Dropping $15-$20 for a pair of socks can be a traumatic experience, but not as traumatic as a foot full of blisters. When tube socks come by the dozen at big-box stores for a fraction of that, what makes a pair of high-end socks so expensive?
The modern hiking sock's duties are threefold — to eliminate friction, move moisture away from the foot and provide cushioning. Friction between your foot and your boot's interior causes blisters; moisture trapped against the foot softens skin and increases friction; and cushioning absorbs the impact of footfalls and can improve the fit of a boot.
Hosiers knit socks from only a few yarn materials. The primary yarns define the sock's overall performance, while the secondary yarns add strength and elasticity, but also can impart features such as odor control, added warmth or faster drying. Grab a pair of socks off the rack, and you'll see the yarn materials listed as percentages right on the label. The amount of each of yarn material gives an idea what you can expect from a sock.
Click through for the full rundown on what to look for in a sock.
Primary materials
Primary sock yarns are cotton, wool or synthetics. These do the heavy lifting in the sock and provide the features promoted on sock packaging. A breakdown of each material:
Cotton is cheap. That's it for the upside. If you work in your boots, stay away from cotton and cotton blends. Instead of wicking moisture, it absorbs and retains sweat and moisture, which leads to blisters and bacteria growth. The practice of buying cheap socks and tossing them after a patrol will get you through short missions, but if you end up humping outside the wire for a few days, it won't take long for Kmart socks to turn your feet to hamburger.
Raw wool is antimicrobial and wicks moisture well. It's one of the few fibers that wicks liquid and vapor moisture. It also retains warmth when it's wet. All these natural qualities make it an ideal material for socks. Trouble is, it's itchy.
The current industry vogue is merino wool. Merino is a fine-gauge wool from merino sheep, most of which are raised in New Zealand and Australia. These sheep produce a garment-grade wool staple — i.e. hair — that is thinner than 24 microns. This thin wool is shorn, scoured and spun into a tight yarn that isn't as hairy as yarn spun from thicker fibers.Finer-staple wool translates into a tight yarn with fewer and thinner stray wool fibers to rub your skin and cause itchiness.
The sock marketplace has grown crowded lately, and there are lots of voices trying to get their product to stand out.
SmartWool is the 900-pound gorilla of premium wool socks and uses lots of merino wool in their socks. The company stresses the performance of the wool and uses a sandwich knit on its Phd hikers that puts wool on the inside and outside of the sock. Other sock makers use nylon on the outside to protect the wool from wearing through. SmartWool says if your socks wear out before you get you money's worth, send them back and the company will replace them.
Point 6 differentiates its product by using compact-spun wool yarn that's smoother and more expensive than ring-spun wool. It feels smoother and pills less. Darn Tough emphasizes the fit, finish and durability of its merino socks. Bridgedale stresses its technical construction and advanced yarn materials. Injinji has got the toe sock market, and Thorlo has got you padded in all the right places.
Acrylic yarn is made made from dissolved and drawn plastic that results in a fuzzy thread or yarn that feels slick in your hand. Acrylic is cheaper than wool and wicks moisture well and is slippery enough to prevent friction. But, it pills easily — the fibers form tiny balls of material on the survace of the sock. The majority of synthetic fibers found in socks are made from polyester, polypropylene or blends of like material that stand on their own or are paired with other engineered materials like CoolMax or PrimaLoft. Synthetics also mimic or enhance the wicking, antimicrobial and insulating properties of wool while adding durability and reducing friction and may add antimicrobial features such as Xstatic (silver threads) or chemical treatments to reduce reekage.
Secondary materials
These make up the skeletal structure of the sock. A 100 percent wool or acrylic sock would end up looking like closed-bottom leg warmer, shapeless and useless. Nylon is durable as heck, but doesn't do anything to promote moisture movement or insulation, so sock makers use as little as they can to hold a sock together. Some manufacturers leave nylon on the outside of the sock, as an effective barrier to abrasion. This makes sense in wool socks if you're after durability. Elastic is the last ingredient, branded as Lycra or Spandex. A sock with a high percentage of elastic will fit well, but at the cost of the benefit of material it replaces in the knit.
