The Vault Regulars

Friday, February 19, 2010

Niche market

I went into Manchester yesterday to check out phones and to buy a pair of Goretex or similar socks for Sheila.
Just on the socks front i asked in the following stores, Blacks, Ellis Brigham, TNF, Millets, Nevis sport, Sweat shop, Up and running, Evans cycles, Nomad and the Cotswold shop. None of them sold waterproof socks apart from the not waterproof Seal Skinz.

Talking to a very interested chap in Cotswold, he wanted to know why i wanted Goretex socks. So after explaining that we only hike wearing shoes, ie Inov8 etc with a thin sock and a slightly thicker sock on top then depending on the weather a waterproof sock he was impressed, i think, that this way was in his opinion, "different".
We went through the pro's and con's of boots and eventually he said to me. Well, you are a Niche walker and we don't cater for niche markets. Sorry.

So all you guys who walk in shoes, please take a bow because your different.

And i will search the web for a pair, or if anybody knows where i can get a pair of size 5-6 that would be great. TIA.

14 comments:

  1. Trekmates Amphibian Goretex socks? I'm not sure how comfortable they would be in a shoe.

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  2. Thanks very much Laura. I have had a look at them but they don't do a small size unfortunately. Sheila is only a size 5.
    As for comfort, i wear a pair regularly with my GoLite Flytrails and they are fine. They cause no problems and i have had them a few years now.
    I will keep looking.

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  3. Seal Skinz are waterproof and available at Ellis Brigham http://www.ellis-brigham.com/cgi-bin/psProdDet.cgi?prod_code_in=266501

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  4. Hi Mark, Good to hear from you and thanks for your post.
    My findings of Seal Skinz, having used them are that they are ok for a short periods of time but used under constant wet conditions with shoes not boots, are that they leak.
    I also have a pair of SS gloves which do exactly the same. Ok for the 1st few hours but by the end of the day my hands are wet through and cold.
    Having wet feet is ok in summer but obviously not at this time of year.
    My Gore tex socks which i have used for a number of years do not leak at all and are very reliable. That is the reason i am looking for a Gore tex pair for Sheila but i am struggling to find a pair of size 5/6 in UK.
    I have also spoken to other walkers on Forums who have had the same problem with SS.
    I know that SS say they are fully waterproof but i have not found that to be the case in practice.
    Many Thanks again - Alan

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  5. Did you make any progress on a phone for mobile blogging by any chance? I still haven't decided what to have and notice that blogger is compatible with O2 and Orange (although they say they'll try to accommodate other providers). Vodaphone has better coverage in the Highlands, although Orange has improved greatly. SmugMug, which I use, is also set up for iPhone. It's all new to me and I must get it right!

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  6. Hi Gibson, I must admit that i havn't made much progess. I went into Manchester to try and get a better idea but came back even more confused.
    I will definitely not be changing from Vodafone though, for a number of reasons.
    Many bloggers say that Blackberry is best but i was not impressed with the keyboard or the size of the screen for mapping.
    I liked the Nokia 5800 but i hear on the grapevine that this is soon to be discontinued.
    However, Chris's review in TGO of the mapping software with the 5800 was very positive and the screen is a good size. So i am not discounting this one.
    I don't want to pay a large monthly sum to get a phone with a decent size separate keyboard like the Nokia n900 but i might shell out for the separate keyboard for Nokia's that is available as an accessory,depending on the price.
    The iphone is definitely out.
    So as you can see there is still a long way to go.

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  7. Hi Alan

    Many thanks for this - it's much appreciated. I won't be changing from Vodafone either, but that's the only decision I've been able to make so far!

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  8. I came across these goretex socks just now - don't know whether they would be small enough for Sheila?
    http://www.rutlandcycling.com/23009/Gore-GT-II-Socks.html

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  9. Thanks for thinking of us Laura i will check them out.- Alan

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  10. Laura, you little diamond. They are just the ticket. Thanks ever so much. - Alan and Sheila.
    I will add Rutland Cycles to my hyperlinks for Goretex socks.

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  11. Thanks for the boots last week they are great, got Autumn and Andy some from Sportsworld they have Karrimore on sale, waterproof Goretex boots for £17 they are brilliant x

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  12. Lisa,
    Karrimor are always on sale. They are not that great. They will be ok for what you require them for though. (ie short walks & ploughing through the mud at feestivals)
    The Karrimor KSB are not too bad but i think that they will be more than you would want to pay.

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