Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Walking socks.

Just a quick blog about socks. When I took up walking twenty five years ago I bought all the gear I needed in one one go. Over time it all either wore out or started leaking. The only thing that stood the test of time were my walking socks. I never gave them a second thought and wore them on every walk I did.
After about fifteen years my wife said I should look for a new pair of socks as they were getting done. Then began a long quest to find  a pair that were as good. I bought all the leading brands Bridgedale,Falke,Thousand mile,superwool,thorlo and even an American brand called ' Darn tough socks'. Not one pair of these lasted more than a few months and in desperation I bought some sock wool and had two pair knitted for me. Alas I washed the hand made ones at too high a temperate and now they are baby socks.
I gave up ever finding good socks again.

Three years ago I bought some Altberg boots and at the same time I bought some cheap Karrimor socks that cost £1.25p. Now three years later I have bought another pair of Altberg boots as the soles wore out on the original ones,but the Karrimor socks are still going strong. In their time the socks have done the rocky Wainwrights completed the coast to coast,walked the soggy  pennine way,trod the GR70 in France,been close to ten thousand feet up in the baking hot Pyrenees and they have took it all in their stride.