Great Sock Debate

Socks
Originally uploaded by darenpackham.

I can’t ponce on about the mountains and the sea anymore for the fear of boring you all and loosing my readership completely. So now I must continue with the inane twaddle that you have become familiar with.

Last Christmas, one of the gifts that I received from my mother was small and squishy. On opening this gift, that had already given its self away as socks, I was very pleased to find the most fantastic pair of socks that you have ever seen. It was as though she was almost encouraging some mountaineering activity..

As you will see from the picture the socks have been designed, padded and elasticised to fit and shape to your foot to provide complete comfort while stuffed for long periods of time inside a big walking boot.

My good friend cliff was eyeing them with some envy, as they lay provocatively on my bed. At this point I couldn’t help but deliver the sales pitch of all of the benefits and design features for these simple items of clothing.

“ Aah”, He said.
“Aah?”, I thought. That’s it?
“Well, you should wear those inside out really shouldn’t you?”
“Inside out. Why is that then mate?”
He went on to point out that the inside of the sock was where all the seams and fluffy ends of the cotton were finished off and hidden. (Top sock in the picture)
“Surely you want to have the smooth bit against your skin?”
“Good point.. But what about the thermal properties?”
“You will just have to wear one inside out and the other the right way and make your decision based on a test!”

Being a firm believer in sox before marriage I think it is important to try a few variations on a theme. So it was, that one sock was put on, inside out and the other the right way around! During a summit attempt on Mont Blanc, might have been a bit of a fool hardy testing ground but I was open to try.
A mixture of altitude and exhaustion had taken my mind far from the great sock debate and by the time I was once again near to a bed they were removed without a thought. I am sure one foot was colder than the other but sleep and warmth of a bed had superseded any thoughts of soxual experimentation.

For great sox advice contact Cliff at www.sox4mountaineers.com