Topic: Best Hiking Socks for 2022 (Read 33 times)
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Why It Made the Cut
This is the best sock for trail running that I’ve ever tested: thin, durable, and reinforced in all the right places
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Product Description
Trail runners need socks that can put up with abuse after abuse and still perform. The Smartwool Athlete Edition Run Mountains start with a big chunk of of merino wool (excellent for moisture management and temperature control) and then add in almost as much nylon for durability. To tackle one of the biggest failure points for running socks (the toes), these also have an extra chunk of cushioning—useful if you bang your toes on an errant root during a run. I’ve also found during testing that these socks stay in place better than anything I’ve tried. I never think about them when I’m running, which also means they’re always the pair I reach for before heading out.
Why It Made The Cut
The Purist is the most co*fortable sock I’ve ever tried, yet it has the chops to handle major backcountry expeditions. These are especially well-suited for winter or shoulder-season trips.
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The Purist turned me from a merino die-hard to a yak cashmere evangelist. Whereas wool fibers are naturally scaly, yak cashmere—the fancy term for the hair that is closest to the yak’s body—are smooth. They’re also co*pletely hollow, trapping warm air inside to warm your feet and (merino fibers are semi-hollow) stay warmer for longer.
I tested these socks on a 250-mile section of the Colorado Trail, and they kept my feet warmer than wool socks and wicked moisture equally well. The only ding was that they were showing more signs of wear than my other hiking socks (although not enough to be retired from rotation). For those looking for the performance benefits of yak cashmere with greater durability, Happy Yak makes The Adventurist, which incorporates nylon. Air drying these socks also helps improve their lifespan (which you’re doing for your on-trail hand washes anyway, right?).
The only thing keeping The Purist from taking over my sock drawer is the high price ($55 at the time of testing). For that reason, this sock usually stays in my pack until the last day of a trip, when my feet need a little luxury to get through those final miles.
Why It Made The Cut
The Feetures Merino 10 No Show stays in place on rocky trails runs and sweaty ascents. The tester’s feet also felt fresher than average after all-day sufferfests.
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Product Description
Feetures’ Merino 10 is one of the few no-show socks that actually stays in place on all-day adventures, without slipping under the arch or tugging on the tab. The secret here is extra spandex woven into the arch for a fitted feel that, I was happy to discover, also helped my feet feel fresher over the long haul. The merino and thin weave ensured that moisture wicked out as soon as it built up and kept one tester’s feet dry on a drizzly day in muddy conditions.
This sock has a high nylon percentage, which makes it unusually durable. It only showed slight fraying under the balls of the foot and at the toes (back of the heel looks like new) after a full season of use in the Oregon Cascade Range. The tester said that this sock was just a hair too thick to wear on blistering trail runs during the height of summer, but that their feet appreciated the padding during the rest of the year.
Why It Made The Cut
The Point6 37.5 series wicks as well as thinner socks with less cushioning and performs well in the most rugged conditions.
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Keeping your feet dry during the heat of summer is one of the most important things you can do to keep blisters at bay. Usually, that means choosing a thin sock so heat isn’t trapped next to your skin. But these midweight socks buck the trend by incorporating carbon (from volcanic ash, of all things) into the knit to speed up the natural wicking properties of the already high merino wool content—which made these some of the least smelly socks I’ve tested.
I was also impressed by this sock’s durability. One pair of 37.5s got an unfortunate first hole when a perfectly positioned stick jammed through the undersoles of a tester’s shoes during a trek through Southern California. Rather than ditch them for a new pair, they took a stroll for another 150 miles. That hole never got any bigger, so they kept the socks.
Why It Made The Cut
No sock kept testers’ feet drier on hot days than the Venture. And its unusual texture made it a surprise hit on hikes where their feet took a beating.
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Hemp is not a traditional fiber for hiking socks, but the Venture Crew shows that maybe it’s time for that to change. On a humid overnight in Nebraska when the mercury broke 90, these socks kept the sweat away from one tester’s skin better than their merino counterparts. This is because the channels running down the fibers help move sweat away from the body unlike merino.
The texture on this sock is hard to describe. It isn’t soft—at times, it almost felt like it was exfoliating my skin—but it ranked high for co*fort co*pared to traditional wool socks and ended up as a top choice to take on a section of the Pacific Crest Trail. My only co*plaint is that trail debris tends to hang onto the cuffs on longer treks, making trail laundry more of a chore than I’d like.
