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Reviews > Clothing > Socks > Darn Tough Boot Midweight Hiking Sock > Test Report by Morgan Lypka
DARN TOUGH HIKER BOOT
SOCK
Year of Manufacture: n/a Cushion or Full Cushion: Cushion DESCRIPTION
OBSERVATIONS
Activities: hiking, backcountry camping, front country camping, mountain biking, golfing, cold water swimming
Locations: (All in Canada) Waterton National Park, Alberta (AB); Columbia and Rocky Mountain Ranges; Magdalen Islands, Quebec; South Saskatchewan (SK) River in SK and AB; Cypress Hill Provincial Park, SK and AB; East Kootenays; Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Number of days: in total, 20-25 days of usage between 2 pairs; 7 days backcountry camping, 2 days golfing, 4 days mountain biking, 6 day hike trips, 1 time trail running, handful of nights front country camping
Observations and Testing There is not much wear and tear visible. In comparing the used pairs to the unused pair, the used pairs do show some minor pilling and fuzziness, particularly underfoot and around the ankle and low calf, where the terry loops for added comfort are. The used pairs also show some loose elastic ends and stitches on the inside of the sock cuff, but nothing that seems as though it would unravel. There is the slightest colour difference between the washed pairs and the new pair, but nothing overly visible.
Unused socks on left, used socks on right
Unused socks on left, used on right – closer up of the pilling on the ribbed section of the socks
Some lose thread and elastic ends on the inside cuffs of the used socks Twigs and hay didn’t stick to the material as much as they do with other wool socks I own, which was nice – this was particularly noticeable for mountain biking. I appreciated the robustness of the socks. The socks provided good warmth, especially when I was sleeping one night front country without a sleeping bag, when the temperature would’ve dropped to 10 C (50 F). When camping, I would typically bring one pair to wear during the day, and one pair to sleep with. If my day socks got damp or dirty enough, I would wear my night time socks the next day, although I could have easily worn my day socks back to back for a number of days. The longest use period between washes I did was 3-4 days, and had I needed to wear them for a longer period without washing, I could have put up with it. As long as the socks didn’t get damp, they maintained pretty good freshness. I wore the socks mountain biking and golfing a couple days in the rain, and they did a good job of keeping my toes warm even though they got damp. When the socks got wet, the time to dry was fairly significant (they did not dry out during day hours for me but did overnight if left out in the open and conditions were breezy). On my long hike trips (e.g. 12 km (7 mi); 700 m (2300 ft)), and mountain bike rides, I appreciated the extra cushioning under foot and my feet did not feel sore. The seamless toe was probably my favourite aspect of the socks, as I hardly had the need to adjust my socks as I do more frequently with non-seamless toe socks. I also enjoyed the height of the socks – high enough to be above the top of any shoe, but low enough to be easy to pull over or under leggings. For my hikes, I would generally pull them up to or over my leggings. I also used the socks as an added warmth layer for cold water swimming in the backcountry. In this activity, the socks helped keep my toes from freezing and were a welcome addition in a situation where I didn’t have booties, allowing me to stay in the water for longer periods of time. In closing, I would recommend these socks for more reasons than one (durability, comfort and quality to name a few), and see myself buying more from this brand in the future. The only cons I have are the slight pilling of the terry loops and the few loose elastic and thread ends on the inside of the socks.
An alpine lake @ 1800m (6000 ft) - Waterton
Mountain biking Thank
you to Cabot Hosiery Mills Inc. and BackpackGearTest.org for the opportunity to
test these socks.
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