OUR JOURNEY TO THE WORLD’S LARGEST SOCK EVER MADE

Check out some “best of” pics and

the WR NEWS report about our stunt.

Also you’ll find more interesting details

in our mission statement below.

MISSION STATEMENT

Since we consider ourselves equipped with solid sock know how, we thought we would have to prove it to the public. Prove that not only we are capable of designing cool socks (and other useful souvenirs), but also go one tiny step beyond that. We had to come up with something original for our audience, something we thought people would like and feel entertained with. So one of our team members came up with the idea of creating the largest sock ever made. While doing our homework in terms of research we learned that the sock would have to exceed the length of 50 meters. Now that’s a lot of work, was the first thought that came to our minds, but we concluded that it was definitely doable. Rapidly thereafter another team member came up with the idea of letting it dangle from the 25th of April bridge, the iconic Lisbon landmark that resembles the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. It would offer appr. 57 meters of space between its railway level and the surface of Tegus river during a low tide. Our ideas kept pouring: The Lisbon tram design would be perfectly contrasting on one hand and, in combination with the bridge, showing another iconic symbol of Portugal on the other.

We first intended using cork, but learned quickly that unforeseen weather conditions would expose us to unnecessary ambiguity. Thereafter a massive setback arose, when we figured out that using a mix of nylon, polyester and carbon fibers as the main compound of the sock would make it insanely heavy, given its massive size. At the same time we had to hang it from only one plaited rope. And that wouldn’t hold the heavy duty especially in case of rain and / or wind. Any additional ropes would expose the team of industrial climbers to extreme risk when the sock was to be simultaneously released from multiple ropes in potentially windy conditions. Another risk was that it could entangle itself in the thinner ropes that were placed inside the sock and attached at multiple points of the toe section in order to lift it again after the stunt. Also the above mentioned ropes would become extremely important for making sure that with a suddenly occuring gust the sock wouldn’t wrap around the bridge and potentially cause negative impact on the traffic. Besides that the authorities granted us only one single day this year to perform the stunt and even a time window of only two hours due to the heavy commercial traffic of cruise ships and container vessels but also the Portuguese Navy and recreational yachts and sailboats on the Tegus river. A rule we knew we definitely had to respect. Due to those restrictions we almost experienced an unconditional surrender. Luckily after just a handful of days in off moods we found a solution in the North of Portugal: a stainless steel string supplier (oh boy, what an alliteration…)! Our supervising chief engineer on site confirmed the feasibility when using such a string and a sigh of relief went through the rows of our funky crew. On the very same day we knew exactly that from now on nothing could stop us. That’s when we finally rolled up our sleeves.

Another important boost of motivation came up when after submitting our world record application the camera crew from WR NEWS (World Record News) contacted us and wanted to shoot on site, which we were extremely thankful for. However that was when we definitely hit the point of no return and, funny enough, fear mixed with pride appeared on everyone’s faces.

Today, only appr. 140 days after the idea was born and plenty sleepless nights are left behind us, we are proudly presenting the result to the public and are hoping to make it to the world book of records. And thereafter? Well, most likely the Eiffel Tower is next...