Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Socks?

What do you guys recommend for a liner-sock combo for the money? Uninsilated boot, driving and stand hunting. I get swamp foot during drives and freeze up during watches.

Liner socks certainly make a difference to me. And the liner socks at WalMart currently under the Realtree label are the ones I've been using. I stocked up on a bunch of them. They are as good--or better--tha any other (expensive) liner I've used.

Over the liners I wear Smartwool hiking socks. I run uninsulated hiking boots for hunting Sept-Nov, and my feet don't get cold.

Caes

Costco merino wool socks and spray anti perspirant on your feet.

I've never used liners so can't comment there.

Antiperspirant on the feet? Really? Never considered that. You BSing me?

He's not.

I just bought Smartwool liners for this year. I've been wearing Smartwool socks for a while with no liners. It works but the socks do get sweat soaked.

Hah! No BS. My feet get swampy when I hike and then if I'm sitting for a few hours, they'll freeze.

If you get sweaty swampy feet, the AP spray works well.

I wear smart wool liners and socks.

In your situation I'd wear that combo for walking and pack another big heavy sock to put on while sitting.

Polypropeline (sp) liners and Merino wool socks

I'm a member of large hunting club that puts on large scale deer drives. Need to be prepared for slowly freezing to death or driving the the length of a mountain for 2-3 hours. 2 drives before lunch and 2 drives after.

I used to swear by Smartwool but now use Darn Tough. They're the only sock company I've heard of that has a lifetime guarantee AND has a product that is comfortable enough that you'd want to take em up on it.

Like smart wool, there are a lot of models to choose from according to your needs/taste.

I found poly liners to be unhelpful and I went to spray-on antiperspirant as mentioned above. Much better. MUCH...

Bass Pro now carries a life time guarantee on some of their socks.

I use Cabela's poly sock liners. I have both Cabelas heavy wool blend hunting sock and Bass Pro's. Bass Pro's are more comfortable for me.

I tried the Costcos, Merino wool blends, but they didn't holdup well with heavy use. Their merino wool/poly long johns are great though

+1

I also carry a spare pair of socks and change out if I need to.

I need to try the Costco Merino long underwear. I've tried but when I show up they are long gone. I may make a run there tomorrow.

I've all but switched to Darn Tough too. I still have 1-2 pairs of SmartWool socks that I'll wear until they wear out. I have used liner socks from REI and Cabelas and found both to be about equivalent. I only wear them when I'm doing a lot of hiking/walking though. Sitting I wear insulated boots with a single pair of insulated socks. I find that if I try to wear multiple pairs of socks it just chokes my feet and they get clammy and ultimately cold.

Darn Tough by a mile.

Darn tough no liners !

Thorlo is the best sock I know of; never tried Darn Toughs.

Thorlo's for firefighting, only sock that my turnout boots wont eat.



Darn Tough for hiking and cold weather deer hunting.

Do you wear rubber boots? If you do then swamp feet come with the package. About all you can do is carry extra dry socks when it gets real bad. And maybe a piece of old wool or fleece blanket stuffed in your pack that you can put over feet/boots when sitting long periods. I've also seen insulated over-boots designed to pull on when sitting - never tried them.

I grew up hunting in a club that did drives all day up in the western Adirondacks. So same issues in a area that gets a little colder. Carry a day pack so I can adjust clothing layers between sitting and driving, but tough to do for feet! We still drive, but usually not all day now.

Constant damp feet is one of the reasons I quit wearing rubber boots and switched to leather or leather/fabric boots with goretex liners. Most don't hold up very many seasons before liners start to leak, but still better for me than rubber boots.

For socks I still think good high wool content socks as thick as you can fit without being too tight are the best. I use mainly smartwool in different weights depending on weather and boots. When I did wear rubber boots cabelas carried a wool sock with a very dense, tight knit foot area and a looser knit top section that worked pretty well. The foot/ankle area was white wool and the upper leg gray. Similar to what they currently show as "Cabela's Men's 61 Series Wool Boot Socks"

I also gave up on liner socks in rubber boots. They'd fall/work themselves down inside the heavier socks because of the loose ankle/leg fit of the boots.

Who sells the Darn Tough socks? iv not heard of them been useing Smart Wool for a long time now!

Over the last several decades I have tried, trialed, just about every sock and sock combination that's come down the pike. While I use synthetics for everything else, I believe that wool is far and away the best material for socks. Nothing else matches the performance of 2 pairs of wool socks, that fit properly, in whatever boots you're wearing. This holds true in waders as well.
Carrying a second set and changing at mid-day can be an amazing trat to yourself.
Inspect he label of any wool sock you are considereing. The closer the socks are to 100% wool, the better they will perform. It seems that, particularly since merino wool came along, a lot of socks are labeled as wool, but closer inspection of the label will show that wool to be a minor ingredient. Avoid these!

