you've probably got to the point where you've just accepted that
having blisters is a normal part of hiking which it is absolutely not
so welcome or welcome back to the channel my name is chase this is all about preparing your mind
and your body and your gear for the mountains so you can get out there challenge yourself and have
a good time and a good time on trial starts with having an environment within the shoe that is not
causing you hot spots or blisters or creating an environment that is for the lack of a better word
moist so if you're experiencing any of those things and your feet aren't quite comfortable if
you haven't found the right sock for you yet then i would encourage you to look at these five boxes
that you should tick when you're looking at hiking socks this is the very sock that i used to hike
820 kilometers and ascend and descend the equivalent of eight mount everests in about
a month and they performed extraordinarily well this is the new and improved version which i'm
unreasonably excited to tell you about i'm not going to tell you that this is the perfect stock
for you it will depend on your circumstances but if you're doing similar stuff to me you know long
distance hiking trial running in dry alpine areas then this is probably a really good sock for you
but either way these five things i think every sock should have no matter whether you're skiing
hiking trail running mountain bike riding socks are super important and it's actually something
that i'm pretty passionate about passionate about socks i need to get a life so what are these five
boxes that i think every hiking sock should tick and the first one comes down to the material in
which the sock is made from which should enable wicking so drawing moisture away from the foot
it should enable cooling as well so you don't get overheated within your shoe
and it also should be actively fighting bacteria within the foot which we'll talk about later
the first and probably most important thing i want to say though is that you should stay away from
cotton cotton is not a good material for a hiking sock for many reasons i'm not going to go into it
now but just trust me on this don't hike in cotton socks it's the worst what i use and recommend and
what i've been recommending for quite a while now is a wool synthetic blend which is what
this sock is and i think most people are at this stage now where they understand that
wool as a natural fiber with the synthetic blend is a really good mix because it's
creating that structure but it's also a natural fiber that works well with your skin
the reason why i recommend a wool synthetic blend is because it stays warm when it's wet which is
great for cold wet weather rather than sapping the heat from your body the wool will keep you warm
even when it gets wet so that's a huge plus wool is also naturally anti-microbial which means you
can wear these socks for days maybe even weeks before having to wash them which is a huge plus
as a through hiker it takes a long time for wool socks
to actually hold an odor and yeah about two weeks is the limit before it starts to get
a little bit too dank wool also is quite a dense fibre which is a good structural base for
creating padding and support within the sock and on top of that when you add a synthetic blend like
a nylon into the socket adds a lot more durability and structure which means this those socks last a
lot longer and there's a little bit more support within the sock itself rather than just having a
like a natural wool kind of bag on your foot you want to have a little bit of structure
within the sock itself so the sock that i used on my through hike was this silverlight sock i
talked it in both of my review videos earlier but i really glazed over it and there's really
a lot to go into so this angle version i didn't end up using a lot i only really used it when
i'd been washing the crew version and that was still wet so really i probably only did about
maximum 50 kilometers in these which means these have done about 750 kilometers at least
you know i wore them beforehand and my shakedown hike and i wore them on a bunch of trial runs
as well just kind of getting used to them so that's for me i mean pretty impressive to have
one little hole after that many kilometers so there is a lifetime guarantee if i bought these
i could just send them back and the company would send me a new one so it's a pretty sweet deal
the actual makeup of the material in this sock is 45 nylon 44 australian merino wool
seven percent silver yarn and four percent spandex which brings me to the second box that your hiking
socks should tick and that is they have silver technology and this is probably the key difference
that sets this sock apart from any other stock that i've ever had and many other socks on the
market this is a wool synthetic silver blend meaning that it has silver yarn stone into the
soft so the benefit of that is that while wool is anti-microbial silver actually actively fights
bacteria that is occurring within the environment within the shoe as far as i know silver is
something that has been used for a very long time as a way to fight bacteria in all kinds of things
and i'm super happy that it's made its way into the world of socks and hiking socks in particular
so with a wool silver synthetic blend you kind of have the best of both worlds in terms of comfort
durability anti-microbial and then the silver that actually actively fights the bacteria within the
shoot and i think there's a good argument for saying that the microbial side the bacteria is
a big reason why people get blisters and have uncomfortable feet because it's that moisture
in the environment within the shoe that is creating blisters and a very uncomfortable
