Reader Reviews

Rating: 1 / 5

Bought these socks a couple of years ago. And have never been able to make use of them in their intended fashion. Why? Well, the story reads like the plot of a spaghetti western...


The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Rocky GTX socks:

First the good:
Excellent construction: 5

Appearance (off-foot): 4.5


VERY NICE INDEED! if only the story ended here, but alas, this one does NOT have a happy ending.



The Bad
Performance: ??? who knows, not i that's for sure. Why? The FIT, it's all about the FIT. read on...


Fit: 0


FIRST ATTEMPT
Heard that I needed to size up one size. So, I did precisely that.

Tried to get them on my foot over a capilene liner, then over a Smartwool liner, and even over a bare foot - eventually succeeded.

This is a very painstakingly slow process - even worse than attempting to slither into the tightest cut, zipperless mummy sack.

Just over three minutes of tugging and pulling around and around the foot, little by little that the first pair (one size up) took to get on - and that was just over three minutes PER SOCK. I could pitch a tent in the time it took me to put on this first, one size up pair of socks.


WARNING: if your house is on fire, don't try to put these socks on before vacating the burning premises. The Manufacturer may not be held responsible for your demise.



Forget about ever layering them anything but a liner, in my experience. Sock is a bit long when sized up one size, but is FAR TOO tight even over a bare foot. Couldn't wear them for any great length of time since they are so tight and uncomfortable.



SECOND ATTEMPT
Sized up TWO sizes. Surely, these will fit? Well,..."yes", and "no"...


They finally arrive and i take these "bivy" (no bug netting!!) sized socks out the package. GREAT! They fit over the liners and are only a little difficult to pull on, though still more than I would have suspected or desired, AND i can get them on in just under sixty seconds each instead of the more than three minutes each sock that the first pair took. Definitely only a liner will fit under these socks sized TWO sizes up.


[Note: could BOTH of my pairs be mislabelled as to size by the Mfr? Unlikely, or the sock girth would have fit better given their length. Could they part of a bad run? Perhaps, but two different size socks? Maybe? Don't know.]



The Ugly:
Well, now that i have these bivy-sized socks on, how do i get my trail runner on??? You see, the UGLY is that there are approximately FOUR INCHES of sock sticking out in front of my big toe!!!

Do i fold this extra length back over the top of my foot??? Nope - not 'nuff room - too tight.

Do I fold it under the bottom of my foot??? Nope - not 'nuff room - too tight.

Do I just "scrunch" it up in front of my stubby lil' toes? Nope - not unless I size up one size my footwear!!! Again, not 'nuff room.



This is FOUR inches of worthless, offending material that something must be done with. Needless to say, either approach that i took didn't work well.

However, all is not lost as i can use them for rain mitts when holding trekking poles while wearing a rain poncho - hey,...at least they are breathable which is more than i can say for the far, far lighter plastic bags i normally use!!



Bottom line:
I'd like to be able to talk more about about their performance, but I can't, since the fit of these socks is so poor that I cannot wear them

These socks just plain don't fit my feet. I have small feet (5-8 sock or 6-9 sock) with VERY HIGH arches that are just at the outer limits of medium width - in other words, i don't take wide widths, but medium width shoes fit just right - if med. shoes were any narrower, i'd need wide width.

I should also mention that I have NOT had problems, EVER, with any other sock - even some neoprene one that i own. Problems fitting shoes - "yes", but NEVER (until now) with socks.

I would strongly suggest that you try before you buy.

So, these socks get a '1', NOT because they can still be used as WPB thumb-less rain mitts, but only because the rating system wouldn't let me give them a ZERO or a negative number.


EDIT:
Be sure to read the following reviews for a complete picture as other Reviewers have a TOTALLY different experience with these socks from my own experience. Perhaps, sizing is only a problem in the smallest sizes, or mine came from a bad Mfr-ing "run"? If so, the other reviewers experiences may be closer in line with what most would experience.

Edited by pj on 02/28/2007 03:31:04 MST.

