Tester
Bio |
Name: |
Bob Dorenfeld
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I'm an active hiker,
snowshoer, skier, backpacker, amateur
geographer and naturalist. Home
base for me is the Southern Colorado
Rockies, where I'll hike from 7000 ft
(2100 m) to alpine tundra, with an
occasional desert trip at lower altitudes. Six to 12 miles (10 to
20 km) in a day is my norm, including elevation gains up to 4000 ft
(1200 m). Most of my backpack trips are two or three nights,
sometimes longer, carrying 30-40 lb (14-18 kg). My style is
lightweight but not obsessively so - extras like binoculars, camera, and
notebook make my trips more enjoyable.
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Email: |
geartest(at)sageandspruce(dot)net
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Age: |
56
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Location: |
Salida, Colorado, USA
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Gender: |
M
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Height: |
5' 6" (1.68 m) |
Weight: |
140 lb (64 kg) |
Shoe Size: |
Men's 8.5 (EUR 42) |
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Product Overview
Manufacturer:
Farm To Feet Website:
www.farmtofeet.com MSRP:
US$19.00 Style:
Traditional Midweight Crew
Weight: Medium
Intended Use:
Hiking Materials:
73% Marino wool, 26%
Nylon, 1% Spandex Materials
Origin: 100% US
Colors Available:
Sycamore/Black, Lead Gray/Brown,
Berry/Platinum, Wooly Blue/Formula One
Sizes Available:
(American) Small:
W 4 - 6.5 Medium:
M 6-8.5 / W 7-9.5 (size being tested
here)
Large: M 9-11.5 / W 10-12.5
X-Large: M 12-14.5
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Colors (L to R): Lead Gray/Brown, Wooly
Blue/Formula One, Berry/Platinum
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These Farm To Feet medium-weight
crew-style wool-blend socks are intended
for hiking, and are, according to the
manufacturer, a "traditionally knitted"
sock with an even density of fabric
throughout the foot and leg. It's
constructed using a seamless toe
closure, and designed to "compression fit" snugly across toes, foot, and leg,
reducing binding that can cause
blisters.
The Jamestown sock comes in a wide
variety of sizes for both men and women,
and in four color combinations.
The socks I have (Medium) measure 7.5 in
(19 cm) from heel to toe, and 9.75 in
(24.5 cm) from toe to top. I
weighed them at 1.5 oz (43 g) per pair. What immediately makes these socks stand
out from similar clothing is the
sourcing of materials: all
components, but especially the Merino
wool, are from the United States.
The socks are also manufactured in the
US. Recommended care instructions
are to machine wash cold, lay flat to
dry. Farm To Feet supplies a
"Guarantee For Life": "If you are not
completely satisfied with the durability
or performance of your Farm To Feet
socks, then please return them for a
replacement or a refund." |
- Initial Review (April 7, 2014) -
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First Impressions
I
received three pairs of the Jamestown socks, in
size men's medium, for my American 8.5 shoe
size. Although my size is at the top end
of the men's medium range
(instead of being slightly below as for some other
brands) I don't think that will be a problem
since the Spandex will allow some stretching.
I received three different and pleasant color
combinations as seen in the Product Overview
photo above. The socks feel warm and
smooth on the outside, and the white terrycloth weave
(photo, right) lining the
inside feels very cushiony and soft on my feet. This is the about usual sock
weight I use, perhaps even just a slight bit
thicker.
What's Next?
I'm looking forward to
treating my feet to new socks! On most hikes I
wear a thin liner sock of wool or polyester
blend next to my skin, and the thicker socks
(like the Jamestown) on top and next to the
boots. But for casual and/or short hikes I
plan to find out if a
single layer of just the Jamestown socks will
do. I'll be hiking not only a wide variety of
trails, from easy to steep and rocky, but also
off-trail where footing conditions can change
rapidly and unpredictably (and sock comfort is
very important). Depending on trail length,
difficulty, and pack weight, I wear either
heavier and stiffer full-grain leather boots, or
a more flexible light-weight leather (or fabric)
hiking boot. Now I'm off for my first hike!
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I've been hiking in the Jamestown socks for
about four months, putting the majority of
mileage on the Lead Gray and Wooly Blue pairs.
Please see the photo and its caption (below) for
sock mileage. The third pair (Berry) is still relatively
new, and is my comparison for the more-used
ones. I almost always wear them over a
thin pair of liners (some polyester blend,
others wool blend); occasionally I'll use two
Jamestowns together for some of my hiking shoes
that need more padding to fit comfortably.
