The Great Sock-Off Ends in a Tie

[fredrikegerman]

Several years ago now, I went shopping for cheap white ankle socks. I found that the store had two different kinds available for basically the same price: plain white (I think Hanes), and socks branded with a distinctive black swoosh. So: were the branded socks better made, to maintain brand image? Or were they cheap tat passed off with a nice logo?

I bought a package of each, and have been wearing them pretty much evenly since. I put the clean ones on the bottom of the pile). When a sock gets a hole (usually in the heel), it ends up in the trash. This sometimes left me with an odd sock of one or the other type, in which case the odd sock got paired after the next week's laundry.

I was surprised by how similarly the two piles wore out. Whenever a pair of socks in one pile got holey, a pair in the other followed a few weeks after.

A few weeks ago, I got down to only one of each sock. I started wearing them as a pair (mostly for stressful uses like sword practice).

And today? Both socks got holes simultaneously.

Conclusion: no difference, really.

Comments

[nuclearpolymer.livejournal.com]

You amaze and amuse me with your careful sock rotation scheme.

[fredrickegerman.livejournal.com]

I was thinking of jmandresen when I was writing about it.

[firstfrost.livejournal.com]

I am a little puzzled by your first hypothesis, which suggests to me that a name brand would be selling at *under* cost as opposed to *over*.

(It would make sense to me to have those two hypotheses if the name brand were more expensive than the generic, which is more usual...)

[fredrickegerman.livejournal.com]

The first hypothesis was that they might have contracted with someone who would make a better quality sock at the same price point (ie they'd be more careful / selective about who did the work).

[tomatoe333.livejournal.com]

So you're wearing the heels out now before the big toes?

My socks all seem to fail at the spot where my achilles tendon hits the back of the shoe.

[fredrickegerman.livejournal.com]

I'm apparently wearing the shoes out at the achilles tendon instead.

[jmandresen.livejournal.com]

I am delighted at the excellent experimental set-up, but dismayed at the result. A tie after such a long fought battle is so anticlimactic! Perhaps you should extend into overtime? Keep wearing the unmatched pair until a second hole appears or until one becomes utterly unwearable!