Sock Aid with Ridges, Mboss

The best information I can provide about this item is not a critique of its design elements but rather a suggestion that you purchase one in advance of when you will actually need it. If you are having a scheduled operation that will lead to an immobilized knee, buy one of these a few days before. I recently had knee surgery and found myself needing to go to work and not having any means of getting my left sock on. The Duro-Med Mboss Sock Aid is an enormous help and even essential for those who can't bend a knee. The general design and construction of this stock aid are pretty solid. Basically, what you need for an apparatus like this is an exterior surface that grips the sock and an interior surface that is extremely slippery so your heel can glide into the sock-covered aid. The Duro-Med Mboss Sock Aid achieves this by having ridges on the outside and a smooth inside surface. Yet, the inside surface could be improved slightly by using a more advanced coating like Teflon. While this half-circle plastic channel is rigid enough for most socks, it does tend to collapse inward with thick athletic socks. Making the plastic 50% thicker would probably solve this problem. Even with its current thickness and rigidity, you can merely pull apart the almost-closed top half of the channel and stretch the sock manually, thereby opening up the void into which your foot is inserted. Lastly, the single half-circle curvature that forms the channel could be improved by adding a slight perpenditure curvature (~15 degrees) that would partially contour to your heal. A way to envision this is to picture the two dimensional curvature of a jai-alai cesta (throwing basket) but much lest drastic. Again, this would be a minor improvement, not an earth-shattering change. In summary, the Duro-Med Mboss Sock Aid is an essential item for those with an immobilized knee or hip problems. It is inexpensive and effective. The suggestions I made, if implemented, would probably double or triple the price. Such enhancements could be worth the additional cost if the item is to be used by someone with a permanent disability and, hence, should be considered in future versions by the manufacturer. Pros: Inexpensive Exterior ridges hold sock in place Cons: Could be slightly stiffer/more rigid for thick socks Inside surface would benefit from a super slippery surface like Teflon A two dimensional curvature would be helpful (think jai-alai cesta with slightly less curvature ~15 degrees along the heel)