[pct-l] Sock Choice

[m.karon at comcast.net (Marshall Karon)]

Socks, like shoes/boots, are a rather personal item - many different
opinions and choices. You need to do what is best for your feet. Be sure to
get shoes sized right for the socks you use.

Some folks have really warm feet when they hike - even in wet, cold
conditions. Others don't. The socks are meant to transmit moisture, keep
feet warm, cushion, and take up space in the shoe. They will get dirty which
shortens their life (and really can cause blisters). I have heard of some
folks getting a really large shoe and then wearing extra heavy socks in the
Sierras when there is snow.

For most of the trail, I wore a thin liner plus a mid-weight sock I happen
to like the Ultimax. In rainy, cold Washington (one year), I tried the
Gore-tex type socks. They worked fine to keep my feet dry, but I could only
wear a very light liner sock inside because of space - and my feet were
really cold. Wish I had a larger shoe.

If you are wearing running shoes, they breath much better than leather
boots, so I could get away with the heavier socks all of the time, even in
the desert. And realize, although it really does get hot, you also can
experience cold weather in the desert too.

Marshall Karon
Portland, OR
m.karon@comcast.net

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Lissner" <mlissner@pitzer.edu>
To: <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2003 7:58 PM
Subject: [pct-l] Sock Choice


For some reason, I can give speeches in front of hundreds of people without
too many qualms, but writing emails to this list makes me nervous. Strange
how that works.
Anyway, I have been a fairly long time reader of this list, generally
lurking around observing, but today, I have a question to pose. Today, my
question goes like this:
For my entire life, I have been devoted to heavy boots. It hasn't ever
really been a problem, as I have legs that are longer than most people's
bodies, and hence can keep up with the best of 'em, but I have reluctantly
come to the conclusion that I could probably hike ridiculously further if I
just risked further destroying my old soccer ankle, and switched to a pair
of new balances. So, on the Christmas list this year, one will find those
new balances. My question is this: What socks do people wear with their new
balances? I am tempted to try out my old smartwool socks with them, but if I
could go lighter and less expensive on socks too, my life would be even
better. The other idea I had were some socks involving latex as some kind of
lubricant. I remember somebody mentioning these long ago on this list.
Anyway, please, can those people who use lighter weight shoes tell of their
sockly choices?

-moose
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