Took me 3 tries to admit I was wrong about wool socks

Last winter I swore by thick cotton socks for hiking in New Hampshire, even when my feet got clammy and cold. My buddy Dave kept pushing me to try a pair of Darn Tough merinos he got from a shop in Conway. I finally gave in after a 6-mile hike up Mount Pemigewasset where my toes went numb by mile 3. That night I borrowed his spare pair for a morning walk and my feet stayed dry and warm the whole time. Three years later I own 8 pairs and threw out all my cotton socks except for lounging around the house. Anyone else stubbornly stick to a bad gear choice before a single recommendation changed your whole setup?

2 comments

2 Comments

joseph9325d ago

Ah man, I gotta push back on this one a little... cotton socks have been working fine for me for years and I'm not sure why everyone's jumping on the wool bandwagon all of a sudden. My feet stay plenty warm with a good pair of cotton crew socks on a normal hike, and they're way cheaper than those fancy merino ones that cost like 20 bucks a pair. Plus wool makes my feet itch like crazy no matter how "soft" they claim it is. Maybe I'm just set in my ways but I got a whole drawer full of perfectly good cotton socks and I'm not about to toss them just because some hiking buddy says so. If it ain't broke don't fix it, you know?

adam_robinson6d ago

8 pairs? Man, that's a whole sock addiction right there, I can't even commit to buying more than three of anything at once.