The fit
Just like shoes, sock shapes are based on three-dimensional foot shapes that are averaged and then cast into a solid shape called a "last." Each hosiery company uses its own last, so some will match your foot better than others. A baggy heel or toebox will cause blisters, and a tight sock will loose its cushion and comfort and wear quickly as fibers are pulled apart. Try different socks in different sizes from a few sock makers for the right fit. Knitting socks into these lasted shapes is one thing that adds to a good sock's manufacturing cost. Cheap tube socks are knitted around a tube, not a foot last. That's why they bunch at the top of the foot and stretch out at the heel.
Construction
The story of a sock's construction is told on the inside. Grab a sock and turn it inside out. Start with the sock's body. Boot socks are generally regarded as cushion or full cushion. Full-cushion socks have loops, called terry loops, covering the entire inner circumference of the sock. Partial-cushion socks have built-up terry loops only in high-impact areas such as the ball, heel and achilles area, which reduces bulk, weight and cost.
On some wool socks, you might find the footbed is a thick, un-looped area instead of terry loops. This is felted construction and is extremely durable. The felted wool offers less cushion but stands up to abrasion better than terry. Felt tightens up, shrinks and eventually becomes stiff over a few months of laundry cycles if thrown in the dryer. If you can stand caring for them properly, felted socks will last longer than looped wool socks.
Look at the loops themselves. Are they tall or short loops? Long loops will provide lots of cushion at first, but over time they will flatten out and leave a matted surface. Shorter loops have a little more structure and will provide a little less cushion that will last longer. Also look around for loose ends. Not a big deal, but socks with cool looking designs and lots of different cushion areas leave lots of stray thread ends that can catch on toenails and begin the process of unthreading a sock from the inside out.
How about the knit? Socks are knit by machines using hundreds of needles at once. The needle count dictates how many loops can be packed into a knit. Ragg wool uses about 80 needles; hiking socks come in at about 150 needles; and tightly knit dress socks are upwards of 200 needles.
The midfoot area should have some elasticity to form an arch band that holds the sock in place and keeps it from getting baggy under your arch.
Look at the toe and feel for a flat toe seam with no bulging knots of thread at the ends. The heel cup should be well padded and have a smooth transition to the ankle shaft. Some boot socks will carry loops all the way up the ankle shaft of the boot. This will insulate your ankle from the cold and will provide cushioning for unlined boot shafts. Cushioned shafts are great in the cold, but in warm weather and shorter boots you don't need them.
Ribs in the ankle shaft add a little more structure and hold the sock up in concert with a sewn over welt at the top of a crew height sock. Ankle socks rise above and hang on the calf, so a big elastic welt isn't needed to keep the sock up.
Conclusion: In describing the value proposition of a modern sport sock, it's impossible to avoid the tube sock argument.
Most of us have been raised wearing cheap tube socks, and they work fine in daily life. So that's why some scoff at performance sock prices. But let's reverse the terms by saying your feet are the most important source of survivability and deserve more than just what is adequate on an easy day in garrison. Remember that whole mobility-equals-survivability argument that won the day for plate carriers in Afghanistan? Well, the same argument applies to your feet.
We've all heard of, if not participated in a two-week-long "48-hour op." Donning a pair of cotton tube socks at the outset of a mission is just as bad as rolling without a back plate or grabbing just one bottle of water on the way to the trucks. If the op goes long, your teammates are going to have to take up the slack when your feet turn to hamburger. So why risk it? Nobody blinks at $20 gloves or $80 eyepro. Boots and socks are an important combat mobility and survivability system and should be treated accordingly.
Coming up in the next installment, GearScout reviews a few socks. Then, Sunday, we'll give you a look at a few new entries the sock market. Read part II here.
