. That's why I like to make my own stuff. If it falls apart I only have myself to blame.