Scientific way to know you need new socks

[TooOld2Hike_EP]

I have had two pair of Darn Tough socks, one pair since 2019, and its replacement style since 2023.

The oldest pair developed a small hole (near the ankle) in one sock, which is usually what triggers most people to think about replacing their socks.

The other doesn't have any holes, but has noticeably thinned out where the tongue of my shoe rubs against it. And at the heel.

I started wondering if there's a way to know - aside from obvious flags like a hole - when you should replace your socks.

Maybe.

I'm about to send both pair in for (free) replacement. (As a minimum, I have to pay shipping out.)

In preparation, I ordered a third pair to use while the two pair are out for replacement.

I weighed one sock of the new pair. 2 ounces.

I weighed one sock from 2019. 1.5 ounces.

Assuming that all the styles weighed the same when new, that's a 25% loss of mass.

I weighed the sock from 2023. About 1.75 ounces.

All my socks feature a cushion (kind of fuzzy knit) and I can feel the cushion in my new pair, whereas I can't in my older pairs.

But the loss of cushion has been so gradual that I didn't notice it until I had an A/B comparison.

So maybe weight is a metric for when it's time to replace? Might be good to record the weight when new to have the data?