experience one benefit for the long distance hiker who is moving very fast and can't allow time
to sit down and wash the socks and wait for them to dry is that with this blend you can wear this
sock for two weeks without having to wash it like i said i did a month-long hike 820 kilometers
and i probably washed these socks maybe three or four times maximum so that gives you an idea
of how long you can go before these things start to stink now that i think about it it sounds a bit
grubby but honestly they don't hold an odor and my feet were dry and healthy i probably
had one day where i had that typical stinky hiker foot and that was because it was a very
wet day and i think it all comes down to that silver which is actually woven into the yarn and
obviously helps that there's the wall component in there as well so the older version of this
sock the one that i used on the trail has silver yarn woven into the inner layer which you can
kind of really easily visibly see when you invert the sock the newer version is using spun silver
this is basically silver yarn broken down into smaller pieces so you get better distribution of
silver throughout the sock not just in the inner layer of the sock so there's sylveon throughout
the whole sock in this new version now i assume the silver component also contributes to the
stock having a light kind of compression element which is pretty well documented
especially in the endurance world so that's the second thing apart from wool and synthetic
blend i would recommend really looking into a sock that has some kind of silver technology
so the third box that i think a good hiking sock should tick is that it has a seamless design now
this might seem pretty obvious especially if you've been hiking for a while but you
don't want to have an exposed seam within the sock because that's just going to create a space and an
environment and something for your toes to rub up against and that's obviously going to create hot
spots or even worse blisters and if you haven't looked into this before and you're going out and
hiking in cotton socks with seams on the insides and they've got no moisture management properties
whatsoever you've probably got to the point where you've just accepted that having blisters is a
normal part of hiking which is absolutely not you should not be going out and having blisters every
time you hike so if you are obviously check out your sock shoe combination but i think socks is
something that's super overlooked and of course this is also determined by the fit of your boots
and the way you tie your laces in order to reduce you know your foot sliding around within the shoe
but the same goes for your socks you really want a nice tight fitted sock with as little
wheel room within the sock as possible so if you have a look at the silverlight sock here
the only noticeable seam that i can see is runs across the top of the toes here and if you invert
the stock have a look at from the inside there is barely any evidence of a seam within the sock and
it's a pretty intelligent place to put the seam as well you can just tell that they've thought a lot
about the way that this sock is designed which i just really love because when you're walking you
know 800 1000 2000 kilometers socks just become more and more and more important
the fourth box that your hiking socks should tick is that they should have a little bit of extra
padding and some structure and that's where the synthetic blend part comes in to give the socks
some structure the seven percent spandex i'm guessing would be in the mid foot here which
helps to really cinch the sock through your arch so you get a really nice tight fit and i imagine
there's probably some spandex around through the upper ankle here as well but obviously you want to
have some extra padding especially around the heel and around the forefoot where the sock is going to
have a little bit of extra cushion for the pushing one thing i noticed and something i love about the
silverlight sock is that that padding runs over the top of the toes near the seam there because
not only do you want padding on the heel and the bottom of the forefoot where there's a lot of
pressure obviously but you also want some padding on the top because it's quite common in a lot of
shoe and boot designs to have a very narrow uh front of the boot which squishes the toes together
which is another thing i don't like but that's happening whether you know it or not and so that's
where you're getting a lot of rubbing and friction on the top of your toes and if you've ever had a
blister on the top of your toes you're probably cringing right now because it's not something you
want especially on a long distance hike the fifth and final thing that i would be looking for in a
good hiking sock is that it is anatomically shaped meaning that the sock is designed specifically for
the left or the right foot so you can see when you have an anatomically shaped sock that the left and
right sock is completely different obviously you have tapering on the inside here just like to say
the shape of your foot so in order to get the optimum kind of fit then you really should be
looking for socks that have a design that is specifically for the left and the right your
left and right foot are inherently different they're actually the opposite they're the
mirror image of one another so if you're wearing a hiking sock that is not specifically designed
for the left and the right then you're simply not getting the optimum fit for your foot now
this is something that has been updated in these socks the original version that i wore i believe
wasn't anatomically shaped still a great sock amazing but that was one of the things that i sent