Rating: 5 / 5

I haven't had any problems getting the Rocky socks on my feet. I don't remember if I up sized or not, but when they are on, they fit. There is not much excess in the toes. Additionally, they do what I want them to do. They keep my feet dry if I have to put dry socks in wet shoes.

Rating: 5 / 5

Mine fit well. Size 10 slips right over a thin pair of wool socks and my size 9.5 feet. They are comfortable inside my trail runners and do what they claim to do--keep my feet warm and dry in wet, cold conditions. Very durable--I've worn the same pair for over ten years and they are still in great shape.

Edited by Dondo on 02/27/2007 20:09:35 MST.

Rating: 5 / 5

So I bought these socks close to a year ago and I have been very impressed with their performance. In warm weather they are certainly not needed but once temps dip into the 30's I use these snowshoeing and trail running. Just this past weekend I went for a 5 mile snowshoe run and by mistake submerged my entire foot into a stream hidden under 2 feet of snow. While I could feel the cold of the water, my feet remained comfortable. I have been using them with a pair of Inov8 Roclite 315's/Flyroc 310's with regular smartwool PHD socks all the way up to Exp weight socks. As other reviews have stated I think it is luck of the draw if they will fit your feet. My wife also has a pair and cannot get them over her feet.

12/31 Update: Last weekend I used these socks for a 6 hour 10 mile slow moving snowshoe day hike. Temps were in a mid 30's and we had rain all day. I used these socks with a Smartwool liner and a Darn Tough hiking sock along with my Flyroc's and my feet stayed warm and dry all day. Very impressed....

Edited by Jkrew81 on 12/31/2008 07:03:16 MST.

Rating: 5 / 5

I use trailrunners (Inov8 Terrocs) and bought the Rocky GTX socks for cold, really messy weather. I gave them a few good tests this fall. I wore them over Smartwool socks (medium thickness).

Fortunately there was sufficient room my Terrocs for the Rocky socks and the wool socks. My feet stayed warm - some sweat, of course, but I'm confident that the Rocky socks will handle some pretty tough weather wearing my trailrunners.

Edited by gmatthews on 12/30/2008 15:46:40 MST.

Rating: 4 / 5

Having been convinced by consistently positive reviews of Rocky over-socks I was prompted to buy a pair. Since my local REI store had none in, I was hesitant about the right size. Their on-line store agreed to send 3 separate sizes to my local store where I could try them on. I welcomed this offer because REI doesn't charge shipping when you pick up your goods from the store. I did have to pay for all three up front. When they arrived, I went to the store to try them on wearing my backpack socks & trail shoes to insure a proper fit. I turned back the other 2 pair and got an instant refund.

My one remaining concern was how to prevent water from entering over the top when I wade streams. I tried wrapping my leg around the top of the Gortex portion of the sock. I used a Velcro strap pulled as tightly as possible. Then I plunged my foot into a buck of water. I was not surprised to feel water trickling in. Though I have not yet tested it, I don't think a tight elastic band would perform any better.

I was explaining my frustration to my wife who immediately came up with a brilliant solution: Use duct tape to connect the sock to my leg. That idea is a real possibility. I am only concerned if adhesive residue from the duct tape might compromise the Gortex. My understanding is that Gortex is inside the fabric so I should be OK if I am careful to clean it regularly.

Any thoughts on my wife's idea? Or has someone else solved this problem in a different way?

Rating: 3 / 5

I am attempting to buy a pair of these socks but encounter already the problem that there is no indication about the "unstretchable" part of the sole..I am buying from Switzerland and cannot try on so I was trying to figure out which size would come up with 25cm sole lenghts..a simple nightmare or a mission impossible..does anybody have a size 8 and can tell me if this will work for a womens 8? I believe mens 8 are different..I need EUR38,5 - UK5,5 - 25cm but here I am really lost because in socks there is no sole lengths published like with sport shoes..US7 or US8 and a lottery game for me I guess..anybody can help as seller keep telling me that there is no such thing as men or women size in socks...any men size 7 or women size 8 can help me?