Socks (Part Deux)

[CWBuff]

So... long long time ago in the Galaxy Pre-COVID XIX (hmmm... looks better with Roman numerals I say) I posted a questin about socks. I think it was more or less about the liners and from there couple of pairs of Injinjiis I bought

This time its a bit diferrent and can be applied to inners and outers.

Couple of days ago I was in the process of dressing myself for my usual daily mundanes and went off inmehead
I guess most of us have a tendency of just putting on our sock with complete disregard for L\R feet. That said if by some chance one just happens to do it a certain way - then the sock obviously begins to stretch out a little on the big toe and sooner-or-later becomes 'a given foot' sock.

Und so... 3, 4, 5am in a given albergue, darkness and a Pilgrim ready todepart just puts his\her socks on and they wind up being on different feet (if you will) if seen by these big toe stretches I just described.
Can anyone comment whether or not this could present an issue when walking? I mean could is always an implication that may produce a yes answer - of course anything could happen, but I guess I am looking for someone with a bit more definite answer
More or less - should one pay a bit more close attention to the socks and somewhat assure that the right socks go onto right feet?

(In addition to being a bona fide question to which I do want an answer,pPlease consider this as a humble contribution to The Forum inasmuch as this is no a COVID-related post and we cna actially talk about equipment )

Inquiring minds await

 

[Turga]

So... long long time ago in the Galaxy Pre-COVID XIX (hmmm... looks better with Roman numerals I say) I posted a questin about socks. I think it was more or less about the liners and from there couple of pairs of Injinjiis I bought

This time its a bit diferrent and can be applied to inners and outers.

Couple of days ago I was in the process of dressing myself for my usual daily mundanes and went off inmehead
I guess most of us have a tendency of just putting on our sock with complete disregard for L\R feet. That said if by some chance one just happens to do it a certain way - then the sock obviously begins to stretch out a little on the big toe and sooner-or-later becomes 'a given foot' sock.

Und so... 3, 4, 5am in a given albergue, darkness and a Pilgrim ready todepart just puts his\her socks on and they wind up being on different feet (if you will) if seen by these big toe stretches I just described.
Can anyone comment whether or not this could present an issue when walking? I mean could is always an implication that may produce a yes answer - of course anything could happen, but I guess I am looking for someone with a bit more definite answer
More or less - should one pay a bit more close attention to the socks and somewhat assure that the right socks go onto right feet?

(In addition to being a bona fide question to which I do want an answer,pPlease consider this as a humble contribution to The Forum inasmuch as this is no a COVID-related post and we cna actially talk about equipment )

Inquiring minds await

A well-established theory exists about this essential matter. Extensive research has proved that if you wear the same socks on the same foots all the time, the innermost parts of the socks tend to wear out faster than the outermost parts due to the big toe exerting extended pressure on the fabric. This has been verified by several well-documented double-blind trials in which research-specimens were exposed, in a dark room, to a random collection of well-worn socks to wear during their walks. The results show (confidence-level 95%) that changing socks from left to right once every hour during an 8-hour walk, reduces overall wear by 0.4-0.6 %. The downside is that sometimes this results in small balls of excess fabric forming under the pinky toes, but the feed-back from the research-specimens unanimously indicates, that this is a minor side-effect compared to the overall positive gain.

I hope this answers your question

 

[Sara_Dhooma]

I purposely choose to wear the same sock on the same foot.
The shape that it stretches into is more comfortable for walking- a nice "mold" of the foot.

I wear the excellent "Darn Tough" merino hiking socks. The socks come with a lifetime guarantee. If I wear a hole, I can exchange them for a brand new pair!

 

[C clearly]

reduces overall wear by 0.4-0.6 %

Nice analysis, leading to a rather marginal benefit.

I hope this answers your question

It raises another important question. Did they factor the length of the big toe (relative to the others) into the comparison? The benefit might be reduced even more if you are a short-big-toed-person.

 

[CWBuff]

Did they factor the length of the big toe (relative to the others) into the comparison? The benefit might be reduced even more if you are a short-big-toed-person.

 

[CWBuff]

I purposely choose to wear the same sock on the same foot.
The shape that it stretches into is more comfortable for walking- a nice "mold" of the foot.

I wear the excellent "Darn Tough" merino hiking socks. The socks come with a lifetime guarantee. If I wear a hole, I can exchange them for a brand new pair!

I am definitely wearing my Injinjiis as the inners so that takes care of the left\right question since you obviously simply cannot reverse them
And I am totally committed to Darn Toughs as my outers. I like your statement but can also understand what @Turga said - after all that was my 'concern' (although chances of me switching the socks every hour are probably slim-to-none)

I guess this maybe another trial-n-error situation that will have to wait until I actually walk

 

[Tincatinker]

? I was taught that you should switch socks from foot to foot every time you stopped for a rest. Once an hour in mountain country, once every three otherwise. This evens the wear, avoids big-toe pointies, and in the UK guarantees a wet bum every time you sit down to change your socks. A wet bum will take your attention from your feet and therefore distract you from any potential foot discomfort.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

They do manufacture socks in pairs to match each foot. The idea is that the sock becomes a second layer of skin that isn't prone to blisters and since there isn't any loose fabric between shoe and foot to rub against the real skin there should be less chance of blisters.

Remember Murphy's Law though; all foot oriented socks lost in the laundry will inevitably be for the same foot.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Well, Buffy (you have said you do not mind me calling you this nickname), my opinion is that you are "straining at gnats". However, you are receiving some good replies from forum members. I have a pair of never worn Ininji socks, brought on my last camino as a "just in case" item.

