The 4 Best Socks of 2019
Happy feet make for a happy hiker. Pamper them with these four pairs.
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Point6 37.5 Hiking Light Crew
No one is harder on socks than thru-hikers, so we stuck a pair of the 37.5s on a tester walking the PCT. When a stick stabbed a hole through the front of his shoe on a southern section and punctured his sock, he figured he would have to replace the 37.5s at the next town. Not so. “After walking another 150 miles in these socks, the hole never got bigger,” he reports.
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Smartwool PhD Endurance Pro Print
Whether we were working up a sweat in the summer heat of Utah or plunging through rivers of fresh snowmelt in Washington, the Endurance Pros kept our feet in the comfort zone thanks to a 57 percent merino content. But unlike other trail running socks we’ve worn with that amount of wool, these didn’t develop holes in their first season.
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Balega Enduro Quarter
No matter the size or the shape of their feet, testers raved about these socks. The Enduros, though they have a low, 2 percent elastane content, place the elastic bands along the top of the sock in Vs and lengthwise along the bottom. That mapping helps the socks stay in place and hold their shape without feeling like compression socks.
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Stratis Adventurist
Even when you’re going to hike for three weeks straight, $50 for a pair of socks seems outrageous. But our tester used the Adventurists on a 250-mile section of the Colorado Trail and praised their performance for the price. The socks contain 80 percent yak cashmere, which has hollow fibers that trap air better than merino (which is semi-hollow) for superior insulation.