Thorlo Hiker Socks, Protection Level 3 – Field Report

Personal biographical information:

• Name:  Josh Cormier
• Age: 25
• Gender: Male
• Height: 5’ 11” (1.80 m)
• Weight: 175 lb (79 kg)
• Email address:  swifteagle1 at hotmail dot com
• City: Los Gatos, California
• Date: 29-Dec-05

Backpacking background:

I joined the Boy Scouts when I was 11 and have been camping and backpacking ever since. I like to do challenging trips ranging from week long to weekend in mountainous areas. I would classify my gear as mid weight although now I am trying to move more toward lightweight. I now go backpacking at least once a year in the Sierra Nevada Mountains as well as monthly car camping trips with the Scouts.

Test Locations:

The first area I tested the Thorlo Socks in was the Santa Cruz Mountains, elevation 500 – 1,200 ft (152 – 366 m). The climate was rainy all day long and slightly chilly 50 – 60 deg F (10 – 15 C). The terrain was brushy with rolling hills and more mud and rocks than dirt. I was out during this time for a 5 hour military reenactment practice in my local area. The testing consisted of running around in mud, up and down hills in hiking boots

The other location that I tested these socks while not in my initial test plan was at Planet Granite. This is an indoor rock climbing area were all levels of climbs can be found. The temperature was about 65 deg F (18 C) inside because all the doors are open to keep the heat down. I decided to add this to my report because my feet always hurt when I wear those tight shoes.

Product Information:

- Item Description: Thorlo Hiking Protection level 3, Crew socks 

- Size: Crew Large (US 9.0-12.5, UK 8.5-12.0, EU 43.0-47.0)

- Listed Weight: None Specified

- Measured Weight:  3.69 oz (104.5 g)

- Color: Pewter

- Fiber Contents: 87% THOR•LON® Acrylic, 11% Stretch nylon, 2% Spandex

- Care instructions: Wash socks inside out in a normal wash, Dry normal medium, add fabric softener to wash to extend product life

- Manufactures web site: http://www.Thorlo.com

- Year of Manufacture: 2005

- MSRP: $11.99

- Item Received: 13-Oct-05

- Initial Condition: The product arrived in new condition

- Item Completeness: The item was packaged well and included all pieces

Field Testing:

For the first in the field test I was participating in a military reenactment practice as stated above. I put the Thorlo socks on that morning because I thought this would be a good opportunity to test them. Underneath the Thorlo I was testing, I put on my thin polypropylene socks. These socks don’t change the results of the Thorlo test as I always wear these under my hiking socks and they just keep me from getting blisters as easily. Usually after being on my feet all day as well as running and jumping around, my feet are tired and sore. This makes military reenactment a great place to test any footwear whether it is socks or shoes.

As always as soon as I put the socks on I could feel the extra padding on the bottom of my foot. The hiking boots I wore that day were my “old trustys” well broken in and comfortable. The socks fit well inside the boots as the boots are a little roomy from being worn in so well. I would make sure that I have enough room in my hiking boots before buying these socks. These socks are about the same thickness as other hiking socks with the exception of the extra padding under your foot. If my boots fit snug with regular hiking socks then they will fit tight with these.

The day of testing started off about 50 deg F (10 C) with a slight mist. I ran up hills and back down again, I crouched and crawled. I jumped off small hills and slipped in the muddy footing as I scrambled up the hill. During all this I never once thought about my feet which is a good sign because it means my feet were comfortable. At the end of the day my when I took my boots off, my feet did not feel hot or sore from all the action they encountered. This is because of all the extra padding that is in bottom the Thorlo socks to protect your feet.

A couple of hours into the day it started to rain pretty heavily and we were getting wet. We continued to practice and after a while I noticed that my feet were starting to feel a little wet around the toes. It turns out that my old hiking boots were leaking water through the toe seam and into my socks. This is where the sock showed their great wicking ability by moving the moisture away from my feet. Instead of having sopping wet and cold toes the socks were able to wick the moisture away from that area. Soon my entire feet felt just slightly damp like my feet were sweating. This was much better than having one big wet area around my toes. When I took my boots off at the end of the day I expected to have some wet socks in my hands. Once again I was surprised to find that although they had water in them they were only damp to the touch.

The other place I tested these socks was at Planet Granite, my feet always get sore from the little climbing shoes. I was worried that I might have worn the toe of the sock with my toes constantly rubbing on the front of my shoes. At the end of the climbing session when I took my shoes off the socks were damp as I’m starting to expect and the toe section shoed no sign of wear. With these socks my feet were not quite as sore at the end of the day.

I wanted to watch these socks for signs of wearing in the heel area especially when wet. I am extremely hard on socks in this area and these socks seem to be holding up well.

Every time I finished wearing these socks I turn them inside out just as the care instructions suggest and drop them into the washing machine .They always come out just slightly fuzzy each time but there appears to be no wear from the washing. I was concerned that the elastic in the top of the socks would start to stretch and allow the socks to sag since they fit just tight enough to stay up right now. So far there has been no indication of this being the case but I will stay attentive to this through the next test.

I am looking forward to the next testing of these socks on some overnight backpacking trips.

My test plan:

I plan to continue to test the gear based on several different objectives. First and most importantly is dependability, does the gear work when it counts. Secondly is efficiency, does the gear do its job well. Lastly would be ease of use, is the gear easy to use and take care of.

Dependability:

Does the elastic in the socks loose its elasticity over a short time?

Do the socks resist snagging?

Is the heel reinforced well enough to keep the material from wearing thin?

If the socks get wet will they start to degrade?

Do the socks start to fall apart after many washings?

Efficiency:

Do the socks keep you from getting blisters?

Do the socks provide some level of cushioning for your feet?

Will the socks still keep your feet warm even if they get wet?

Ease of Use:

Do the socks wash out easy in lake water?

Do they dry quickly?

I’d like to thank BGT and Thorlo for the privilege of being selected to test these socks.