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There's a few comments - seemingly from our American friends - that seem to suggest that left / right socks are a thing. I'm hoping I'm parsing those comments p
by Jedd 3y ago
There's a few comments - seemingly from our American friends - that seem to suggest that left / right socks are a thing. I'm hoping I'm parsing those comments poorly, but ever since the revelation that Americans don't have kettles, I'm prepared for the worst.
I got fed up with poor socks a few years ago and embarked on a project to try to find the best, or at least consistently decent, work socks. That's work in the sense of stomping around in the workshop or outdoors, in heavy duty boots, spending most of my day standing up or moving around -- not work as in sitting at a chair for 8h while wearing mildly uncomfortable but aesthetically appropriate footwear, occasionally shuffling around a carpeted floor, etc.
Anyway, that was basically a despairing effort. Unsurprisingly, everyone claiming to have the best socks did not, in fact, have the best socks.
I did end up with a stack of hard-yakka bamboo socks, which were surprisingly comfortable when worn with big heavy blundstone boots, but about a year after discovering (and building up quite a large collection) I moved to hard-yakka boots, and then found out that the combination of their bamboo socks with their boots would result in a very uncomfortable bunching of sock around the ankle.
Bonds - very popular purveyors of socks and daks and other necessities here in Straya - have some work socks that I've since settled on, though a top-up purchase made a few months ago suggest they've changed their recipe from ~18 months back, feels like a higher ratio of nylon to cotton, but alas no record was maintained of the first tranche, so I am wary, but so far satisfied.
(For actual day-job work socks, Bonds here also do a range of basic-black that come in 3-pair sets, which have tiny lines of primary colours along the toes, red, green, blue, etc - originally I thought that was quite twee as it would help maintain pairs, but in practice it just feels like a way to shift more product - as there's no reason, beyond obsession, to match 'miscoloured stripe' pairs, but when one of a pair inevitably expires, you're then left with the difficult decision of committing fully to going pairless in the sock drawer, or throwing away a perfectly fine sock out of sympathy.)
- tuatoru 3y ago> best socks You want to check out backpacking gear review sites like Outdoor Gear Lab, Section Hiker, or for the most authoritative data, Backpacking Light ($). In the mean time, try searching for Darn Tough, Silverlight Socks or Smartwool for boot socks. The longstanding English manufacturer Bridgedale must have been taken over by MBAs recently because it is being marketed heavily. Their socks may be fine; I don't know. Then there is Injinji, and other two-layer (inner and outer) and toe-separated sock systems more generally. I like Injinji's sport sock (once I got over the look of my feet in socks with five separate toes). Injinji has a range of socks made from different textiles. All of these use wool/synthetic blends, with the synthetic usually some form of nylon. Silverlight's nylon is coated with silver for antimicrobial properties (reduced stink). I have just placed an order for a five-pack. (I also spend up to 10.5 hours a day on my feet in boots.) For non-wool, thinner socks I use Drymax, which are aimed at the running/athletics crowd. I've found them very durable (used them quite a bit for tramping (NZ-ish for bushwalking/hiking) and very easy-care. They are not left-right differentiated though.
- JKCalhoun 3y agoI tried toe-socks over a decade ago when I had a persistent toe fungi I couldn't shake with treatments, etc. The toe-socks were a win. I have worn toe-socks since. Sadly, they very much are left/right specific (unless you topologist consider that you can turn one of them inside out to flip its handedness, but then the stitching seams are now on the outside!). They are a little on the thin side and though I bought like 10 pair, they slowly but steadily wear through and need to be tossed. I wish I could say the lefts wear as often as the rights but I appear to walk in an asymmetric way. (Or, you know, Coriolis Effect.) Further, finding replacements that match has been difficult (I would like them all to match so that left/right is the only factor in pairing them). Though I have bought the same brand, trying to get the matching length has been surprisingly hard. I'm not sure why. When I find them again though, I'll order at least 20 pair this time.
- golergka 3y agoAnd if you're wearing tabis, you don't even have a choice
- inconceivable 3y agomore americans have kettles now because they're cheap and easy to buy on amazon. and home-made real coffee is more popular. also there are more 2nd gen americans these days with parents from asia. i think the venn diagram of rice cooker owners and kettle owners is pretty large. i think it's the brick and mortar retailers that never caught onto the idea.
- caturopath 3y agoI would be pretty surprised to walk into a Target or a Bed, Bath, and Beyond and not find multiple electric kettle options.
- _mj0m 3y ago>Bed, Bath, and Beyond RIP strangely named store that carried emergency mothers day gifts for all these years.
- ghaff 3y agoI'm American and I'm also not understanding the comments about pairing identical socks that were purchased at the same time. I just tend to buy them 10 pairs or so at a time, match them randomly, and wear them until individual socks get lost or worn out.
- JohnFen 3y agoThis is what I do as well. All of my everyday socks are identical, so I don't have to pair them up at all after laundry day. I just keep them loose in a drawer and pull two arbitrary ones out when I put my socks on.
