It's time to order some new ones, and I'm looking for ideas. Thanks!

I have been very happy with Injinji Tetratsok. It took wearing them several times before I adjusted to them... but they go on every trip now. I have both hammertoes and morton's toes. Until I switched to injini I would need to treat my toes with moleskin or second skin... and still ran the risk of blisters. No blisters since I switch to the injinji socks.

Most people don't have as much trouble with blistered toes. Ignoring the toes for a second, my favorite socks have been Inov-8 mudsocks followed by Wright DoubleSocks.

--Mark

I second the vote for Injinji socks. They were a little weird at first, but now I don't step on to the trail without them.

I am a little more traditional than most on this forum when it comes to footwear. My favorite all around hiking sock are Smartwool Light Hikers

Smartwool Adrenaline 3/4's or DarnTough Hike-Trek cushion 1/4's. Both are very durable, light, supportive and cushions where they need to.

Teko EcoMerino Ultralight 1/4

Only socks I wear hiking. I use the 1/4 for summer, and the full length for winter(I also bring thick socks in case I get cold feet). They have padding on all the "hotspots", weigh 1.4 oz and they're cheap!
...and they one the Green Award in 2005... i think.

Smartwool Adrenaline LT mini crews and Sole Dual-Layer Anti-Blister Socks.

If you do go with Injinji socks, be aware that they come in different materials, and in three different lengths. I like the middle-size length; the shortest are so short that the don't reliably cover all of the upper part of my heel, whereas the crew-length are more liner sock than I need.

I recommend the "performance" series. My local REI had only the wool ones, I had to order mine online.

My favorites are Smartwool Adrenaline Mini Crews. For some reason I have never been down with Coolmax or other synthetic socks--they seem too hot to me, but they do dry faster than the wool ones.

Darn Tough Vermont Socks. In-Country Hike-Trek 1/4 Sock Cushion 1401 in Olive Merino Wool.

Edited by jbrinkmanboi on 07/05/2007 15:15:29 MDT.

This is my favorite pair of socks for hiking. I find that the light hikers fit loose and move around. The Adrenaline hugs your foot, protects from blisters and keeps your feet warm. If I could take only only pair of socks - the Adrenaline Crew would be the ones.

I wear Smartwool Ultralight Cycling socks. They are very light and dry fast. I originally bought them for cycling, and found they worked great for me when hiking, and now I wear them every day during the summer. The durability has been fine. My shoes typically have plenty of padding so my socks don't seem to need it.

Edited by ericnoble on 07/05/2007 15:55:20 MDT.

I, too, am a recent convert to Injinji. Far and away the most comfortable socks I have ever worn. As Brian mentioned above, they come in different materials and lengths. The Outdoor version is made of wool and, IMO, is too hot and wears out very quickly. Much better is the Performance version, which is a synthetic blend that is cooler, dries faster, and wears much longer. Length is pretty much a personal preference issue, but I have found the crew to be fine, especially since I only wear one pair of socks except in the winter season. Only downside I can see is that they are not as durable as the Adrenalines. Mine are showing signs of wear across the tops of my toes, of all places, after about 200 miles of hiking, whereas I can use a pair of Adrenalines for at least twice that long.

injinji tetrasok (synthetic version), micro length as base sock, with [insert your favorite wool sock here] over it. I recently switched from Smartwool Hikers to Bridgedale Trekkers as my outer sock.

Edited by demo on 07/05/2007 16:31:08 MDT.

I second the Darn Tough 1/4 Cushion Merino Wool for all-around use.

Smartwool Adrenaline Crews are awesome for warm weather, or when less water-absorption is important.

Edited by PA_Jay on 07/05/2007 17:14:14 MDT.

Now that summer is here in full swing, I am taking a survey of socks. Specifically, very fast drying socks for summer hiking.

If you have tried more than one brand/model of fast drying socks and can compare the drying speed of one to the other, please share your observations with the rest of us.

For me, my first priority in this category is a sock that will dry as fast as possible after a dunking during a creek crossing. As a secondary criteria, a great sock would also “feel” dry by wicking perspiration away from the skin and provide some cushioning. Of course, these last two criteria would be counterintuitive to fast drying as they would require more material, but, one could always hope that the miracles of modern science have produced the utopian summer sock.

On a different subject, as for winter, I wear thick Wigwam Merino Wool/Silk hikers with gore-tex boots and keep 'em dry! Warm and cushy!

Yep, I'm just starting to use the Adrenaline socks, and like them too.

Once I tried 5-toe socks I never went back. I have a couple wool pair(Montbell), a synthetic, and a thick silk pair. They all work equally well at preventing toe to toe friction, which was the last small problem remaining in dialing in my footwear system.
If I'm wearing my Inov-8 330, just the 5-toes; with the Merrell Torre GTX, I add a pair of economical and durable REI light hikers in low or high length depending on season.

I have hiked the last 8 years without getting any blisters by wearing the "anti-blister" socks shown here:

http://www.sockcompany.com/wrightsock.html

Specifically I used these pair:

http://www.sockcompany.com/wrigdoublaya1.html

I am trying out though both a cooler, lighter, sock and a more comfortable sock this year in preparation and have not made up my mind which one to go with:

http://www.sockcompany.com/wrdlacocr.html

http://www.sockcompany.com/wrigdoublaya5.html

Features of the original:

See http://www.wrightsock.com/anti-blister.html

Also see these for features of the ones I am trying out:

http://www.wrightsock.com/hikingxtra.html
http://www.wrightsock.com/coolmesh.html

Anyone try sealskinz?