 

[CWBuff]

@Camino Chrissy
trust you me that I am indeed "straining"
Injinjiis rule~

Now.... since I am receiving some good replies from forum members ...how bout swallowing camels......

 

[Kathy F.]

I also vote for Injinjiss.

 

[trecile]

I have a pair of Icebreaker socks that have specially formed left and right foot socks.

 

[Shalaw]

While I'm sure this is a thing, I never once thought of this on my Camino Frances, and my socks are still in stellar condition, almost 5 years later. I just washed them and wore them, not even thinking there should have been assigned sockage. I wore the lined merino wool ones and they were fab.

Buen (eventual) Camino!

 

[Gail Dickson]

So... long long time ago in the Galaxy Pre-COVID XIX (hmmm... looks better with Roman numerals I say) I posted a questin about socks. I think it was more or less about the liners and from there couple of pairs of Injinjiis I bought

This time its a bit diferrent and can be applied to inners and outers.

Couple of days ago I was in the process of dressing myself for my usual daily mundanes and went off inmehead
I guess most of us have a tendency of just putting on our sock with complete disregard for L\R feet. That said if by some chance one just happens to do it a certain way - then the sock obviously begins to stretch out a little on the big toe and sooner-or-later becomes 'a given foot' sock.

Und so... 3, 4, 5am in a given albergue, darkness and a Pilgrim ready todepart just puts his\her socks on and they wind up being on different feet (if you will) if seen by these big toe stretches I just described.
Can anyone comment whether or not this could present an issue when walking? I mean could is always an implication that may produce a yes answer - of course anything could happen, but I guess I am looking for someone with a bit more definite answer
More or less - should one pay a bit more close attention to the socks and somewhat assure that the right socks go onto right feet?

(In addition to being a bona fide question to which I do want an answer,pPlease consider this as a humble contribution to The Forum inasmuch as this is no a COVID-related post and we cna actially talk about equipment )

Inquiring minds await

I wear Kathmandu ergonomic socks. Specially marked left and right foot. So far 2000 km and still going fine. I threaded a tiny length of red cotton on the rim of each right foot and lefy about 1cm hanging. Easy on a dark morning.

 

[henrythedog]

I wear both liners and thicker smart wool socks in boots.

On camino I take just one spare sock of each thickness and rotate them (you know what I mean ..) such that each sock is worn for two days, once on each foot, then has a day-off for R&R, washing, drying etc.

Saves weight (albeit marginal) and avoids all the catastrophic issues described in detail above.

 

[Becky 59]

I am definitely wearing my Injinjiis as the inners so that takes care of the left\right question since you obviously simply cannot reverse them
And I am totally committed to Darn Toughs as my outers. I like your statement but can also understand what @Turga said - after all that was my 'concern' (although chances of me switching the socks every hour are probably slim-to-none)

I guess this maybe another trial-n-error situation that will have to wait until I actually walk

To solve the problem of right/left with my Injinji socks, I discovered if you turn them inside-out they can be worn on the other foot (this was necessary because I was only using the Injinjis on one foot because of an injury, and the other side's sock was getting lonely!)

 

[Kanga]

My solution is not to wear socks at all. I do occasionally, but mostly not.

 

[ratherbefollowingflechas]

I have always had the best luck with Injinji toe sock liners, with an outer layer of the thinnest 2 layer Wright socks. No blisters and lots of cushioning. I am willing to give those Darn Tough socks a chance as an outer layer, although I have yet to replace any of my Wright socks in the last 7 years.

True confession - I wear my toe socks every day, whether I am on Camino or not... I have them in all colors and types from no-see for summer to full crew for winter, and other weights and heights for in between.

Buen Camino as soon as you can...

 

[DyanTX]

I wear the injini toe sock liners and Darn Tough coolmax as outers. I bought 3 pair of the Darn Tough for my 2016 CF journey. I never pay attention to which foot a sock goes on. Been wearing those same socks since on all my hiking and walking and backpacking trips. No stretching or wearing whatsoever. I bought a couple pairs of Wright sock double layer socks to try but the inner liner began to wear very quickly. My feet appear to be slightly between sizes of socks. Darn Tough have the best overall fit which may have something to do with whether a sock stretches or wears in a certain spot.

 

[CWBuff]

My solution is not to wear socks at all. I do occasionally, but mostly not.

So.... coupled with your bridal photo (on the Photo thread) you can be dubbed "The Barefoot Kanga-tessa"
of course even 'weirder' would be if your name was/is Tessa or Tess

 

[CWBuff]

Ok everyone convinced me
if I DO get up in un-Godly hour in the morning I will just put my socks on (i.e the outer ones) with total disregard of which foot they go on

 

[Swift3]

I wear both liners and thicker smart wool socks in boots.

On camino I take just one spare sock of each thickness and rotate them (you know what I mean ..) such that each sock is worn for two days, once on each foot, then has a day-off for R&R, washing, drying etc.

Saves weight (albeit marginal) and avoids all the catastrophic issues described in detail above.

Great idea!

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

On camino I take just one spare sock of each thickness and rotate them (you know what I mean ..) such that each sock is worn for two days, once on each foot, then has a day-off for R&R, washing, drying etc.

I submitted that idea to a forum thread on saving weight ... as a joke. That and cutting the middle out from your shoe laces. (You can't just cut them shorter because you still need the two ends to tie together.)

 

[henrythedog]

I submitted that idea to a forum thread on saving weight ... as a joke. That and cutting the middle out from your shoe laces. (You can't just cut them shorter because you still need the two ends to tie together.)

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun

Ecclesiastes

 

[CWBuff]

@henrythedog

All that is now
All that is gone
All that's to come
and everything under
the sun is in tune
but the sun
is eclipsed by the moon.

Roger Waters