Socks- why the merino?

[Erussell01]

If your feet are bad smelly and bad sweaty, soak them in strong black teas a few times a week. Tannins in tea will fix it

I'm lucky, I sweat bad but rarely stink. It works out since my skin generally likes synthetic base layers for feel over merino

 

[Mike Islander]

TO REDUCE FEET SWEAT

Apply antiperspirant to the feet, especially the sole. Not deodorant, antiperspirant. It works.

 

[Twodog]

Anyone try the Hollow brand Alpaca wool socks? I see their ads all over Instagram.

 

[Erussell01]

Anyone try the Hollow brand Alpaca wool socks? I see their ads all over Instagram.

Interested in these as well. I did 10 miles this morning in the lightest darn tough that I have and they did ok. Not as good as Saturday in my farm to feet but not as bad as the smart wool

 

[WKB]

I am a profuse sweater. Like when I run/workout going to shower afterwards doesn't change the amount of wet I am.
I went to JRTC in July/August last year. JRTC is a month-long wargame in the swamps of Louisiana. I wore Darn Tough Merino socks. The whole time. Changed my socks every other day. no blisters, no heat rash, no trench foot. I will never get another pair of socks. I am wearing them right now while the temp in Kansas is over 100 degrees. It seems counterintuitive to wear wool in extreme heat, but I am believer.

 

[Lock]

Just tried some of the willow ace and not to impressed, way thin ridiculously tall and tight to size; plan to return and go with darn tough or a similar merino since I know how that will work.

 

[S-3 ranch]

Just tried some of the willow ace and not to impressed, way thin ridiculously tall and tight to size; plan to return and go with darn tough or a similar merino since I know how that will work.

I can see what you’re saying about willow ace , the tallest I would buy would be crew in size xl
they are tight for size

 

[Erussell01]

I tried a different model of Darn tough- their 1972 light weight hiker. I actually like the fit of them more than some of their other models. I ran 15 this morning in them before work and they did better than what I'm used to for darn tough. They didn't feel clammy at all lile some of the other darn tough socks I've used which lead me to look at the merino% and I found that they are 54% nylon.

I looked at the other socks I have from them and found the models on their site. I think for me anything more than about half merino results in clammy feel on my feet. When I look at the farm to feet damascus, I see they are also a higher nylon percentage and they are 55% merino and a high percentage of nylon. It seems like for me at least that the nylon is important for dry times.

I was interested to see that all of the heavier weight socks that I love to use deer hunting were much higher merino percentage. It makes sense that they wouldn't dry as fast.

It turns out, I'm dumb!

I should have checked the tags and made sense of the weight. Midweight and heavyweight don't work for me under high exertion.

Light weight seems to do fine and is probably comparable in dry time to my regular 100% poly socks but with no stink.

You'd think that one would be intuitive but I guess I am not that smart.

 

[Mike Islander]

I tried a different model of Darn tough- their 1972 light weight hiker. I actually like the fit of them more than some of their other models. I ran 15 this morning in them before work and they did better than what I'm used to for darn tough. They didn't feel clammy at all lile some of the other darn tough socks I've used which lead me to look at the merino% and I found that they are 54% nylon.

I looked at the other socks I have from them and found the models on their site. I think for me anything more than about half merino results in clammy feel on my feet. When I look at the farm to feet damascus, I see they are also a higher nylon percentage and they are 55% merino and a high percentage of nylon. It seems like for me at least that the nylon is important for dry times.

I was interested to see that all of the heavier weight socks that I love to use deer hunting were much higher merino percentage. It makes sense that they wouldn't dry as fast.

It turns out, I'm dumb!

I should have checked the tags and made sense of the weight. Midweight and heavyweight don't work for me under high exertion.

Light weight seems to do fine and is probably comparable in dry time to my regular 100% poly socks but with no stink.

You'd think that one would be intuitive but I guess I am not that smart.

I've found Covert Threads (Made in USA) Desert socks to be much more comfortable than Darn Tough (I own at least a dozen pairs of each brand). Darn Tough are just too damn tight in the calf, enough that my foot gets cold due to lowered circulation. I tried getting the XL, but then they are too long on my feet and bunch up in my boots. If I pull them up higher, the heal bunches up around my achilles. If I am going on an overnight trip, I find I grab the Covert Threads in all conditions except extreme heat.

I'm going to try Covert Threads Jungle model. No merino in those, but my feet aren't nasty anyway, and they do have silver to reduce smell.

 

[Carrot Farmer]

Better Moisture management, anti microbial properties(less stank) which has lead to wayyyy less athletes foot!


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[bruceleroy]

I started using a lightweight merino synthetic mix and it was great. I wore a pair for 6 days as a test. Dried them every night. When I got home my wife did the sniff test and I passed.
Pretty sure the synthetic content was polyester at 30%.

 

[Owlman]

My feet sweat no matter what I do. I switched from synthetic blend to merino about a year ago and have found that my feet don't stink as bad and also inside my boots are actually drier for some reason with merino socks. The socks are still damp but something is making the boot more aerated or something.