- Traubenfuchs 3y agoI have left and right socks in Austria. If I accidentally end up with two left ones or two right ones (I can only tell by the L and R emblems) and notice it after having left the house it completely ruins my day. As in, I will generally get up and leave wherever I am, go home and wait for the feeling to reset by going to sleep in the evening.
- partlysean 3y agoI’ve found that left/right socks are more common for activities like running, where they’re knit to support specific parts of your feet.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- throwaway1777 3y agoThat’s mainly because many Americans have a coffee maker instead of brewing tea. But electric kettles are increasingly common. I have one, as well as one that I can put on the stove.
- kqr 3y agoKettles are not just for brewing tea. Whenever I need to boil large (quart or above) amounts of water (e.g. for pasta) I boil maybe 80 % in the electric kettle and the rest in the pot. Goes much faster.
- sourcecodeplz 3y agoI also used to use them to make noodles in college.
- aidenn0 3y agoAt least in the US, I think that's only true for electrical resistance cooktops/hobs. For both natural-gas and inductive cooktops and 110V kettles, I find that the water boils much faster in the pot.
- ubermonkey 3y agoIs it really so surprising that we don't (as a rule) have electric kettles? I think the reasons are pretty clear. First, Americans are mostly coffee drinkers, not tea drinkers. The coffeedrinkers are mostly using coffee machines that heat the water for you, so you don't need a kettle to do it. This is true from the low-end $30 drip machine to multi-thousand-dollar espresso machines. Second, America is on 110, not 220. Kettles in the UK do boil CRAZY FAST, but the electric kettles I've used in the US aren't really any faster than using a stovetop kettle. American tea-drinkers often have those.
- throwaheyy 3y agoI’m Australian, it is mildly surprising. America is the land of convenience, and I’ve found an electric kettle even at 120v is still faster than boiling water on an electric stove, and much faster than boiling on a gas stove.
- dmonitor 3y agoElectric kettles are starting to catch on in the US, I think. I just got my mom one to use with an aeropress, and now she uses it to boil water for things like spaghetti (adding the kettle water to the stove pot)
- throwaheyy 3y agoI do the same, a small amount of water starts heating on the gas stove but I completely fill the kettle. Way faster, and in areas with hydro, better for the environment.
- JohnFen 3y agoPersonally, I rarely boil water outside of cooking something, where my stove does the job perfectly well. I don't want or need to sacrifice counter space for a kettle.
- staringback 3y ago> much faster than boiling on a gas stove. There is no way an electric stove is quicker than a gas stove. I did a quick google search and a standard gas stove on high is 12,000-18,000 BTU, which is 3.5-5.4kw.
- JohnFen 3y agoThe vast majority of socks in the US are not tailored for left or right feet, but there are some specialty types that are.
- officeplant 3y ago>Americans don't have kettles As a weird American I have a 1970's electric water boiler I still use that is incredibly fast at boiling water. Passed down to me from my grandparents because I enjoy tea and hate coffee. I really hope it never dies because it works way better than the plastic modern one I had in college. But on the topic of socks: Hitting my 30's pushed me to finally invest in nice longer lasting socks. Spending $120 over the last few years on bundles of various wool socks until I found ones I like was completely worth it. Although learning to properly care for wool socks was a process. They probably aren't for everyone, but for people that like thick longer songs I love my People Socks. [https://www.peoplesocks.com/ https://www.peoplesocks.com/]
- Arrath 3y ago> There's a few comments - seemingly from our American friends - that seem to suggest that left / right socks are a thing. I'm hoping I'm parsing those comments poorly, but ever since the revelation that Americans don't have kettles, I'm prepared for the worst. There can be. Typically fancy athletic socks with more fitted toe areas than normal.
- barbazoo 3y agoExcellent Technology Connections video on kettles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yMMTVVJI4c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yMMTVVJI4c
- m463 3y ago> embarked on a project to try to find the best ... socks I've tried all kinds of socks. long journey got me: Darn Tough socks style 1403 https://amazon.com/dp/B000XG34G8 https://amazon.com/dp/B000XG34G8 Cushioned, no blisters, no bunching. You get warm, dry feet on hot and cold days. They last a long time.
- singleshot_ 3y agoSir, I’ll leave the kettles alone because that ground has been well trod (hopefully, using the best socks). However I am concerned that you did all this sock research and somehow did not end up with toe-socks, which of course have left and right socks (unless you are the kind of maniac who would wear a sock inside out, which I gather from your studies that you are not).
- burnished 3y agoHuh, sounds like people are yanking your chain? I have literally never heard of left and right socks and kettles - both electric and flat bottomed urns of metal - are commonplace. Might be one of those regional thing.
- tuatoru 3y agoLeft-right differentiated socks are also commonplace, in athletic recreations like hiking and trailrunning.
- user_named 3y agoI buy all my socks from Muji.
- andreareina 3y agoToe/tabi socks are amazing and not interchangeable left/right