A Question About Socks
 

How many times do you think you can wear a pair of socks before they wear out?

I was putting my laundry away today, and I realized that I have a lot of sock. I'm not sure how many, but maybe 50 or 60 pairs, maybe even more. They've accumulated over the years since you don't really outgrow socks.

So for discussion purposes, let's assume that I own 52 pairs of socks and wear them equally. That means that each pair of socks is worn 7 times per year.

Given my age, I can probably expect to live another 33 years or so. If I never buy another pair of socks, that would mean that I'm going to wear each pair of socks 231 times.

Ignoring their current wear and tear, is 231 times feasible for a pair of socks? How long do they last? I honestly have no idea. Is it 50? 100? 200? 500?

Honestly, 231 seems like a lot since socks get wear and tear, and of course my socks aren't all brand new. I suspect that my sock buying days are not over, but I don't know what's reasonable in terms of sock life spans. What do you think?

Depends on what you are doing in them I suppose.

Also, equal quality sox?

This thread stinks

Post your socks.

Your wish is my command

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...744a8648db.jpg

Why in God's name do you have that many pairs of socks?

I should have been more specific. Your wife's socks, on feet, no shoes.

TIA.

Depends on the type of socks. I have some that lasted 10 years plus at 45-50 uses per year.

I've had others that are junk before I pull them out of the package. I don't do cheap socks (anymore).

That is a lot of ****ing socks. I'd NEVER do laundry.

I would, but I don't want Bufkin to put more holes in his wall

My wife has cute feet, but she's not here.

I'm a child of the Cold War.

Out of curiosity I just went and counted how many pairs of socks I have. The final tally was 57 pairs of socks.

Now break that down by color.

:facepalm:

Now I have to go count. :cuss:

No, I am not your monkey.

OK:

10 white Nike calf high athletic.

6 white Nike no show.

6 black Nike no show

2 gray wool for skiing.

6 black dress

5 navy dress

5 gray dress

6 dark khaki

6 light khaki

2 olive green

1 Superman

1 Batman

1 yellow dress

1 camo

I like 1 brand and style of sock. Black NIKE no-shows.

12 black, 6 white. That's it.

14 total:

6 black
3 gray
2 tan
3 white

Dress socks are a different beast. Shoe/weather dictate the type of sock.

NOW Davey Jones!

I do laundry every week, so I could get by with less. But I don't like too many choices, so black or white, all ankle socks.

When I was transitioning from boxers to boxer briefs, I just tossed them and replenished.

I bought several pairs of black socks around 10 years ago. I estimate that I have worn each pair around 200 times since then and they have a lot of wear left in them. 300 to 500 is the correct answer.

Check edit.

Mr. Diversity over here.

LOL.

I find it ironic you have two different colors of no shows.

Forgot socks for running on a business trip once. Had to buy some.

I've got 3 singles as well. Hoping the other half will magically re-appear in my dryer

Well, I'm a little bit embarrassed. I just went upstairs and counted.

182 pairs of socks and two half-pairs still trying to find their mates.

Now, granted, they have different purposes.

22 are purely running socks, and they get used heavily. I'll have to replace them in the foreseeable future.
30 are purely dress socks for use with suits, and I never wear suits any more. I dip into this drawer perhaps 4 or 5 times a year.
130 are everyday socks ranging from casual to "wearing somewhat dressy pants".

I may never need to buy a pair of socks again other than running socks.

If this thread doesn't pull Simply Red back in, I don't know what will.

Holy shit.

6 black

12 white

My method is as follows:

When folding socks out of the dryer, I observe the toe and heel area for wear. If I see wear in said areas, the offending sock is discarded. Eventually, you end up with less pairs, and it is time to go purchase another pack.

You have the exact opposite configuration as me. Weird.

That's a problem. You need to seek a 12-step group, 'Man.

I think my problem is not so much acquiring socks, but divesting them. I hate throwing away socks. I'll only divest dress socks if they have a worn spot that can be seen above the shoe, and I'll only divest casual socks if there's an actual hole.

I'm a project manager and wearing boots most of the time.

Ergo, more whites.

Exactly! I still have some Champions that are 20 years old that are still going strong. On the other hand most of the garbage that is made today only lasts a fraction of that time.

One of the greatest simple pleasures is putting a new pair of socks on your feet. I would wear a new pair every day if I was a rich man......

You're short-changing yourself, friend.

I'm here to tell you that one of the greatest small pleasures in life is putting on a fresh pair of socks. Your feet say "I love you" all day long.

Also, with your surplus, the local homeless shelter could use such a stash.

But let me propose this. The lifetime cost is the same whether you have many pairs of socks or a few pairs of socks. We all wear them once per day, so over the course of our lives we'll spend the same amount on socks (assuming that we don't leave a bunch behind when we die). With my method, I wear my socks very infrequently and have a lot of wardrobe variety. Therefore, I derive a fashion advantage at no extra cost.

RIGHT?!?!?!?

