sock ingredients and sweaty feet

[Luziana Feller]

on a recent hunt i bounced back and forth between Darn Tough light cushion hiker, medium cushion hiker and the First Lite Triad. The light hiker either didnt make my feet sweat as bad or did a better job wicking it away but the other 2 socks with a little more cushion kept my feet soggy all day regardless of my output level. i got back and found the light hiker has substantially more nylon than merino unlike the DT medium hiker and obviously less material underfoot than both other socks.

i'm just curious if others have experienced anything similar? does nylon wick the moisture that much more efficiently? if so should i find socks with more nylon? how have you mitigated?

also, i was wearing an all leather boot and averaging 10 mile days.

 

[Wrench]

Sure unscented roll on ANTIPERSPIRANT. .....not deodorant. This will help tremendously. Synthetic will always wick better, but on footwear the boot itself always becomes the limiting factor IMO.

 

[Luziana Feller]

i was thinking a boot that wasn't all leather might let the moisture out better. never considered putting antiperspirant on my feet but it makes perfect sense. it's weird but my feet sweat really easy and they typically run on the colder side too.

 

[lawrencedale]

I've noticed the big factor for me is the fit of the sock. tighter socks make my feet sweat. I've been working and playing in the mountains and I'm all for a cheap pair of crew cottons under a medium weight pair of crew wools. warm or cold weather my feet agree.

 

[5MilesBack]

A couple things.......first, merino will "absorb" the sweat whereas synthetics "trap and move" the sweat. This brings me to secondly........only wearing your DT socks keeps your foot in contact with those socks. And if they are full of sweat, they are going to feel "soggy" to your feet. Wear poly liner socks under your merino socks and the sweat will move away from your feet and into your merino socks keeping your feet more comfortable and less prone to friction and blisters as well.

 

[TexasTBag]

This is probably the 3rd time I’ve posted this in 3 days but I always suffered from cold sweaty feet. Get a sock liner that has individual toes. They look goofy but it’s the first time in my life my feet have been warm and dry.

REI link

I wear those liners under Darn Tough wool/nylon socks.

 

[Luziana Feller]

i have a pair of the Ingingi toe liner socks. is this what you are referring to @5MilesBack ? i didn't think about wearing them to move moisture... i only brought them in case i had to deal with hot spots or blisters

 

[backcountryshaffer]

Not to hijack your sock thread but one thing a lot of guys don't think about is the footbed. Make sure you don't have an absorbent foot bed. I made that mistake once and it sucked for days.
I don't wear a liner but prefer a high nylon blend wool sock. Just looked up this sock and am probably going to pick up a pair. https://www.foxsox.com/prima-hike-medium-weight-crew.html

 

[Luziana Feller]

i have those exact socks @TexasTBag . as mentioned above i brought them in my pack in case of hot spots but never thought to put them on

 

[Luziana Feller]

Not to hijack your sock thread but one thing a lot of guys don't think about is the footbed. Make sure you don't have an absorbent foot bed. I made that mistake once and it sucked for days.
I don't wear a liner but prefer a high nylon blend wool sock. Just looked up this sock and am probably going to pick up a pair. https://www.foxsox.com/prima-hike-medium-weight-crew.html

good to know. i bet the higher synthetic socks last a little longer too. not that it matters with Darn Tough though i guess...

 

[TexasTBag]

i have those exact socks @TexasTBag . as mentioned above i brought them in my pack in case of hot spots but never thought to put them on

Looks like they have a wool/synthetic blend liner too. I'm going to pick some up after work and try them Elk hunting this weekend.

Wool/Syn Blend REI

 

[5MilesBack]

i have a pair of the Ingingi toe liner socks. is this what you are referring to @5MilesBack ?

I've never worn "toe socks". Regular thin poly liner socks will work just as well. I've been wearing liner socks under wool boot socks for decades in hot and cold conditions, and have NEVER had the issues I constantly read about with feet and boots on these forums.

 

[doverpack12]

I don’t really wear darn tough socks anymore for the same or similar reason. My feet just always felt cold and clammy. If I wear gore socks or Bridgedale trekker socks they feel warm and comfortable. I do wear Bridgedale coolmax liners with some boots but that is to help with fit more than moisture transport. The gore socks are absolutely the best I have tried. First lite doesn’t make a sock big enough for size 14 feet so I gave mine to my friend because they cut into the front of my ankles. Back to darn tough socks my conclusion was the very dense fibers didn’t allow for as much breathability or limited the socks ability to pass moisture, maybe they just hold more moisture because they have a denser material. Either way my feet like other socks more. Durability has been fantastic but warm dry feet are far more important

 

[Rich M]

I use Cabelas Ultimax and found that they wick pretty good, feet can still be damp at the end of the day. They stay warm and I like em better than the older style wool socks.

My intro was when wife bought me a heavy and a light pair about 20 years ago - for use in waders cause my regular socks got bunched up around my toes. Anyway - I'll be taking those 20 yr old socks out for mulies in a couple weeks. Along with couple pairs I bought 2-3 years ago.

 

[Gumbo]

I have really sweaty feet and for most hunting/hiking I wear the synthetic Kenetrek Light Hikers and old style (thin black) kenetrek liners (cool-max is good to, I used those for years). This combo works noticeably better that merino for me, but as others have said I think the liner is key.

The boots are also important, but I just can't come to grips with a non-leather boot because I've had bad luck with durability and waterproofedness the couple times I've tried more breathable synthetics (but I haven't ever tried a top-end synthetic boot). I also run an uninsulated boot almost all season except for really cold, low-activity hunts. Having boots without a membrane will also help, but you will sacrifice waterproofedness, which could still result in damp/wet feet.

 

[Deplorable77]

I wear the kenetrek sock liners alone and love them

 

[tanker]

Cheap synthetic liners and good merino socks are the combination that has always worked for me.

 

[Bboucher1856]

I rock the darn tough and couldn’t be happier. They do stink after day two tho

 

[Call.me.porter]

This is probably the 3rd time I’ve posted this in 3 days but I always suffered from cold sweaty feet. Get a sock liner that has individual toes. They look goofy but it’s the first time in my life my feet have been warm and dry.

REI link

I wear those liners under Darn Tough wool/nylon socks.

This information is GOLD. I tried them for the first time in my life and couldn't be happier.

 

[Bandit06]

I had the same problem with sweaty feet getting cold or getting blisters once they got wet. A poly liner with a merino sock over it was the ticket for me.