Field Conditions
I was able to test the Jamestown socks in a wide
variety of hiking conditions, where trails
ranged from easy tread to very difficult
off-trail through tree blow-down and rocks and
boulders, and also moderate to very steep
mountainsides. Using the same combination
of inner liner sock and Jamestown sock, I wore a
number of different types of hiking shoes:
lightweight below-the-ankle (split-grain
leather), medium-weight hikers covering my ankle
(mostly synthetic with GORE-TEX), and a heavier
full-grain leather trekking boot.
Temperatures I hiked in varied from below
freezing to about 90 F (32 C). The socks
got wet several times (damp or soaked), but due
to the wool blend my feet stayed warm at the
above-freezing temperatures I was in.
Since I wear sock liners I couldn't evaluate how the
wet socks felt on my bare feet, but I noticed
that the fabric did not seem to bunch or ball up
when wet.
Comfort
Overall I felt very comfortable in
the Jamestowns. They are soft, and
definitely provided good padding for my feet in
all of the hiking shoes I wear. The
elastic band at the top of the socks generally
kept them up on my legs most of the time, at
least as well as any other hiking socks I've
used in the past. I never experienced any
bunching at the toes (good!). However,
during one very long pull up a steep slope with
pack weight at about 30 lb (14 kg) and wearing
my trekking boots I found that the sock
on my right foot continually slipped down around my ankle, something
I've never experienced before with any
medium-weight hiking socks. At the time I
was wearing my wool-blend liners. Since my right foot is slightly larger than my
left I might have expected this slippage to
occur in my left foot where it fits slightly
looser in the boot; however, a sligthly tighter
sock due to my larger right foot could also
cause the sock to jam toward the toe while
ascending the trail. I have subsequently
tried to replicate this problem with the same
sock combination and boot and was able to have
it happen once more while climbing a steep
slope, where apparently my foot slips just
enough to drag the Jamestown sock down below the
boot's top collar. Stopping to tighten my
shoelaces didn't help. I've never had this
issue before (despite hiking many long and steep
trails!), so it seems that there's less friction
on the sock material compared to other hiking
socks I've used.
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Pictured in order of most-to-least used
(left to right): 145 mi (233 km), 100
mi (161 km), and 20 mi (32 km). Wear
at heel and toe, pilling on leg area is
visible on the two most-used socks. |
Wear
All things
considered, the Jamestown socks have worn really
well for me, keeping my feet comfortable most of
the time while in my boots. No holes
anywhere at this time, no significant thin spots
so far, and the fabric has not stretched
permanently beyond its original size. The
heels on the two most-used socks have lost their
softness, as have some of the toe bottoms, but I
can't yet detect any loss of comfort at those
wear points. The photo at left shows noticeable
pilling on the uppers of the socks
(above the ankle) resulting from the socks
rubbing on my boots, pants, and brushing past
plants and rocks. There's more pilling
there than other brands of socks that I've been
using for much longer than the Jamestowns.
Besides not looking all that great the
fluffed-out fabric can pick up seeds and
stickers more easily, and make the socks harder
to clean (especially in camp).
Washing
I've
machine washed the two most-used pairs about
three times each, following Farm To Feet's
instructions to wash cold using my usual mild
detergent. They come out a bit stiff when
air-dried, but limber up very quickly once I put them
on and start hiking. There's a bit of
staining over time that hasn't come out,
but that's not a concern of mine so I let it be.
I've also hand-washed the two most-used pairs
some four times each, again using cold water and
a small amount of the same mild detergent.
Although not quite as efficient as machine washing,
hand washing gets out most of the dirt and oils
and is probably easier on the wool-blend socks
in the long run. For both machine and hand
washing I'll dry them in the sun, usually flat,
other times hanging on a rock or clothes line.
Farm To Feet recommends drying flat (presumably
to avoid stretching) but I couldn't detect any
difference in the socks based how the socks were
laid out to dry. I rarely use a dryer for
clothes even though the socks would come out
initially softer and smoother: once they go on
my feet they regain their comfort after a short
time.
Summary:
I'd give
Farm To Feet's Jamestown socks an above average
grade, but not the highest ranking. They are comfortable,
mostly very durable and
clean well, but I wish that the leg sections
above the ankle exhibited less pilling. In
any case expect to get many more good hiking
miles from all three pairs of these Jamestowns.
Pros - provides good
padding for hiking in most kinds of terrain
- elastic top stays up on the leg almost all the
time - washes well with most dirt and
sweat stains
coming out after machine wash
Cons - sock tended to slip
down below the boot to the ankle on very steep
trails, with certain boot/liner sock combination
- considerable pilling of sock above the ankle,
attracting stickers and dirt
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Acknowledgments
Thanks to
Farm To Feet and to BackpackGearTest.org for the opportunity to test the
Jamestown hiking socks.
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‹
Reviewed By ›
Bob Dorenfeld Central
Colorado Mountains
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