Reviews > Clothing > Socks > Integral Designs Hot Socks > Steve Nelson > Initial Report

Initial Report: Integral Designs Hot Socks
November 30, 2003

Reviewer's Information

Name: Steve Nelson
Age: 43
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 9" (1.75 m)
Weight: 158 Pounds (72 kg)
Boot Size: 11 US
Email address: nazdarovye at y..oo dot com
City, State, Country: San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.

Backpacking Background:

As an interface design and usability consultant by trade, I'm always excited by analyzing and improving designs and processes; backpacking provides a fertile and fun arena for that. I have been backpacking since I was a kid growing up in upstate New York: we backpacked and canoe-camped in all seasons, throughout the Adirondacks and nearby areas, ranging as far as La Verendrye Wildlife Reserve, Quebec. As an adult, I've backpacked and hiked extensively in California, but also have taken trips throughout the West, from New Mexico to British Columbia, and return often to the Adirondacks.

Backpacking Style:

In the last year I began educating myself about lightweight and ultralight backpacking, and have been applying more and more of this philosophy to my outdoor jaunts and gear upgrades. I like moving fast, and lightening the load facilitates that. I also enjoy urban strolls, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, kayaking, and aviation in addition to hiking and backpacking, so my gear gets exposed to a wide variety of uses and conditions.

Product information

Manufacturer: Integral Designs
Product Name: Hot Socks
Manufacturer's URL: www.integraldesigns.com
Year of manufacture: 2003
Size: Large (available in S, M, L, XL)
Color: Black (available in Cobalt, Red, Black [Teal also listed on web site, not on hang tag])
Listed weight on hang tag: 4.7 oz (133 g) [4.0 oz (113 g) on web site]
Verified weight: 4.6 oz (130 g); 4.9 oz (139 g) including stuff sack (on a digital scale)
Listed dimensions: NA
Verified dimensions: Length approximately 11.5 in (29 cm) from tip of toe to heel on sole; width approximately 4.25 in (11 cm) at widest point across forefoot; height somewhat over 10 in (25 cm) from back of heel to top back of leg.
MSRP: $35

Initial Impressions

The Integral Designs Hot Socks arrived in a roughly 4 x 7 in (10 x 18 cm) Silcoat stuff stack, accompanied by a hang tag listing basic product information and specifications on one side, and details about Pertex and Primaloft on the other.

The socks are advertised by Integral Designs for use in a sleeping bag and inside shelters, allowing one to replace "wet and sweaty socks" and boots with warm, dry booties.

Here's a picture of the Hot Socks I am testing, showing a side and bottom view:

(Note: the architect's scale in these pictures is approximately 12.5 in (32 cm) long.)

And here's what the socks look like when stuffed into their accompanying Silcoat sack:

Materials

As with all Integral Designs products I've seen or owned, the Hot Socks are nicely sewn and constructed. They appear to me to be constructed of four or five different shell fabrics:

• The shell on the top of the foot and front of the leg is made of Pertex P565, a water-resistant microfiber ripstop fabric.
• The sole is made of 330 denier Cordura, which Integral Designs states is "abrasion resistant...which is suitable for use inside huts and tents, but is still soft enough for use as a sleeping sock."
• The back panel (up the achilles tendon) is made of Powerstretch fleece.
• The band around the top appears to be made of a similar material, but is of a slightly different color, so it's hard to say whether it's just a different batch of Powerstretch or a similar, less-stretchy fabric.
• The inside of the socks is lined with soft nylon taffeta, which has a really nice feel against my bare feet.

The socks are insulated with Primaloft Sport insulation, a polyester fiber that is supposed to be relatively immune to moisture, as well as lightweight and compressible. It feels silky, slippery, and slightly fibrous when I rub it through the shell materials. The manufacturer claims half an inch (1 cm) of loft around the foot, and while I couldn't measure that precisely, it appears accurate.

The stuff sack is made of translucent grey Silcoat, with a drawstring and spring-loaded toggle closure. The socks roll up and fit easily into the sack.

Initial Tests

I did some initial tests around the house just to get comfortable with the feel and fit of the socks, as well as to try them out with other socks and while sleeping.

