Anyone wear just a merino sock?

[hwy1strat]

I've never even tried a liner before. Didn't know that was a common thing. Darn tough, wigwam, foxriver have all treated me well over the years

 

[Jethro]

I've never worn 2 socks. My merino socks are from Cabelas, Gore, Minus 33, and Costco. My fav is the Cabelas.

Warm weather hunts I wear Bombas, they have some merino, and Stone Glacier which has no merino. They are both thinner than the others.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

I've never worn a liner with merino, I wear nothing but Darn Toughs and a couple pair of LL bean merino I got while I was up in freeport. Micro crew midweight 80% of the time. I've got some micro crew lightweigh and some lightweight 1/4 height for really hot months and a couple pair of heavyweight for extreme cold but rarely wear those as I usually opt for insulated boots and midweights.

 

[5MilesBack]

I tried a pair of Darn Tough by themselves one time. The bottoms of my feet turned bright red and felt like they were on fire the entire time. I've never had a problem wearing my poly liner socks under merino. But use and do whatever you've got to do to make things work.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

I tried a pair of Darn Tough by themselves one time. The bottoms of my feet turned bright red and felt like they were on fire the entire time. I've never had a problem wearing my poly liner socks under merino. But use and do whatever you've got to do to make things work.

That's not normal, more than likely those socks had some sort of chemical on them that your feet reacted to. The bottoms of our feet are like sponges for soaking stuff up. Merino doesn't do that unless you're allergic to it somehow which a thin layer in between isn't going to do anything to prevent either.

 

[5MilesBack]

That could be, but I would expect a chemical to leach it's way through the liner socks as well. The liner socks also help keep my feet dry. Merino "absorbs" the moisture, then without a liner it's just my feet up against that moisture all day. When I take my boots off at night, my merino socks are wet, but my feet are pretty dry and comfortable.

 

[Rick M.]

I quit wearing double socks for the most part when I started wearing quality merino socks.

Same. Darn Tough is good to go.

 

[MuleyFever]

The liner socks also help keep my feet dry. Merino "absorbs" the moisture, then without a liner it's just my feet up against that moisture all day. When I take my boots off at night, my merino socks are wet, but my feet are pretty dry and comfortable.

This is why I have always worn a liner. I grew up stand hunting in WI so in the winter I would wear a liner on the walk to my stand then put on a wool sock in an attempt to keep my feet as dry as possible to stay warm. And wool was not that comfy against my skin. When I moved west I just kept wearing the liner but moved to merino wool. I was always nervous the wool would not be as kind to my feet against my skin. But in warm weather I started to question if with better merion did I need the liner.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

That could be, but I would expect a chemical to leach it's way through the liner socks as well. The liner socks also help keep my feet dry. Merino "absorbs" the moisture, then without a liner it's just my feet up against that moisture all day. When I take my boots off at night, my merino socks are wet, but my feet are pretty dry and comfortable.

Polyester socks actually make feet sweat more than merino or cotton socks, so that’s probably why your merino outer socks are so wet or at least a contributing factor. The polyester make your feet sweat but don’t absorb anything.

Merino wicks the sweat away from your skin and absorbs moisture while still insulating.

So those poly socks you’re wearing are actually counter intuitive.

I’m a very sweaty person and even wearing merino wool socks in the middle of FL summer all day with leather boots my socks have never been wet at the end of the day. They’ll me somewhat damp to the touch but never wet.

I would give them another go solo without the polyester socks and you might be surprised how much more comfortable your feet are.

 

[Dos Perros]

Darn tough and smartwool for me.

x2

Never wore a liner. Adjust thickness of the sock and how tight the laces are depending on how warm I need my feet to be.

 

[Patton]

Once I learned that more socks doesn’t always equal more warmth, and I started wearing merino, I haven’t worn double-socks since.

 

[nobody]

My dad got super into the liner sock and running a "sock system" about 10 years ago. I've never fought blisters really or hot spots or anything, but he has, and he swears by the liner socks. So he bought my brothers and I liners and good wool socks as gifts several years back. That's the ONLY time I've ever gotten a blister, was the one day I wore the liner sock. You couldn't force me to wear a liner even if you put a gun to my head. I've hunted August to December, in everything from Walmart Brahma camo hunting boots to Crispi's, leather and synthetic, and everything in between. Never had an issue as long as I wore a good sock.

Come to think of it, I only started wearing dedicated Merino socks a few years ago. Before that I wore cotton athletic socks 90% of the time in the hills and STILL never had issues with blisters. Heck, the liner socks also even caused some of the nastiest stinky feet I've ever had, even the cotton socks didn't cause my feet to stink as bad as the liners. But man, you give me a liner sock and I can pretty much guarantee I'll go home with blisters and achy feet. Too much squish and movement for this guy.

I honestly think liner socks are popular mainly because of marketing. Mountaineers came up with the idea years ago, back before we had the advancements in boot technology that we do now. Now I feel it's just an old wives tale that's been perpetuated for generations, and if guys spent the time to really research and get measured and find a boot that fits right, and spend the money on quality expensive socks, liners would cease to exist in today's market.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

I go back and forth depending on how much activity I'm doing. Walking a short distance and sitting for a long time? I wear medium thick darn tough or thick smartwool. If I'm hiking a lot, injiji synthetic toe sock liners and thin or ultra-thin darn tough wool. My foot fits well inside the boot with either system.

Are you using a thin wool sock with the liners or more of a standard medium to thick sock?

 

[Lowg08]

I always wear merino socks. Only one pair but I wear the heavy ones year round. I prefer the First lite socks.

 

[Cameron.25]

I dont run cold so i've never tried wearing 2 pairs, my wife does it frequently tho. I just wear different thicknesses of darn tough and farm to feet year round depending on the temps. I even got some low cut merino socks for running and I like em better than regular socks for that application as well

 

[5MilesBack]

Merino wicks the sweat away from your skin and absorbs moisture while still insulating. That's why the combo works so well for me. The merino wicks the sweat directly through the poly socks and keeps the poly socks and feet dry. When my feet are directly against the merino.....they're still wet.

So those poly socks you’re wearing are actually counter intuitive. It's not the poly socks that make me sweat, it's the all day hiking and an enclosed leather boot.

I would give them another go solo without the polyester socks and you might be surprised how much more comfortable your feet are.

Actually I've tried my Smartwool socks as well on their own.......they just make my feet too hot without the liner. My feet can't get anymore comfortable than they are already using the liner and merino socks. I'll cover 10+ miles a day every day hunting, and I never even think about my feet or boots. They're good. But it sure seems like we read a ton on here about foot or boot issues. That's why I always recommend a poly liner sock under merino..........it's a great combo that just flat out works.

 

[LASTINLINE]

sometimes theres too much science. a liner sock may draw moisture away but so does merino. the difference is the poly liners next to feet skin feel like clammy damp bags on my feet below 40 degrees. wrightsock co. has a sock that the liner is attached to the main wool sock.they made them kinda thin so its not like a wearing 2 pairs of socks... i love them when using rubber boots spring, summer, fall only because the layers move prevent rubbing and blisters for me. my favorite cold weather socks using pac boots are the heavy buffalo wool socks.recently trying Yakk socks from Etsy. soft like polar fleece but warmer than my darn toughs.

 

[CCooper]

Never worn a liner. Farm to Feet is another good merino sock.

 

[safeskies]

I only wear Merino socks and they are the best!

 

[MattB]

Guess I was doing it wrong all along.

Sounds like you believed what you read on the internet.