My entire family is obsessed with SmartWool.
SmartWool socks.
As you know, I love a good sock – I don’t think I’ve owned a plain pair of socks for almost twenty years – but SmartWool socks are not just socks.
As you know, I love a good sock – I don’t think I’ve owned a plain pair of socks for almost twenty years – but SmartWool socks are not just socks.
They’re magic.
And they’ve ruined me for all other socks.
SmartWool has been around for a long time, but it didn’t
cross my family’s radar until 2012. My cousin is a Marine, and he was stationed
in Afghanistan at the time. Dad would sent my cousin care packages from time to
time, and he would ask for a list of things my cousin wanted or needed. My
cousin requested a particular brand of socks: SmartWool. He said they were the
best socks you could ever hope to have.
So off Dad went to find these mythical socks. He found them
at Fergen’s: a clothing store in Brookings. Dad bought out the stock… only to
find out that he’d gotten the wrong kind of SmartWool. SmartWool, as it turns
out, comes in a zillion varieties depending on your activity: running, hunting,
snowboarding, skiing. Dad had gotten the “lifestyle” variety, and my cousin was
looking for the hiking socks.
Dad ordered a bunch of SmartWool hiking socks online, and on
a whim, ordered a pair for himself. After all, he wanted to see what was so
great about these socks. As soon as he put his SmartWool socks on, Dad was
hooked. My brother Mitch got a pair, my mom got a pair, and James was given
some of the original lifestyle variety. They all preached the gospel of
SmartWool.
As a non-SmartWool owner, I was out of the loop. I was not
sure what the big deal was – they seemed like any other sock, only ten times as
expensive. What did SmartWool socks do that other socks couldn’t?
In Christmas 2013, I finally found out. I got a pair of
SmartWool socks in my Christmas stocking: beautiful colorful stripes, the
lifestyle variety. I put these socks on, and I was in heaven. The glory of
SmartWool is hard to describe, but once I was wearing these socks, it felt like
my feet had been missing out all these years. The socks are wool, but they’re
not itchy. They’re sturdy, but comfortable. They’re lean, but warm. In short,
they’re magic.
I joined my family in their passion for SmartWool. I made
detours in sporting goods stores to explore the sock section. I visited North
Face stores just for their SmartWool section: they had the best end-of-season
clearance. (And since I am one of the few who wears size small in SmartWool,
there are always leftover size smalls for me.) I looked on the internet for
past-season deals on SmartWool.
Now, in addition to being categorized by activity, SmartWool
socks also come in varying levels of cushion. (The lifestyle socks tend to be
light cushion so that they can fit into any shoe.) You can get anywhere between
ultra light cushion for running and ultra thick cushion for mountaineering. (I
once spent a good five minutes in the sock department at Scheels just squeezing
the ultra thick cushioned SmartWool socks. They are truly amazing.)
It was through my clearance SmartWool adventures that I
entered the world of medium cushion PhD SmartWool. They advertise their PhD
socks as being extra amazing, and I must say, they ARE. I found two pairs of
medium cushion PhD running socks (size small) on super-clearance at the North
Face store in Minneapolis – one pair in February, one pair in April. And let me
tell you: wearing those socks is like walking on pillows. They are incredible.
That’s my SmartWool sweet spot.
SmartWool has become a new Christmas tradition. Everyone
gets SmartWool in their Christmas stockings, and everyone winds up wearing
their new SmartWool the next day. Finding SmartWool in the Christmas stocking
results in happy cries of “SmartWool!” No one is ever disappointed.
SmartWool socks run in the neighborhood of $20, and it’s
hard to believe that a cheapskate like me would pay that much for a single pair
of socks. First of all, I don’t: clearance, my friends. But even clearance
SmartWool isn’t what you’d call cheap: I found a pair of SmartWool (medium
cushion!) for $13.77 at Scheels the other day, and that is a GREAT deal in
SmartWool terms. Secondly, I justify it this way. If I found a lovely sweater
for $13.77, that would be an outstanding deal, right? And I’d buy it, right?
But how often would I wear that sweater? Once or twice a month? My SmartWool
socks are on a steady rotation, and I most definitely get my $13.77 worth. Plus,
wearing a pair of SmartWool socks has made me happier than wearing any sweater
I’ve ever bought.
Only you need to go into the Smartwool Coupon on the time of your take a look at-out system even as purchasing at Smartwool.
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