Tester Bio
I live outside a small town in northeast Alabama. I also enjoy hunting, fishing, canoeing, and most other outdoor activities. Backpacking is my favorite pastime. I consider myself a knowledgeable backpacker but I am not an expert. I enjoy hiking with my friends and family or solo. I limit my hiking to areas fairly close to home, usually within a day's drive of home. I hike throughout the year and actually hike the least in the hot humid months of summer. My style is slow and steady and my gear is light. However I will sacrifice weight for comfort and durability. A typical 3 season load for me is around 20 lb (9 kg) not counting food or water. I usually sleep in a hammock and cook with an alcohol stove. I generally hike in New Balance 806 trail runners but will wear several different shoes and boots during this test. My backpacking trips are usually 2, 3 or 4 days in length.

Product Information

Test Item	Hiking Level 3 Wool/THOR•LON® - TREKKER crew TKX
Web Address	http://www.thorlo.com
Year of Manufacture	2004
Sock Size	13 (unisex = men’s US shoe size 9 to 12.5)
Color	Lt Grey
Weight	n/a on packaging or website
Checked Weight	4.6 oz (130 g )
MSRP	$15.99 US

Product Description
The Hiking Level 3 Wool/THOR•LON® - TREKKER crew large TKX will be referred to as the TREKKER throughout the report. The TREKKER socks are a blend of materials (FIBERS) to maximize performance. Nylon, for example, adds durability. The breakdown is as follows; TKX Fiber Contents:
44% THOR•LON® Acrylic,
39% wool, 8% stretch nylon,
6% insulating hollow-core polyester,
3% stretch nylon

The TREKKER socks are designed for extended hiking in all weather conditions. They look like traditional boot socks but are padded in ways to benefit hikers. The diagram on the Thorlo website of the TREKKERS shows where the extra padding and other features are located.

(1) Ventilation pannel enhances wicking.

(2) Heavyweight padding in the heel and ball protect the foot from shear and impact forces helping to prevent painful blistering.

(3) Lace pad protects the top of the foot against boot lace pressure.

(4) Elastic and low density padding in the arch create a snug fit.

(5) Full padding around the toe area for ultimate comfort.

Thorlos warranty
""Thorlos feel better than your 'ordinary socks' or your money back." This means that within 30 days of purchasing Thorlos, if you decide that your feet do not feel better in Thorlos than in your ordinary socks, we will refund the full retail price of your Thorlos."

Thorlos do not have a durability warranty since no product made from textile fibers is indestructible.

Field Test Locations and Conditions
Testing was conducted in Northeast Alabama. I wore the Thorlo TREKKER socks on an overnight hike to The Walls of Jericho and on several day hikes in the woods close to home. I also wore them as sleep socks on several overnight hikes. The temperatures while hiking on these trips ranged from as high as 70 F (21 C) to as low as 23 F (-5 C). Elevations were between 1300 ft (400 m) and 2000 ft (600 m). My good hiking boots are waterproof so I did not get the socks wet from outside moisture on these hikes. I did get them wet from sweat several times.

Field Test Results
I have worn the Thorlo TREKKER socks while hiking in my good hiking boots, and while at work in my work boots. My hikes were usually around 3 miles (5 km) for 2 to 3 hours per trip. I was limited to using 2 pair of boots I already owned, and which in reality are a tad big on my feet. Fortunately, this happened to be 2 of my better pairs of boots. Take the advice Thorlo gives and have the socks handy (on your feet) when buying boots to wear with them. The work boots I wore them with are my Georgia Boot Eagle Lights, which are non-insulated. I also wore them with my Tecnica Snowcats, my standard winter hiking boots. I also tried them with my trail runner shoes and saw I would need to get at least a half size larger shoe to not squeeze my foot. I don't like my feet to feel restricted in my shoes or boots.

I have had no problems with blisters when wearing the socks. In fact I have not had any sock related problems while wearing them. The socks are so thick that even with my work boots, which are my biggest boots, I could not develop a hint of a blister, something I managed to do with lesser socks. The socks have not developed any sagging and still stay up on my calves after several miles of hiking or just wearing them all day.

When hiking in my Tecnica boots and with my backpack loaded with up to 33 lb (15 kg) of gear, I found the Thorlo TREKKER socks were extremely comfortable. Good shoes helped but the Thorlo TREKKER socks seemed to almost caress my feet. I have been on trips when poor fitting shoes combined with inadequately cushioned socks made an otherwise enjoyable hiking trip a nightmare and seem twice as far.

As far as keeping my feet warm, the Thorlo TREKKER socks are indeed a very warm pair of socks. When hiking and even when standing around on cold days they kept my feet warm. There was one occasion when my feet got cold in the socks. I was camping out on a cool night with a low of 29 F (-2 C). For some reason I just never got really warm in my sleeping bag and this included my feet which felt chilled all night. On another night at 34 F (1 C) my feet stayed decently (not toasty) warm without wearing any socks.

General Care and Cleaning
The Thorlo TREKKER socks have been washed at least a dozen times but I did not wash them after every outing. If I only wore them a few hours hiking down in the holler I would hang them outside (weather permitting) or in the house to air out. I usually washed them after 2 such trips. I also wore them all day several times and washed them after these times. I usually put these socks on the deck to dry but did run them through the dryer several times. I would not have minded them shrinking a little but so far they have not.

I washed the socks with some other wool garments several times but actually washed them more times with a load of socks and underwear. When I washed them with the wool clothing I used Woolite but when washed with other laundry I used regular liquid clothes washing detergent in whatever brand we had on hand.

Drying Ability
On warm days it was no problem to get my feet to sweat in these socks. Even on colder days I noticed the socks would get very damp but when I would take off my boots right after a strenuous I noticed I did not get prune feet. When I wore them on overnight hikes, again they got pretty damp while hiking but they felt dry at night because by the time I was ready to take my boots off I had already been in camp (not doing enough to sweat) a few hours and they dried out a lot on my feet. However, they did not completely dry out until after several hours inside my sleeping bag.

At home after a wash in the machine they took several hours to dry, even on warm sunny days. I compared them with some thin wool and thin nylon socks which dried much faster. On the bright side, my thin cotton socks took longer to dry than these did. In a nutshell, the socks have enough wool and acrylic content that wearing them damp did not seem to effect the warmth much but they will take awhile to dry out after I got them wet from sweat or washing.

Durability Thus Far
As I look at the socks they still look fairly new. After each wash I looked for any signs of wear on the socks. A couple of times I found some unraveling which I carefully tied off in a knot as close to the sock surface as I could before cutting the offending string. A few fuzz balls appeared for the first few times wearing and washing them but after that I haven't noticed any.

When I put the sock on they still have that amazing thick soft feeling I noticed the first time I wore them. For all practical purposes, it looks like the Thorlo TREKKER socks will last me through several winters of hard wear.

Future Testing
I should have about 3 more months with cold weather in which to continue my observation of the Thorlo TREKKER socks. I will continue to monitor for any wear issues or if the socks develope any sag. I will most likely test the socks in warmer weather than the 70 F (21 C) I have experienced so far. While the socks were overkill for that temperature they were manageable. And while the socks are intended for cold weather I will still be testing them for durability so I will report on anything else I find, including hot weather performance. Stay Tuned!

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Read more gear reviews by Coy Ray Starnes

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