back in my early kind of reviews for this company as advice that i hoped they took on and i'm super
glad that they did because the anatomical thing does make a big difference to me so i'm really
glad to see now that this newer version that i've brought out has a left and the right now
unfortunately they haven't marked them left and right they've marked the size with l so
if you do get a pair of these socks you'll see that the left one has venture on the inside
and the right one has out on the outside so ralph silverlight guys if you're watching this just put
left and right make it easy for us so we don't have to work out the puzzle to figure out which
socks put on which foot so having that different anatomical shape for left and right really gives
you the most snug fit to your foot that minimizes any slipping or bunching that could potentially
happen especially when you're on when you're traversing side sort of slanting terrain where
you're potentially off trail you'll notice that your socks will tend to slip and move and bunch
around when you're on tricky terrain like that so the better fit you have you're far less likely to
end up with hot spots and blisters and general discomfort when you're out on the trail which
there's really not a lot of hikers talking about in detail about their socks that they're using so
that's why i wanted to make this video if you are interested in checking out the sock then go on the
website and have a look because there is a wealth of information on the site tons more information
things that i couldn't fit into this video a lot of detail and on the website you'll notice
there's a couple of other really good reasons why you should get a pair of socks from silverlight
firstly you have a lifetime guarantee it is a stupidly incredible guarantee you can send
a pair of socks back at any time for no reason at all and they'll send you a new pair so i think
that's pretty impressive i don't know how they're getting away with it but they're offering it there
is also worldwide free shipping on this sock so you can get a couple of pairs you can get one pair
if you like and that will send to you no matter where you are in the world again that's pretty
impressive they're also a company that is very kind to the environment i think this is really
the bare minimum that outdoor companies should be doing now which is great to see don't get
me wrong but these guys are planting a tree for every purchase sold they're also using recycled
nylon rather than just like fresh nylon which is obviously pretty wasteful when you can just use
recycled nylon so i'm super psyched to doing that you might be wondering where they're made they are
made in china i wouldn't be surprised anything that is made with a high level of precision
and involving a lot of technology particularly in fabrics and materials it's probably coming
out of china the reason why is because the machines that spun this silver yarn
there's only about three of them in the world and i think all three of them are in china so
if you're looking for a high quality stock more than likely it's going to come from china
i mean yes globalization sucks but what are you going to do about it by all means buy local but
don't expect this kind of quality so here's the deal i'm not getting paid to do this uh these
guys sent me this sock about a year ago i used it i loved it i had some comments and some feedback
and they've taken that on board thankfully whether it was for me or from someone else the main thing
is that they've made those changes and they've made a much better sock and quite frankly i've
never been so confident in recommending a product in my life this is a very small company and i'm
super happy to support them they aren't paying me they have given me a whole bunch of socks
maybe like five or six pairs over the uh over the last year or so and i love the fact that they're
committed to continually improving the product and if you've learned anything from this video
you've learned that socks are much more important than what most people give them credit for so i'd
really encourage you to look at those five boxes you know get your socks out see if they tick these
boxes because more than likely if you are having an uncomfortable experience when you're hiking
it's probably coming down to the socks and if not your sock shoe combination having
said all that these guys have set me up with an affiliate link so if you do want to buy a pair of
these socks you'll be supporting the channel i'll learn a little bit from every purchase
so thank you for that in advance go to the link in the description if you want to check this out
and let me know what you think there's been maybe 20 or 30 people so far that have purchased them
and i've got nothing but great feedback and if you have bought these socks let us know in the
comments how they're going i would love to hear from you in your experience if you do want to go
down this route and get a pair of these socks and you're worried about sizing i'm a 10 and
a half us in new balance shoes and i have got a large like i said there is a compression element
to this sock so it's meant to be a little snugger and a little tighter than your average hiking sock
so just keep that in mind and lastly before i wrap the video up i want to say one thing
having expensive socks or high quality socks is not a luxury if you want to have dry healthy feet
you want to hike or trail run for a really long time then it really is a necessity because it
will save you a lot of time washing the socks and will save you a lot of potential pain and
suffering from having stinky wet moist feet okay let's wrap it up there don't see you on the summit