You should update the OP with accurate numbers and math.

Hey! I'm a PM too. No boots though, unless you count ankle tops.

I don't like variety. I think I would be crippled by such choices and inevitably disappointed with my daily choice.

When I put on a pair of socks, I know that they're well rested and ready for action.

Yes, but you also maintain a surplus that has lost it's "sock burst".

We're not talking about buying a new car.

I'm afraid that someone will try to break in and steal them.

The elasticity and thickness-quotients have to be a lower mid-tier by now, regardless of care.

I could see a potential issue with that. But I like having a sock for every job. Need a sock with elephants? I got it. Need one with a Union Jack? Check. Need some plain gray or white? Of course. I feel like I'm seldom caught flat-footed when I open my sock cabinet.

No one wants your "Bernard Pollard"-quality socks except the homeless.

Go make a donation.

I don't think that socks have a half-life, do they? Assuming that I can keep the moths out, they should remain well-preserved. I think they've found Egyptian socks that are still wearable after 4,000 years.

I'm also intrigued by the fact that our estimates in the poll are all over the board. We wear socks almost every day of our lives, and yet we know so little about them. We can't even estimate their life span. What kind of civilization are we?

Is there ever an occasion that cannot be filled by a plain white, black, or brown sock?

Sometimes you have to dress to impress. Chicks at parties don't comment on plain socks.

LMAO

I just went and looked, I probably have at least that many pairs.


I wear black work socks, thicker than normal and when I put one on that has a hole I just chuck it and the next time I'm a the store I buy a new pack and rotate it in and just keep throwing away and buying socks. There is a decent sized laundry basket of socks.


I probably should quit purchasing. I just opened a new pack yesterday. Lol

When they get holes in them, they're thrown out... otherwise I'm looking at a wearable pair of socks.

Or more to the point; outside of a trip to the Marquee Club for Ska Night, when exactly do a pair of "Union Jack" socks become necessary?

If they're seeing my socks, I've already sufficiently impressed them.

I just wash the ones with holes in them and use them for rags or to apply boot polish.

You're on a cruise when a group of small, fast-moving boats appear on the horizon. Your ship tries to outrun them, but soon you have a horde of terrorist pirates clambering over the gunwales. You alertly throw your passport overboard.

The pirates group everybody on the deck, and sort out the Americans and Israelis, shooting them and throwing them overboard. They get to you and say in their thick Somali accents, "Are you Amedican? You look Amedican."

You pull up your pants cuffs and say, "Do oye bloody look Ameerican, chap?"

You should always take a pair of Union Jack socks when traveling abroad.

LMAOLMAOLMAOLMAOLMAO

Have you ever did the trick of wearing the sock the other way, opposite of where the hole is???LMAO:thumb:

Nope, if I end up with a hole in one it gets put out to pasture. I also use the ones with a hole in them for applying gun oil and oil to my cutting blocks.

ROFL:clap:

Yep, I have a few sock rags floating around, they're great for polishing things.

Do any of you guys have the socks with the individual toes???...Those are weird...Creep me out...

I have seen girls wear those but never a dude.

I have socks but not tons but I don't know where in the hell they all are there are so many onesies. They just seem to disappear on me. Most are from when I lived up north and no longer wear. Don't need unless for athletic footwear. I flop around usually with no socks down here. But it's cold in my room in the winter here so I wear a pair of tennis socks to bed.

Never had a hole except for one old woolen pair I used up north. Think they were for skiing.

Oh. Add six more pairs to my total, though I need to throw those out. They're in a different drawer and I never wear them. I had a short-term experiment with those individual-toe running shoes and had to buy six pairs of toe socks to fit them. That experiment went very poorly.

The shoes weren't comfortable at all and the socks were just as bad. I had to snip the between-toe parts because they toe pockets weren't long enough. I aborted that mission in its early phases.

One admits it two posts below yours

Yeah, but they were athletic toe socks. They weren't above-the-knee rainbow toe socks.

Fair enough

I have one pair each in a variety of colors (Blue, sky blue, purple, pink, forest green, hunter green, olive, brown, gray argyle, brown/lime green argyle), then about 6 pairs or so of black socks, three pairs of white Nike ankle socks, and like a full pack or so at any given time of white Hanes ankle-cut athletic socks.

Best socks I've ever owned were the original Soles. Still no holes and they are worn at least once a week. Had them for three+ years now.

http://www.yoursole.com/media/live/p...ayer-Black.jpg

I just can't wear socks like that. Dunno why. I think it's because they are gay.

You can never have too many socks.

Just less times you have to do laundry.

I hate matching socks. I had a Grand Plan to buy 20 pair of new black socks and throw away all of my other socks. Then I could throw all of my unmatched socks in a drawer and pull out any two singletons and be guaranteed a match. Golden for 4 weeks!

Then I learned two upsetting facts. Socks should match pants, not shoes. And back shoes don't go with khakis. So now I own 6 pair of brown socks and a shattered dreams.