I've been testing and wearing these socks each and every day since October, but I have given up on them for hiking distances. As example, I've been wearing a pair since 6:00am this morning and will keep them on till around 11:00pm. I've spent the day with family, did some shopping, worked on chores around the property, and did some light walking. In this context, the socks hold up well. Flip-side, if I attempt to hit the hills and hike for miles, the socks will not hold up at all. Within the first couple hours the heel and toe box will completely lose shape and bunch badly. The only foot portion of the sock which retains shape is the center band. Using the Smatwool as example, if you turn them inside out to compare construction with the Kirklands, you will quickly notice the whimpy construction within the areas of the toe box and heel which loses shape when worked. There are better socks than the Smartwool, but the Smartwool do retain shape which is one of the reasons they receive high marks.
The Kirklands I have will stretch so far that I'll end up with about an inch of excess material around the front and back of my foot. Maybe if my foot was a size or two larger, like a 12 or 13, they would still fit. But at size 11-3E, they stretch too far to work.
Best
