Oct 06, 2025

October 2025: boots, a ping pong table, and a comic omnibus

By October our community has stopped pretending summer is coming back. The list this month is what people buy when they are planning to be inside a lot, with a few outdoor jobs finished off before the ground gets hard.

The big one

The Barrington table tennis table was the month's centerpiece, and it generated more back-and-forth than anything we have published in a while. The consensus from readers who bought it: measure the room first, twice, including the space you need to stand behind the table, and be realistic about whether a folding table will actually be folded or will simply live in the middle of the basement forever. Everyone who accepted the second answer in advance was happy with the purchase.

Footwear and outerwear season

Aerosoles Daria knee high boots were the apparel pick of the month. Knee-high boots are a sizing minefield, particularly around the calf, and the readers who did well with them were the ones who measured before ordering rather than after. October is the right month to buy them; by late November the sizes get picked over.

Reading and shelf life

Two books made the list, which is unusual. The Star Wars Omnibus: A Long Time Ago collects early comic material in one heavy volume and went to readers building a winter reading stack. The biography Saint John Paul II came from a smaller group of readers, and we mention it because our community is broader than a deals list usually suggests.

Finishing the outdoor jobs

Kleenguard G10 blue nitrile gloves were bought in bulk for exactly the reason you would expect in October: gutters, leaves, staining a deck, and cleaning things that have been outside all summer. Nitrile is the right choice when you are handling solvents, and readers who had spent a season fighting with dish gloves were noticeably relieved.

And Glamos stackable plant supports returned for a second month, this time from gardeners taking them down, cleaning them, and stacking them for storage rather than putting them up.

What October is really for

There is a version of autumn shopping that is entirely about decoration and a version that is about getting ready. Our readers, reliably, choose the second. The list is boots, gloves, something for the basement, and two books for the dark evenings.

The one piece of timing advice we would offer: if a large indoor item is on your list for the holidays, October and early November are when it is easiest to get. Game tables in particular become difficult to find in December, and the freight on them is nobody's idea of a good time.