Socks for Hiking

You can have all the fancy gear in the world, but if your feet aren’t happy there’s no way that you’re going to enjoy yourself while hiking. And while a good pair of boots or shoes is certainly important, socks for hiking are critical piece of equipment that many people are foolish enough to overlook. But if you put a little time and effort in to picking out a good pair of socks for hiking, your feet will be happy, and in turn you will be happy, assuming the rest of your gear is performing as it should, anyway.

Socks for Hiking

What to look at when you're reviewing socks for hiking.

• Material – There aren’t too many choices to make when it comes to hiking socks, but material is definitely one of the bigger ones. Wool is the obvious choice, because it breathes well and wicks moisture away from the feet, but there are a few other very good choices worth considering as well.
• Fitted – Tubes socks are often a very good price, but the benefits of a fitted sock are generally worth the extra money. Blisters and other foot problems often arise from poorly fitting socks that fold and crease, but if you go with fitted socks the chances of creases and folds happening are greatly reduced.

Best Socks for Hiking

Some of the very best socks for hiking in.

• SmartWool PhD Outdoor Light Crew Sock (Women's Verison) - SmartWool is well known for making high quality wool products, and the PhD line is the very best of their wool socks. With these socks for hiking you get a little padding under the heel and other high pressure spots, so that your feet survive. They're fitted, of course, and use SmartWool's four way stretch system, which helps to make the fit as good as possible for any many foot types as possible. If you want wool socks for hiking you cant do better than SmartWool.
• Teko Merino Midweight Hiking Sock (Women's Verison) - Teko is another company that makes some excellent wool products. They use organic merino wool for these socks, which is never a bad thing. And like the PhD socks above they are padded in high pressure spots on the bottom of your foot, to give you a little cushion in your step. These socks also have some thinner ventilation spots on the top of the foot, so that even though these are a midweight sock they will keep your feet well ventilated.
• Injinji Performance Mini Crew Toesocks - It would be a mistake to think of toe socks as gimmicks, because they actually solve a real problem that many people have with their toes rubbing together inside shoes or boots and creating blisters and hot spots. Beyond that, these are a synthetic blend, but do as good a job as wool keeping your feet happy. So an impressive pair of hiking socks, even if they do look a bit strange.