Amazon.com sells them.

Do a search - a bunch of places sell them on the interweb. I see them in most stores catering to hikers.

I'm in WY hunting elk at the moment. Season ended for me yesterday AM but wanted to share sock experience. Been wearing a Smartwool liner with a Smartwool heavy crew hiking sock in Meindl leather boots. Weather has been 35/40 in AM, 50 in PM but high winds making it feel colder. I've logged 25+ off-trail miles at 9-10k feet elevation in the past 3 days. This doesn't include misc trails or other mileage. I've sat 2 evenings after hiking those miles. No foot issues. Even after packing my elk out yesterday AM - the last trip was with a full hind quarter with the elk hide. Really like the Smartwool liners paired with heavy crew Smartwool socks.

I like Darn Tough socks but find they have a thinner crew than Smartwool heavy crew. I need the extra cushioning. I do like the made in USA and lifetime guarantee features.

Darn Tough are the best that Ive found.

I like and use Smart wool but Dahlgren alpaca wool socks are the best I've used!

Agree with all of the above but Alpaca socks are great. Not sure what brand I have they were a gift. They are so nice I like to keep them in my pack and wait till my feet are cold or beat up and then dig out the Alpaca. It's like a vacation for the feet.

Not sure how well they will hold up long term but since I mostly use them on stand or back in camp should last a quite awhile.

this is what I do, thin nylon liners also if in extreme conditions like mountain climbing. Wool & antiperspirant has served me well from places as varied as the Makenzie mountains of the Yukon to the plains and boreal forest of Saskatchewan and the Pyrenees of Spain. In bitter cold and extreme heat. Rain or shine. I have not found a better combination.

I wear thin silk liners, and heavy wool socks. An extra pair of dry socks ride in the backpack (if I carry one). Brand: none, really. I found them at the Christmas Market Fair in Freiburg, Germany a few years ago. They're hand knitted by a French woman who processed the wool on her farm outside Colmar, France. When I saw them I fell in love (with the socks, not her) and figured I better buy a few pairs. Glad I did. They're thick and tightly knitted, and wear like iron (but I reserve them for deer hunting only). Best dammed socks I ever owned. (She had a big pot of Gluwein simmering on her counter that day. Swigging a couple cups of that may have swayed me a bit, but luckily the sock quality far outlasted the buzz I got from the mulled wine!)

I have kicked myself unmercifully over the years for not getting her contact info. I'll shed a tear when they finally wear out!

Switched from Smartwool to Darn Tough here as well

I switched from Smartwool to Bass Pro's Redhead brand, with the lifetime warranty. There's a Bass Pro Shop within 50 miles, the two pairs I have fit better than Smartwools, and if I wear them out, I can take them in and get them replaced, free. They were on sale for about $10/pr., too, when I bought mine.

(I did live within 10 miles of the BPS, but moved recently.)

Frankly, I like the Redheads better, but both brands keep my feet warm. I wear nylon dress socks under them, but they aren't really needed.

I take blood pressure medicine, and my feet get cold pretty easily at times. Not an issue with the Redheads, though.

There are no socks compared to Darn Tough..

The roll of the liner is what? Assuming "good" socks, necessary?

I started using liners to prevent blisters with heavy mountaineering boots. Now I use them for extra warmth mostly. Like any good base layer it transports moisture away from your feet, dryer feet are warmer. Silk, wool, synthetic all work to different degrees. They also prevent hot spots that can turn into a blister. If I am using liners I can usually wear the outer sock longer so need less pairs of heavy socks.

The liners especially synthetic can easily be hand washed and dry in 30 minutes where heavy wool socks can take a day or more to dry.

A splash of Gold Bond powder in each boot also helps keep your socks dry, i use it on every trip.

They seem to wick quicker. Also, the form fit allows a tiny bit of slide inside the outer sock, preventing blisters IME.

I also use some Arid XX spray on my feet. Prevent the swamp foot by preventing the sweat.

Falke. Made in Germany, available through Westley Richards.

Cut individually for the left and right foot and so marked.Extremely comfortable.

I wear their TK 2 model in Courtney boots for Africa, though they go up to the TK 4 which is the warmest and thickest.

Have tried many kinds, IMO, Falke are simply the best.

SmartWool. I'll eventually try Darn Tough.

Darn Tough are good.

SmartWool, or Darn Tough, whichever is clean . No liner.

I prefer the Smartwool ones as the Darn Toughs seem to bunch up at my toes. Maybe my feet are shaped funny.

looks like i'll order darn tough and give them a try

I'm rocking Kennetrek socks this year. I got tired of fighting darn tough socks in the morning getting them on. I also like a bit thicker sock.

I like Kennetrek better...