What is your idea of the perfect sock for hiking? My personal preference would be a merino wool/lycra contoured seemless Darn Tough sock, but with Injinji style toes. Now if only I can find a genie in a bottle.

and perhaps in an array of colors, from drab solids to stripes to camo to rainbows. Oh, and that annually goes on sale for less than $7 a pair.

the darn tough micro crew comes pretty close for me, I'd second the $7 a pair sale though :)

ones with build in liner, and that dries quickly

#1 for me is how fast they dry. For 3 season hikes I only carry 1 pair plus the ones I have on. I want to be able to wash my socks each evening, put on my other clean pair and then I've got a day to get those washed socks dry so I can put them on 24 hours later.

Second priority is weight. I don't notice a big difference between socks in terms of blisters, comfort or smell, so I choose lighter socks. For 3 season use I like low cut since I don't really benefit from higher cut socks. If anything, higher cut socks are worse because the sock sticking out of my shoe can contact wet brush and wick that down into the shoe and dampen the whole sock.

My current favorite socks are DeFeet VentilatorLite Low, which are a low cut thin synthetic sock that dry super fast and weigh just 1.1oz/pair. They are sorta mesh on the top so they don't hold much water at all.

Edited by dandydan on 11/22/2010 23:00:29 MST.

Wrightsock Coolmesh II Quarter Socks

http://www.rei.com/product/806987?preferredSku=8069870114&cm_mmc=cse_froogle-_-datafeed-_-product-_-8069870114&mr:trackingCode=E792BC5C-AA78-DF11-BC8B-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA

Edited by HikeUltralight on 11/23/2010 07:24:29 MST.

+ 1 for the wool/lycra blend (or similar) in an injinji toe sock style.

Ever since switching to the toe socks, no more blisters.

For most of my hiking, I'd want the socks to be low ankle or ped socks and thin. I don't need much warmth and would like them to dry fast.

Natural colors are fine with me. White just gets dirty anyways.

$7 or $8 a pair sounds nice too!

I completely forgot to mention thickness. I am always being told to go thicker with a liner by traditionalists, but in my experience the jungle guys got it right. Thin or none at all. A single layer no thicker than a standard liner sock, but more durable. Not so much for lighter weight, but rather for great wick action and fast drying. I always find when I go two layer that the liner sinks down into the outer sock and bunches up uncomfortably. I mentioned Injinji because of comfort not blisters. I don't tend to get toe blisters either way, but the skin above my heel(Achilles tendon) blisters like crazy in trail runners(worse with sandals). That is why I usually wear huaraches. I find huaraches are even usable in winter with the help of a waterproof/breathable insulted sock. Do you go thicker in winter or wear multiple thin layers?

I love Thor Lo Hikers. Got 6 pair and use them all the time. They are probably the only hiking sock still made in the USA.

Hi Eric

> I love Thor Lo Hikers. They are probably the only hiking sock still made in the USA.

I started with Thorlos a long time ago, but I have switched to the Darn Tough Vermont Boot Socks. Not only are they much better imho, but yes, they too are made in the USA - Vermont in fact.

Cheers

I have been working really hard on revamping my gear list. But I havent put much thought into my socks yet. maybe now would be a good time since you are all on the subject. I have traditionally used a thin liner sock and a thicker hiking sock...no particular brand, material or style (typically what was on sale). I normally get toe blisters which is why I used the liner socks, but I got a new pair of boots that I think finally solved the problem.

Anyway...I wana get a new sock system for regular three season hiking. It sounds like fast drying and light weight is key. I am gonna ditch the liner socks and just go with a solid hiking sock.

Do you think thickness actually adds comfort or helps prevent friction?

Ive heard people mention toe socks, what are the advantages/ disadvantages of those?

Ive heard some good ones mentioned on here....I am definitely gonna check those out. I checked out the Injiniji socks and they look awesome, but all the reviews say they ware out really fast. Has anyone else had this problem? Are there are types of toe socks that are better quality than the Injinji ones?

