How to choose hiking socks

What are hiking socks?

You may have been asking yourself; Do I need special hiking socks? Of course, you do need special hiking socks. Well, that's because your feet need all the help you can get, especially during a long and arduous hike. This means that hiking socks will greatly help to provide you with the support, temperature regulation, protection and comfort you need when hiking. No matter how challenging the hiking terrain is, proper hiking socks will make all the difference between a pleasant outing and a very uncomfortable hiking.That's why you shouldn't choose ordinary socks when hitting the road. Well, that's because they don't have the above prominent features, which may make your feet in a very unstable state and full of very painful blisters.

What role should socks play outdoors?

Compared with the socks worn on weekdays,outdoor socks still have to undertake the following three basic functions, but they need stronger efforts.

Cushioning-Walking the mountain in a day, with hundreds of thousands of steps at every turn, means that your feet collide with your shoes for hundreds of thousands of times. A pair of qualified outdoor socks should be strong and soft enough to reduce the friction between your feet and shoes and absorb shock.

Keep the right temperature-shoes are difficult to change when hiking, and it is of little significance to adjust the temperature of your feet, but you can adjust your socks. Its material, thickness and wearing method can all affect the temperature of your feet.

Outdoor feet are one of the places where hot air is most likely to gather and frostbite is most likely to occur. Because it is inconvenient to put on and take off, many mountain friends think that the "three-layer dressing" rule can't be realized here, and the heat and cold can only be endured. In fact, changing socks can greatly reduce the chance of foot covering and frostbite.

Moisture absorption and perspiration-The moisture absorption and perspiration function of socks is related to the comfort of both feet and the chance of grinding blisters. There are about 250,000 sweat glands on human feet, and they secrete tens to hundreds of milliliters of sweat every day. Most hiking shoes can't digest the air permeability, so they need socks to solve it.

So, you probably understand that the three basic functions of socks are related to the safety and comfort of your feet. What determines their strength is the material and knitting technology of socks.

When choosing outdoor socks, consider the material first.

Natural fibers (cotton, bamboo, hemp, wool) to various synthetic fibers (nylon, spandex, polyester, etc.) and even some artificial fibers can be used as the material of socks. In order to increase elasticity, toughness, etc., most socks with natural fiber as the main component will be mixed with synthetic fiber to form blended fabric (in theory, the higher the main component, the more comfortable the socks will be and the higher the cost will be).

Outdoor socks should meet the three basic functions mentioned above. Blended wool and synthetic fiber are the main materials.waterproof socks with waterproof and moisture-permeable film are mainly aimed at waterproof requirements. Cotton, on the other hand, is the most common material in daily life, but it's an unavoidable material for outdoor use.

Cotton socks (blended cotton)-There must be quite a few cotton socks in your wardrobe, and even the outdoor socks at the beginning are one of them. Socks without 100% cotton are generally called "all-cotton socks" with a cotton content of about 70%, but no matter how high-end cotton socks are, they are not suitable for outdoor use.

The truth that "the higher the cotton content, the more sweat absorption" has already been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Indeed, cotton is a hydrophilic fiber, porous and hollow, and contains a large number of hydrophilic groups (hydroxyl-OH), so it absorbs sweat quickly.If the ability of fabric fibers to retain sweat is compared to "storing water", the "reservoir" of cotton fibers will be very small, and it will expand after absorbing some sweat, which will lead to three consequences: the gap between fibers will become smaller and drying will be slower; Shrinkage, easy to grind feet; Squeeze out the air, and evaporation will directly take away the skin heat, which is easy to frostbite the feet.

Wool socks (blended wool)-"Wool is the standard material of hiking socks", as the Backpacker Handbook says. Indeed, first of all, the "reservoir" of wool is much bigger than cotton socks:Like cotton, there are many hydrophilic groups in the structure of wool, and the surface area is enlarged due to the porosity of wool scales, which greatly increases the ability of wool fibers to absorb and retain sweat until it is discharged through the vamp and the mouth of shoes, so that feet are still dry and cool in hot weather, and it is more difficult to grind blisters.

Outdoor comfort:wool socks

Moreover, a large amount of water is stored in the fiber structure, which can't be used by microorganisms, which makes wool socks come with a color-enhancing function-deodorization.In addition, the natural curl of wool will automatically capture the air, and even when it is wet, it can retain a certain air barrier to keep warm. Therefore, it is a material suitable for both summer and winter.

Cheery socks has a variety of hiking socks for climbers to choose from, not only hiking socks, but also ski socks, equestrian socks, yoga socks and other sports socks. Cheery socks focuses on customized personalized socks. Our only purpose when we wake up every day is to make the best customized socks, so that when you wear them, you will feel happy.

Ivy, the founder of Cheery Knitting, spent three months summarizing customers' problems and designing some templates. Customers only need to fill in the pattern and mark some details that should be avoided in the template, so as to reduce the time for revising the artwork and confirm all parties as soon as possible.

You only need to do one thing, that is, confirm the order and other processes with us. Socks will arrive at your door smoothly in the fastest time.