I wear a size 11 boot, and the size L Hot Socks, advertisted for sizes 10-11, are a pretty good fit overall. I can put one on over a wool sock, yet they are reasonably snug when worn over bare feet.

I did find that the width of the socks, especially in the heel area, is a bit narrow for my foot. Because of this, the sides of my heels ride on seams as I walk in the socks. I also found that the socks are rather tight at the top band (which in my case is high enough to need to stretch over my lower calves), yet rather loose around my ankles. Ocasionally the socks would start to slide down my feet as I walked on carpet indoors if I wasn't careful about how I walked.

Thus, my initial take is that, for me, they may not be ideal for strolling around a cabin. This is not a big deal, as I see their main use as warm, dry insulation while inside a tent or sleeping bag. Still, I note that the Integral Designs web site shows a picture of Hot Socks being worn in snow, so it's tempting to give them a further try for walking around camp, including outside of a shelter.

While the socks are not advertised as waterproof—just water-resistant—I splashed water on them to see what would happen. Most of the water immediately beaded up and rolled off of the Pertex and Cordura fabric, leaving only a few small droplets. The droplets didn't soak into the fabric at all, and were easily shaken off. The Powerstretch fleece and the band around the top of the sock both absorbed just a bit of water, and so appear a bit less water-resistant than the rest of the shell. Still, all in all, this experiment gave me confidence that the socks should be just fine for use inside a shelter and sleeping bag, where they aren't likely to be exposed directly to water or snow.

Finally, I've spent several nights at home sleeping in the Hot Socks. I'm a warm sleeper, but I left the heat off when outdoor temperatures were in the mid 40s to mid 50s F (7-13 C), and the socks worked just fine. In fact, each night I ended up kicking them off before morning because I was too warm and my feet a bit hot and sweaty, even with them sticking out from under a down quilt.

Testing Plan

Among a number of things I'll evaluate about the socks, I'll look at: how warm they are in the field; how easy there are to put on and remove when I'm encumbered with winter gear; how resistant the shell materials are to moisture in real conditions; how convenient or awkward they are in camp; how comfortable they are, including in damp conditions; how well their fabric, waterproofness and stitching hold up to use and dirt; and how they're affected by wind and other weather.

In particular, I plan to experiment with the resistance of the insulation to moisture, and its insulative value when wetted out. If they get wet, how much insulation do they still provide? Do they get soaked from sweat during the night? In a related test, I plan to use them to walk on snow, at least for a bit, to see if they're really up to what is pictured on the manufacturer's site.

Note also that, as part of my testing, I'll be using the socks in combination with another Integral Designs product, the "Down Mitts," which are designed as camp handwear complementary to the Hot Socks. I beleive that the two products, when used together, should provide a nice boost to my winter sleeping system.

I will be taking the Hot Socks on all of my winter backpacking and snowshoeing trips this winter, as well as on extended hikes in cold weather and during longer day cross-country ski jaunts. These trips will be in the Sierras (mainly the Tahoe area), the Adirondacks, and the California coast.

On my winter overnight trips, I will generally be sleeping in a light down inner sleeping bag plus a down quilt, and generally using a tarptent/bivy sack combination as my shelter. A few overnights will be in tents, lean-tos or cabins, and if I get really ambitious and conditions are moderate enough, I'll try a winter overnight in a hammock. The Hot Socks should be a welcome addition to all of these setups.

I'll also bring the socks on day outings where I see the possibility of bad weather and the correspondent need for emergency backups. One such trip worth noting is a December group hike up several trailless peaks in the Adirondacks. While we don't plan to stay overnight, I will be bringing an emergency bivy in case weather or navigation problems result in an overnight stay, and the socks will be a nice addition to that backup system.

Summary

The Integral Designs Hot Socks are insulated camp socks that are impeccably constructed of high-tech materials. Just as I was with the related Down Mitts, I am impressed by the quality and feel of their materials and construction. My only concern to date is with their shape and fit, which is not an exact match for my feet, and which may make them slightly more suitable in my case for stationary warmth than for walking around camp.

Thanks to BackpackGearTest and Integral Designs for giving me the opportunity to participate in this test.

Reviews > Clothing > Socks > Integral Designs Hot Socks > Steve Nelson > Initial Report