Reviews > Clothing > Socks > SealSkinz Socks and Gloves > Owner Reviews > SealSkinz Socks Owner Review by Dave Anderson

I've been hiking, camping and backpacking for most of my life. I grew up in California and did most of my hiking there with school and church groups along with family trips. In the last ten years I've also lived in and walked around Colorado, New England, Portland and Seattle. For the last few years I've also taken up Sea Kayaking (backpacking sitting on your butt and being able to bring the kitchen sink), and snowshoeing.

I've always been drawn to playing in the rain. I was the kid who's mom always had to bring dry clothes to school to change into because I would get totally soaked stomping in mud puddles and seeing how much distance I could get doing a belly slide on the wet football field.

For most of my hiking life I've depended on having really waterproof boots and being careful with things like stream crossings to keep from walking with an icy puddle inside my boots and getting the blisters that come along with it. In the "old days" I did the bread bag thing in really wet conditions and later tried neoprene socks. They both kept my feet dry from water outside but pretty quickly soaked my feet with sweat.

About 1 1/2 years ago I was in a kayak shop and noticed these socks. I remembered seeing their ads and figuring it was just another neoprene sock, but getting a look at these they definitely were different. They are made with a hydrophilic membrane laminated between 2 knit layers and there are no noticeable seams! I figured there was no way they could work, I mean, hw breathable could they be? But I decided to give them a try anyway. I purchased the over the calf type in size XL. They currently weight 5.2 oz. but that probably includes a fair amount of mud.

After I got home, I took them over to the bathtub and filled one with water, and what do you know a slow trickle started from the toe. It was about what you can get from a faucet set as low as you can get it before it changes to a drip instead of a trickle. I did the same with the other sock and it leaked at about the same rate.

I promptly put them in a drawer and forgot about them.

A couple of months later I was taking a kayak class and the instructor recommended a brand of kayak shoes and suggested that you could wear your neoprene booties inside them while kayaking and when you got to shore you then change out of the neoprene and wear SealSkinz under the boots for hiking around. A system that works quite well.

In the time since then I've grown to depend on them more and more. They generally go on at the beginning of a trip in wet conditions and only come off when I crawl into my bag at night. I've discovered that the small amount of leakage when I tested them doesn't much matter. getting stretched out by a couple of gallons of water is different than water pressing it against your foot for a few seconds.

The best part about these socks is that they have improved my selection of footwear on my trips. I even find that leaky boots are better than waterproof because they drain after I let water in over the top. I wander around camp in my tevas even in the rain with no problems of getting cold wet feet.

They also give me the confidence to stay in the middle of the muddy trails and not have to worry about how deep the puddle is, restricting the trail damage. Which brings me back to the fun of just wandering around playing in puddles, these socks have brought some of that fun back! Get a pair and go have fun!

Do I have any complaints? Yeah, a couple. The first is that the membrane is a stretchy rubber substance and the sock is cut for a D size foot which caused it to squish my toes together somewhat.

My other complaint appears to be taken care of with newer version of the sock. I discovered that the sock will quickly fill with water if you go in above the top of the sock. They now have a version of the sock that has seals around the calf. I've tried them out in the store and they are too tight for me, but I have 20" calves so I'm not too surprised.

Their durability seems to be excellent so far. I still only have the one pair, but I expect I will buy another soon enough, Just because it's a lot nicer to put them on dry than wet. I should also mention that I always wear them with other socks underneath because the aren't really meant to be an insulation layer.

David Anderson
squtch.quiet-like-a-panther.org

Reviews > Clothing > Socks > SealSkinz Socks and Gloves > Owner Reviews > SealSkinz Socks Owner Review by Dave Anderson