Cotton Socks

[crich]

During a discussion about damp feet on a recent moose hunt, a buddy in our group revealed that he wears cotton socks over a pair of wool socks. His theory is that the cotton absorbs any sweat or moisture pulling it from the wool while keeping it from getting into the boot lining. In theory it makes sense and he said hes been doing it for years to keep his feet dry. Swapping the cotton pair every day would obviously be a requirement. Anyone else heard of someone doing this? I have sweaty feet that get cold very easily so Im always on the hunt for ways to keep them toasty.

 

[Laelkhunter]

Seems like it would work in theory, however I'm thinking (in cold weather anyway), that it would be best to wear a liner sock with a wool sock over it. Wool will still retain heat even when wet, whereas cotton will not. Cotton will get cold and clammy. If you are going to carry extra socks to change, carry extra wool socks and change them.

 

[willtim]

I would not do that.

 

[Miflatlander91]

In my much younger years I wore alot of cotton socks always thought more was better. Boy was I wrong a thin liner sock and a thicker wool sock keep my feet toasty now as long as my boots breath a little my feet stay dry

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

 

[crich]

Yeah I dont plan on switching to cotton just curious if anyone has heard of this. I always wear a thin kenetrek liner with a thicker wool sock over top and it has worked decent. If i heat up from a lot of hiking and dont strip layers my feet are doomed unless I change socks.

 

[Bump79]

It's an interesting theory. Having the cotton sock on the exterior could theoretically create a pulling effect away from your wool sock. Cotton holds 2300% of it weight in water but it also gives it up pretty quick considering. If it was a very light weight thin sock it might do something. I personally object to some materials "wicking" IE polyester. As a material that only holds .3% moisture is doing very little wicking. In an emergency situation I would rather be wearing poly but as a general base it's just not comfortable.

I've been debating a similar theory for base layers. I personally find that a 100% polyester the material is dry while I'm just soaked in sweat. It hits it limit for the amount of moisture it can take (0.3%) and the rest just stays on your skin. I like merino but durability isn't great. Cotton even at 50%/50% blend still holds too much moisture. I wonder if you couldn't get a 5% cotton/ 95% polyester blend (or more poly) to perform just as well. It would actually wick more than a merino at the same weight. I'd be willing to bet it would be comfortable, durable, wick better, dry just as quick as merino, while being quite a bit cheaper.

 

[5MilesBack]

If you wear a decent polypropylene liner sock with wool socks over those, the wool socks do the same thing that your buddy's cotton socks do, without the negative attributes of cotton.

 

[S-3 ranch]

Bamboo socks & alpaca or other light weight wool
I learned this from a buddy with diabetes, moisture is your enemy

 

[LNF150]

When I fought fire for the forest service, we wore cotton socks over wool socks every day for this very reason. Cotton pulls the moisture from the wool socks, keeping your feet dryer. It the cotton socks get damp, just change them out with a dry pair.

 

[t_carlson]

Wool absorbs moisture, just like cotton. The only difference between it and cotton is that wool still has some insulation value when wet, whereas cotton does not.

IMO, cotton does not have ANY use in my hunting clothing (or skiing or ice climbing or whatever else in cold weather) whatsoever. It is comfortable when dry....and that's about it. I don't want anything that HOLDS moisture in my gear. Period. Why hold when you can wick instead?

While the idea seems logical, imagine wrapping a wet towel around your wool sock. Some moisture is going to transfer back into the sock, or, at the very least, just prevent the sock from shedding some of the moisture off of it. Is that what you want?

Wicking works as follows: body heat drives moisture away from the heat source through fibers that DO NOT absorb moisture (synthetic). Why would you inhibit that process intentionally? You don't need to put a cotton sock on to help pull the moisture out, unless your first layer doesn't wick (100% merino doesn't wick very well). Your boot is going to stop some moisture from wicking anyway. I'd leave it up to the boot. Get some merino/synthetic blend socks and go from there.

 

[t_carlson]

When I fought fire for the forest service, we wore cotton socks over wool socks every day for this very reason. Cotton pulls the moisture from the wool socks, keeping your feet dryer. It the cotton socks get damp, just change them out with a dry pair.

The problem with that method is that the cotton then acts as a moisture reservoir inside of your boot. Feet might (?) be dryer, but are they really warmer with a wet cotton sock enclosing them?

I'd wager that most of your firefighting was not done in temps at or around freezing, which tends to change the game a bit.

Imagine a river. Putting a dam on the river won't make the water above it flow any faster just because the dam provides a nice place for the water to collect. Boots already hamper the moisture release. No need to clog the system any more than it already is.

 

[jd1006]

I hear about Vapor Barrier Layer or VBL being used with socks. Some use a plastic bag, others buy a specific sock. Can someone explain the logic or science behind how that would keep your feet warm/dry?

 

[Sleeplz]

Cotton kills. Darn tough would do better and you could always change socks. I guess to each their own.

 

[oldskool67]

You will definitely die

 

[Pharmacist]

I have good success with thin liner and wool outer. Also when I wear cotton socks they come out smelling like a gym

 

[black dawg]

Never tried the cotton on the outside of the wool, but have done cotton or some synthetic sock inside of wool for the best results for me. I cant wear a wool (tried many brands) against my feet, they do stay warm for awhile, but the wool just doesnt absorb moisture as fast as cotton and my feet get cold and stay cold. With cotton or synthetic against my skin, moisture is absorbed (by the cotton) or just passes through the synthetic to the wool.

when I wear wool against my feet, the sock gets wet and stays wet regardless of movement/activity. When I wear cotton/synthetic against my feet (and wool, or even another cotton/sythetic on the outside) the inside sock might get slighty damp and cold at times, but any activity tends to dry them and my feet get warm.