Royal Robbins Venture Crew

It’s rare that we see a sock construction we haven’t encountered before, but the Venture Crew fits the bill. Its fabric is a mix of polyester, elastane, and, unusually, hemp (37 percent). When the mercury topped out at 90°F on one tester’s 17-mile overnight through Nebraska’s Indian Cave State Park (in high humidity no less), her feet stayed hot-spot free thanks to 56 percent polyester content and a boost from the natural grooves running lengthwise along each individual hemp fiber that channeled sweat away from her skin. Hemp also has antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, meaning it keeps odors at bay. But what really won over our testers was the Venture Crew’s texture—a mashup of a baby blanket and seersucker. By the end of 400 miles on the Tahoe Rim and Pacific Crest Trails, we were ready to ditch our usual socks and switch to these full-time.

unisex M-XL