Long Term Report

Bridgedale X-Hale Women's Socks
Long Term Report
July 25, 2006

Biographical Information

Product Information

Field Conditions

Field Use

Summary

X-Hale socks

Biographical Information
Name	Jennifer Pope
Age	25
Gender	Female
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)
Shoe size	Women's 8 US
Weight	140 lb (64 kg)
Email address	Jennifer dot Pope at gmail dot com
Location	Los Angeles, CA
Backpacking Background Intermediate. I've been a car-camper as long as I can remember and started backpacking in Northern California when I was 16. I've been backpacking for a little over a year after a hiatus during college. I backpack in the Sierras as well as other National Forests and Parks in the Los Angeles vicinity. I also spend time in the California deserts and the mountains and coast of Northern California. I'm a tent camper leaning towards lightweight; but I'm also a fan of gadgets and I like being comfortable. I also frequently day hike close to home and while car camping.

Product Information (back to top)
Manufacturer	Bridgedale Outdoor Limited
Manufacturer URL	http://www.bridgedale.com/
Year of Manufacture	2006
Color	Mist Grey/Raspberry
Actual Weight	1.9 oz (54 g)
MSRP	$14.95 US
Fabric Materials	42% nylon, 28% merino wool, 28% Isolfil (polypropylene), & 2% Lycra
Product Description (from packaging)	Light, breathable, cushioned, close-fitting. Ideal for a multitude of sports - outdoors or indoors. Light mesh surrounds the foot permitting air to circulate. During intense activity, impact pads under the heel, ball and toes provide next-to-skin comfort, whilst WoolFusion construction helps drive moisture from the foot.

For a more detailed product description please see my Initial Report. For details on the rest of the test period please see my Field Report.

Field Conditions (back to top)

The socks accompanied me on a trip to Sequoia National Park. I car-camped the first night at 6,700 ft (2,040 m) where temperatures ranged between about 60 and 80 F (15 and 25 C). The skies were clear and there was a slight breeze. The following night I backpacked for one night. Camp was at 10,300 ft (3,139 m). That night temperatures dipped into the 40s F (5 C) and there was a fairly strong wind throughout the night and morning.

I also wore these socks on short day hikes, bike rides and to the gym all at elevations near sea level. I never experienced any precipitation and temperatures were between 60 and 85 F (15 to 30 C).

Field Use (back to top)

About half-way through the long term test period I purchased a new pair of hiking shoes; a pair of Vasque Marga Mids. These are heavier than my Nike trail runners that I also used during the test period so I was able to wear these on my backpacking trip. The shoes are just low enough that I was able to wear these socks with them. I hiked in (6 miles/9.66 km) in the men's socks and hiked out in the women's socks. Hiking in was pretty much all uphill (2,500 ft/760 m of elevation gain). Hiking out was warmer but obviously all downhill. This was a moderate to strenuous hike for me especially since it was warm and almost entirely exposed (no shade). My feet did pretty well on this hike. I thought that the socks might be too thin and I might get some ankle pain on the hike but I didn't get any. My feet did sweat (everything was sweaty!). My feet also felt a little slimy (this is the best way how I can describe how it feels when I have really sweaty feet that are trapped in shoes). Overall it wasn't too bad though. I only noticed it at points where I asked myself how my feet felt (so I could report on it here); otherwise it may have gone without noticing.

There were several stream crossings along the way. I believe there were three points in the hike (each way) where I couldn't avoid getting water in my shoes. The shoes are Gore-Tex lined but in these places the water came in over the tops of my shoes and there wasn't a way to get around that. For about an hour afterwards my feet were completely soaked and full of water. But the socks did dry pretty quickly even in my shoes and thankfully I didn't develop a single blister.

On the hike in I also took about a 30-45 minute break to relax and eat lunch. At this point I took off my shoes and socks so my feet could breath. My socks were wet when I took them off- a combination of stream water and sweat. By the time I put them back on again to keep going they had pretty much dried. This was nice because I really hate putting on wet, dirty socks.

One more thing I liked about these socks- they really keep dirt out well. The picture below is of my feet at the end of my backpacking trip. So this is pretty much after two dirty days of lots of hot hiking. Even after going through streams ankle-deep my legs still got dirty but my feet stayed clean. Part of this was also due to getting a little sunburned on my ankles which the socks also protected me from.

dirty legs

Nitpick
I mentioned this in my previous report and I'm going to leave it in here. It really isn't too much of an issue but it is slightly annoying.

Living about 5 miles (8 km) from the beach, I often come in contact with sand. My bike rides usually take me to the bike path along the beach, I often take walks along the beach, etc. Whenever I’m on the beach I always manage to get sand in my shoes and in turn on my socks. When I wear the Bridgedales and get sand on them (and then wash them inside out as recommended) they still have sand on them when I take them out of the wash. Invariably I turn them right side out while I’m folding laundry on my bed and get sand everywhere. I’ve noticed this problem with another pair of wool-blend socks also- so I’ll call it a nitpick.

Wear & Tear
In my last report I wrote that there was pretty significant pilling on these socks. This is still the case but it really has not gotten any worse over the remaining two months of the test period. I haven't noticed any fabric thinning or any other signs of wear despite wearing both pairs of socks about once a week the whole test period. I think they have held up well.

So which is better for women?

As I mentioned before, this is really hard for me to decide. Neither sock performed poorly under any of the circumstances I used them in. I think both socks are pretty good for hiking and even backpacking.

Summary (back to top)

In the end I think these socks worked better than expected. I really wasn't expecting to be able to wear these backpacking and they actually worked out well in this capacity. They're great to wear to the gym, biking, and day hiking too. I'm actually more impressed with them at the end of four months of use than I was after two months. Great socks!

I want to thank BackpackGearTest.org and Bridgedale for giving me the opportunity to test this item.

Read more reviews of Bridgedale gear
Read more gear reviews by Jennifer Pope

Reviews > Clothing > Socks > Bridgedale X-Hale > Jennifer Pope > Long Term Report

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Reviews > Clothing > Socks > Bridgedale X-Hale > Jennifer Pope > Long Term Report

Field Conditions (back to top)

Field Use (back to top)

Summary(back to top)

Reviews > Clothing > Socks > Bridgedale X-Hale > Jennifer Pope > Long Term Report

Summary (back to top)