The No Nonsense ACTIVE Crew Sock is one of the better choices. There are many styles of No Nonsense for both men and women. The brand is available in some retail stores, grocery stores and drug chains including Target, WalMart, Vons, RiteAid, Walgreens etc. but with local retailers disappearing and retailers stocking limited inventories, you even have to go online to get these. I actually bought them locally without much thought, even took them for granted until I needed more, then was inspired to hunt them down. It’s different for everybody, but for me, the No-Nonsense ACTIVE Cushioned Crew Socks are “Goldilocks”. Just right. -Composition. The “Active” is 80% cotton 18% nylon 1% polyester 1% spandex. Comfortable, smooth to wear, nicely cushioned all around, with the right stretchiness. They are in fact very stretchy. MIDWEIGHT all-weather, all-season. Not heavy or thick (there are others that are thicker, and “winter socks” are much thicker) but enough to feel substantial. Definitely not too thin, not cheap or flimsy. No coarseness or roughness or other weird feeling. -Fit. Comfortably snug, from the toes all the way up. Fits like one unit (as opposed to the foot and shin/ankle sections separated in design). Foot, ankles, calves fitted well. A little tight when new, but they relax with wear and easy to get used to. They cling and stay on without discomfort or tourniquet-like, line-producing at the top. problems on the skin. The ribbing at the calf feels great. -Weave. The material at the top of the foot area from the toes to the ankle is a slightly lighter mesh material than the rest of the sock, which is to provide some ventilation. Some people prefer a uniform thickness around the entire sock, but I don’t have an issue with it. This lighter area may fray or wear through sooner than the rest, but so far I have not had problems. -Cushion. The cushioning along the bottom (on white socks, and sole is gray) is good. No extra thickness or padding. There is no extra toe reinforcement or stuffing. -Temperature. Fine. They don’t feel hot to me, even with extended wear. -Wear/durability. They seem to hold up well to wear and frequent washing. We’ll see. -No fancy “technology”, no heavily marketed arch or toe weirdness that winds up making the sock fit worse anyway. No logos, no ugly stripes or distractions. Now there are probably other socks that do some things better---thicker, more cushion, more durable, this or that, probably at higher prices. But bottom line, I think No Nonsense Active are fine all-around crew socks that do what they’re supposed to, quite well, and better than most, for a good, moderate price. It’s these, Enerwear/Journow (made in China), Kirkland, Power Cushioned, and possibly some of the other smaller made-in-USA socks that are anything like the good crew socks from just a few years ago that we took for granted, that are gone now. NOTE: No Nonsense also has a model called the SPORT Cushioned Crew. Despite being 88% cotton 11% 1% spandex, the SPORT is a horrible sock that is completely different than the ACTIVE. The SPORT is similar in design to the very bad Hanes Cushioned Crew, but the No-Nonsense version is even worse. Thin, rough, not stretchy, not cushioned, bad fit, uncomfortable, just awful. As much as I appreciate American-made products, and I like the ACTIVE socks, I'm disappointed that No Nonsense can also put out something as bad as the SPORT. Sadly, it's more necessary than ever to research and shop carefully, even for basic crew socks that do not suck.
