Requirements of a Good Hiking Sock

There’s nothing like heading into the great outdoors for a good hike to get refreshed from a busy lifestyle. You get exercise, the fresh air, the beauty of nature all around you… but if you’re wearing the wrong socks when you go hiking, you can end up with blisters, cold, clammy feet, fungus and all sorts of other issues that can quickly turn a beautiful, peaceful, relaxing endeavor into a real drag. Do you know how to pick the right kind of hiking sock?

Let’s take a look at some of the things you need to consider when picking out hiking socks to make sure you have all the positives and none of the negatives mentioned above.

Hiking socks are very often – in fact, all TOO often – overlooked as an unimportant piece of hiking gear. Like someone once told me, your hiking socks are probably a lot like you at work… they do a whole lot more than what they are given credit for!

So what are the key points to a good pair of hiking socks? The short, basic list includes the following things that really are requirements to even be considered for a best hiking sock:

They must be comfortable, they must be able to wick moisture, they must have thermal properties to keep your feet at a comfortable temperature (cooling them when it’s hot out and keeping them warm when it’s cold out. Yes, the same pair of socks can accomplish both of these requirements), they must be tough and durable so that they last a long time while also promoting good blood flow and absorbing shock.

That’s ‘all’ you need in a pair of hiking socks to make them a good pair of hiking socks.

One of the most often overlooked and under rated things you MUST demand from these socks is the moisture wicking abilities.  Wicking is the process of drawing moisture away from the surface of the skin and out towards the outer layers of the garment material (think of an old oil lamp ‘wicking’ oil from the base up toward the flame).  By doing this you feet stay dry and warm in the winter, and in hot summer weather it acts as a kind of mini air conditioner, keeping your feet comfortably cool and dry.