Aussie Frugal Living

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Socks - what's good, what lasts? I need to buy socks. (aussie.zone)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by dumblederp@aussie.zone to c/frugal@aussie.zone

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So after ten to twenty five years of use it seems that most of my pairs of Holeproof Explorers are giving up on me. They're wearing out in such a manner that darning the spots isn't going to cut it anymore. I hear rumours that the company has changed hands and the modern versions just aren't the same quality.

So I'm up for 5-10 pairs of new socks. I hear good things about wool / merino, but buying anything online I'm sceptical of the actual quality once it gets to me. Even temu makes their products look appealing all the way until you open the package.

Given this group is still small and off the marketing radar, anyone got any brand name suggestions, or even stores I should visit, maybe I should be buying wool and a sock knitting machine.

Thanks for your thoughts.

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[–] rcbrk@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 week ago

Australian Knitting Mills, or Australian Woollen Mills.. not really sure what name they go by.

It's run mostly by a bitter old knitting machine technican / wizard with poor social and marketing skills, and his partner.

Last time I knew anything was from ~2021 visiting their factory in Coburg to buy some socks and long underwear, at which point they were already looking at moving/retiring to the east coast.

Bob told me they were the original manufacturer of Explorers, before his business partner wanted to take things in a different direction, whereupon they split the business and we can see Australian Woollen mills kept striving for high quality but didn't evolve with the fashions while Holeproof set fashion trends and sent machines overseas but gradually enshittified.

The pair of "Ultra thick hiking socks" are my most frequently worn socks and are still going strong since 2021: https://www.aust-woollenmills.com/shop/hiking-sock-ultra-thick-100-merino/hiking

No online ordering, just phone and bank transfer. If you're gonna make a massive order I'd call them to confirm when someone will actually be there, at either their Coburg (8 Trade Place) or Collingwood (13 Hood Street) places. There's a few phone numbers scattered around their website.