Why It Made The Cut
These socks show the performance of merino doesn’t have to co*e at a premium cost, and the durability rivals many of the higher priced socks I tested.
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Pros
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Product Description
It’s tough to find a pair of high-quality merino socks for under $20, but I found during testing that the REI-branded merino wool socks ($16 at the time of testing) were just as good as many higher priced options. The bulk of the performance benefits co*es from the high-wool content, which increases the sock’s ability to wick, retain heat on cold days, and avoid unwanted odors. And vents at the top of the sock and cushioning on the underfoot kept my feet happy and blister-free on longer slogs.
This sock is billed as an ultralight, but its thickness is closer to that of a lightweight sock. The price point also co*es with some tradeoffs, as these socks tend to bag out after heavy use and are noticeably less soft than the higher-priced pics on this list. Still, I wouldn’t hesitate to throw them on my feet or in my pack for dayhikes or overnight trips.
Hiking socks can cost anywhere from $10 to $60, but the best hiking socks are typically around $20 to $25. Less than that and you are likely to run into durability issues, and you may notice more blisters than you would have otherwise seen. Higher priced socks typically co*e with extra cushioning, a specialized fiber (like my yak cashmere pick), fine-gauge merino wool, or some other unique performance benefit.
The best type of sock for hiking is one that wicks away moisture from your feet, as wet feet are prone to developing blisters—this is why the best hiking socks are almost never made out of cotton, which retains moisture. The go-to fiber for moisture wicking is merino wool, which has the added benefit of being naturally antimicrobial (so your feet are less likely to smell), but synthetic fibers can work just as well.
The best hiking socks for summer are the ones that will keep your feet dry. They can acco*plish this by being unusually thin, so that moisture can escape easily, incorporating fibers that wick away moisture well, such as merino, or a co*bination of both. Something to consider is that in places where the ground heats up significantly during summer, such as the desert, thicker hiking socks can help prevent heat blisters from developing on the underside of your feet.
The best hiking socks for sweaty feet are the ones that wick away moisture quickly. Look for socks with a high percentage of merino (or a synthetic that is designed for wicking), and consider what kind of shoes you are planning to pair them with. If you are wearing trail runners, where moisture can easily escape, thinner socks may work better to keep your feet dry. In traditional hiking boots, which can beco*e swampy in hot conditions, thicker hiking socks can help provide a buffer between your feet and the sweat wicking to the outside of the sock.
To find the hiking socks that will be the most co*fortable, first consider your conditions. For cold-weather hiking, it’s best to choose heavyweight socks, while a midweight or lightweight sock would be more appropriate for the summer. If conditions are muddy or buggy, a crew height can help protect your legs. And if there are any stream crossings on your upco*ing hike, the most co*fortable socks will be the extra pair tucked into your pack.
Thin socks can be good for hiking in the right conditions. If you are wearing lightweight, cushioned shoes (such as trail runners) on a hot day, thin socks will wick away moisture faster than thicker socks. But if you are wearing hiking boots or low-cut hiking shoes, which tend to be made out of stiffer materials, you may find that the cushion provided by thicker hiking socks keeps your feet co*fortable for longer and results in fewer blisters.
I’ve tested dozens of socks from major brands like Balega, Swiftwick, Thorlo, Lorpen, Wigam, Royal Robbins, Farm to Feet, Icebreaker, Injinji, Orvis, Fox River, Wrightsock, and more. To find the best of the best, testers and myself have taken the best hiking socks on everything from dayhikes to trail runs to thru-hikes in a variety of climates and regions, from the damp foothills of the Cascade Range to the arid chill of the Rockies and the blistering heat of the deserts of Southern California. For this review, I considered features such as durability, moisture management, co*fort, and fit. These picks had hundreds, some thousands, of miles put onto them over the course of one or more seasons to provide unique insight into the lifespan of each.
The above best hiking socks are all great choices for dayhiking and overnighters. Some, like the Darn Tough and Point6 socks, I even pack for multi-night trips and thru-hikes. You’ll typically want multiple pairs of hiking socks, so I reco*mend buying several different kinds to see what works best with your feet, your shoes, and the types of hikes you typically go on.
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