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Reviews > Clothing > Socks > FALKE TK 2 Women socks > Owner Review by Marina Batzke

FALKE TK 2 WOMEN SOCKS
BY MARINA BATZKE
OWNER REVIEW
July 18, 2014

TESTER INFORMATION

NAME: Marina Batzke
EMAIL: mbbp2013 (at) hotmail (dot) com
AGE: 54
LOCATION: Los Angeles County, California, USA
GENDER: F
HEIGHT: 5' 5" (1.65 m)
WEIGHT: 130 lb (59.00 kg)

I converted from day hiking and car camping to backpacking in spring 2013. Since then, I have selectively purchased new, more lightweight gear, while I still carry some heavier gear from my car camping trips. I always hike with a group and I like the gear talk when in camp. I am a tent camper looking for ways to lighten my pack. My backpacking trips are currently weekend excursions in Southern California, USA. If my business travel allows me to get away, I try to backpack one or two weekends a month.

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Manufacturer: FALKE KGaA , Meckenheim, Germany
Manufacturer's Website: http://www.falke.com
MSRP: EUR 19.95
Listed Weight: N/A
Measured Weight of the Pair: 1.9 oz (54 g)
Other details:
Available Sizes 35 - 36 (US 5 - 6), 37 - 38 (US 6.5 - 7.5), 39 - 40 (US 8.5 - 9)
Consisting of 28% Polyacrylic, 22% Wool, 9% Polyamide, 40% Polypropylene, 1% Elastane
IMAGE 1
Fire-red and nature-mel colored socks

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

FALKE TK2 Women are medium thick hiking socks with good cushioning, ideal for walking, hiking and trekking through forests and meadows and on average mountain ranges. Falke also offers the TK2 as Wool Women and Sensitive.

The socks designate left and right side with the L and R respectively. In the grey bottom portion, the socks also have their size and brand embroidered (mine are FALKE TK2 in Ladies Size: LS 37-38). The Ladies Size socks are specifically designed for typically less voluminous women's feet with a more slender, female foot shape compared to men's feet.

The toe-to-heel grayish-colored bottom portion of the socks is well cushioned and much thicker than the thin, red uppers of the socks. This thicker, grayish portion is designed to provide optimal pressure distribution and reduce impact in the heel and toe areas. The socks are made in stickinette stich (looks like upside-down Vs on the sock outside, while on the inside the red portions look like horizontal thread lines whereas the thicker grayish bottom shows lots of fluffy loops). The only seam is a virtually flat seam in the top toe portion.
IMAGE 2
A look at the left sock INSIDE toe front

The red-colored upper portion of the socks is made in three different patterns: very fine stickinette stich in the foot instep area; above that 4 in (10.2 cm) slightly thicker slightly compressing stickinette stitch and finally the 1.75 in (4.5 cm) double-fabric sock cuffs in a 3-1-3 stitch pattern.
IMAGE 3
Showing the sock INSIDE stitching

I own two pairs of the TK2 in fire-red and one pair in nature-mel color. Several other color combinations are available.

REVIEW

The FALKE TK2 were my first pair of socks that designated left and right foot with the L and R. I immediately loved it that they are anatomically shaped for a left and right foot. I never have fabric wrinkles inside my boots and the socks conform to my feet perfectly. I wear only the TK2 and no liner socks. I have NEVER had blisters.

I got three pairs of the FALKE TK2 along with my all-leather hiking boots and typically wore this boot-sock combination on my annual vacations to far away places, while during my Southern California local day hikes, I used to wear trailrunners with thin socks. In early 2014, I signed up for a Wilderness Travel Course that recommended wearing sturdier, ankle-high boots when backpacking for multiple days and I felt inspired to wearing such boots with my TK2 again.

With their 22% Merino wool ingredient portion, the TK2 have a smooth, pleasant feel. On a recent 16-mile, 4,000 foot elevation gain day hike, I had no foot pain and no sweaty feet.

During a couple of recent desert backpacking trips in Joshua Tree National Park, Southern California, USA, I wore one pair the first day and switched into the 2nd pair in camp. I then wore that 2nd pair throughout the night to have dry, warm feet inside my sleeping bag and wore them on the day 2 hike up to the peak and back to our car.

WASHING INSTRUCTIONS

Machine washing up to 86 F (30 C). Do not use bleach.
Do not machine dry (no dryer/ tumbler). Air dry the socks instead.

I have owned these three pairs of FALKE TK2 socks for roughly ten years with a few years of intensive hiking and a few years of virtually no hiking activities. When I return from my typical weekend trips, I machine wash the socks at the 'warm water' color temperature setting and I air dry them. I do NOT put them in the dryer. Due to the typical shorter length of my backpacking trips (2 to 4 days), I have not had to wash the socks in the field. Despite the many years of use and washing after each trip, the socks show no pilling and have kept their color.

FIELD USE

Since I originally purchased those three pairs of FALKE TK2 socks, I have worn them on the Inka Trail (5-day backing trip)/ Peru, in Ecuador on day hikes, on day hikes during a Canadian Rockies vacation, on day hikes in Switzerland in the Zermatt area and on day hikes in the U.S. Rocky Mountains during various summer vacations over the years.

More recent uses:
Santiago Peak Day Hike February, 6 Miles NE of Rancho Santa Margarita, California, USA
16 miles (25.8 km) with 4000 foot (1219 m) elevation gain
Daytime Temperature: 64 F (18 C)

Location: Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA
Trip duraton: 2 days/ 1 night February
Day 1: off-trail desert navigation hike. Day 2: rock scrambling, bouldering up to Peak 4377 ft (1334 m).
Temperatures: 45-70 F (7-21 C)

Location: Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA
Trip duraton: 2 days/ 1 night March
On-trail and off-trail hiking.
Temperatures: 50-75 F (10-24 C)

Location: Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA
Trip duration: 2 days/ 1 night April
On-trail and off-trail hiking.
Temperatures: 50-90 F (10-32 C)

Location: Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA
Trip duration: 2 days/ 1 night April
Majority off-trail hiking with a scramble up a peak and down a ravine
Temperatures: 50-93 F (10-34 C)
IMAGE 4
My socks in Joshua Tree National Park

Location: Mount Baldy, Southern California, USA
Trip duration: 1 day June
On-trail hiking.
Temperatures: 75 F (24 C)

Location: Mount San Jacinto, Southern California, USA
Trip duration: 3 days/ 2 nights June
On-trail and off-trail hiking.
Temperatures: 59-76 F (15-24 C)

Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA
Trip duration: 4 days/ 3 nights July
On-trail and off-trail hiking.
Temperatures: 47-79 F (9-26)

THINGS I LIKE

Socks anatomically shaped to left and right foot
L and R for left and right foot embroidered
Soft feel
No wrinkles - no blisters for me
Long term performance

THINGS I DON'T LIKE

nothing

SIGNATURE

Marina Batzke

This report was created with the BackpackGearTest.org Report Writer Version 1. Copyright 2014. All rights reserved.

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