Thanks
Dan

Edited by highsierraguy on 12/17/2010 02:47:22 MST.

I have heard from other people that Vermont Darn Tough socks are great.

I have tried several socks and think Bridgedale are a little better.

Roger, you should be plugging Australian socks : )

Actually, I don't mind buying things from countries that have an aproximate balanced trade with, but don't like buying things from China, India, or petroleum products from anywhere.

I used to wear two pair of socks, but dropped the thin liner socks and didn't notice anything negative. With thin liners there is more chance for a wrinkle to develop. Costs and weighs more with no positive.

Over the years I've experimented but I've always come back to the thickest 100% wool possible. I buy the merino wool ones which are soft but the old-school thick wool ones lasted longer.

I also experimented with liners.... don't use them but they didn't hurt. I found them unnecessary to preventing blisters on my feet.

Edited by kevperro on 12/17/2010 10:26:11 MST.

I struggle with figuring out what I would do for socks in the event that I did a cold winter or snowy/wet/cold hike if a single pair of Injinji's weren't enough.

All year round for me, I just hike in a single, thin pair of the injinji running socks. But most of my hiking is either in the Sierras or Big Sur in the summer or in the local Santa Barbara backcountry in the fall, winter and spring. It just doesn't get cold enough for me to need much in the way of insulation for my feet while I'm moving.

My feet get wet a lot from stream crossings, so I like thin, quick-to-dry socks and I want to stick with the toe socks since these are the first socks I've used that have ENTIRELY eliminated toe blisters for me. Just to add another constraint, I also run really hot, so I don't want too many thick layers, so...

what would you do or recommend for a cold (say low 30s F or colder) sock system that incorporates the injinji socks and that will get wet a lot?

As an aside, someone else asked about the durability of the injinji socks... I too read a lot of the negative reviews about their durability but so far I haven't had any problems. I've been using the same few pairs of socks for all of my hikes for the last 1.5 years now.

Wifey and I have both worn them with VFFs. Our hiking mileage is very low by this forum's standards (most days under 10 miles). I've used my liners for a few weekends, but have been VERY careful with them (file nails, keep away from velcro, no lounging without shoes, hand wash, or in lingerie bag, air dry). Her pair came home from their first weekend (12 miles) with holes. The fit is pretty good, but I cannot recommend them.

We might try their non-liners, but only because we live 1/2 hour from REI. And we'd have to size up on our VFFs for the thicker socks.

The wool version of the injinji toe socks which is a bit more cushioning than the coolmax version is my perfect 3 season sock. It's a pain to get my toes in, but they are the best thing for my feet. In the winter injinji liners + vapor barrier socks. I haven't had durability issues with the injinji liners... but I haven't put more than 100 miles on any one pair. For whatever reason, my washing machine seems to eat them and so I keep buying new pair every few uses :-(

--Mark

Hi Jerry

> Roger, you should be plugging Australian socks : )
Yeah, well ... the best Australian walking socks I know of are just plain knitted wool socks, and I have some of them. But they lack completely the sophisticated engineering and quality of the DTVs. And these days, it's a global market.

Cheers

"the best Australian walking socks I know of are just plain knitted wool socks,"

Just plain knitted wool can suck without a liner if it is the course itchy stuff. Merino wool is another story, very comfortable.

Synthetic socks stink to high heaven, never again as an inner sock for me.

A good merino blend is warm when wet and is not so stinky.
Merino doesn't dry as quick as synthetics, but it doesn't matter as much as they stay warm when damp.

Lorpen Extreme.
Stiff enough to hold their shape, no sagging, slipping or bunching
But flexible enough to go on and off easily
Good reinforcement at heavy wear areas and quite durable throughout
All synthetic. Have hiked in them for hours after the boots soaked through; but no slippage or squishing. Partly due to the boots, but the sox definitely helped.
Thick enough to add some cushioning, but ventilate well - no claminess with GTX liner
And they dry more quickly than wool.
P.S. No pilling or weakening after repeated washings.

Edited by scfhome on 12/19/2010 18:05:28 MST.