Reviews > Clothing > Socks > Ullfrotte Sport Socks > Roger Caffin > Long Term Report

Long Term Report - Ullfrotte Sport Socks
Roger Caffin
20-Oct-04, updated 1-Oct-05

Product Information

Preamble

From the Initial Report
This BGT Test was advertised as being for the Sport socks, but Ullfrotte shipped both the Sport socks (quoted as being 400 g/m² (1.3 oz/sq ft)) and the heavier Wildlife socks (quoted as being 600 g/m² (2 oz/sq ft)). There was not a lot of difference between them (the full details are in my Initial Report) so I decided to test them both. While I had requested a 'middle' size I ended up with a 'large' size, but my initial reaction was that they would probably be OK for the test.

Testing

As ever, my basic test plan was to do lots of walking with the socks. During the Field test period we had done lots of 2-day walks, nearly every weekend in fact. For these trips I was wearing very light low-cut footwear (Dunlop KT-26s). For much of the period of the Long Term section my wife and I were walking in the Pyrenees in Europe. As I mentioned in the Field Report, I found that the socks were very slippery in my low-cut footwear, to the point of sometimes making me feel uncertain of my footing. In consequence I decided not to take these socks with me to the Pyrenees. The bottom line therefore is that they have had only a little more testing since the Field Report was filed.

I have done a little bit of testing of these socks in my ski boots at home. As I had expected, the slipperiness was still detectable, but it did not seem to matter nearly as much. This appears to be because my ski boots are much more 'encompassing' and they prevented my feet from sliding around. Boots are like that. Unfortunately our brief ski season in Australia was largely replaced by our trip to the Pyrenees this year, so I did not get a chance to try them out in the snow where the stresses would be much higher. However, based on what I have felt so far just tromping around the house and yard I would be quite willing to take them skiing. But see Addendum below.

Assessments which I wanted to make include the following. Much of this has been quoted in the Field Report, but is summarised here for completeness.

• Fit: is the initial shape of the sock a good approximation to my foot? Does the Large size matter?
  The socks were largish, but the Lycra made them conform ('cling') quite nicely to my feet. The ankles did not sag. If buying another pair I would certainly go for the medium size.
• Stretch: do the socks stretch and conform nicely, or do they stretch and sag (does the Lycra work)?
  The socks obviously started a little large, but the Lycra did seem to a good job.
• Warmth: too hot or too cold? Sweating?
  They are indeed quite warm, but they do soak up the sweat well. In this they seemed a little better than some of my pure synthetic socks. I have not been able to test them in the snow, but other socks of less warmth have been adequate there.
• Creasing: do the socks have any tendency to develop folds - which usually lead to blisters?
  No serious problems were encountered. I think (but do not know) that the Lycra does a good job here.
• Padding: what is the initial padding like, and how well does it cushion? Does the uniform thickness around my foot matter?
  I was conscious of the extra thickness under the arch of my foot for about half an hour on the first walk (big worry there for a while). But after that I did not notice it any more. I was conscious that the socks were nicely padded and that they were cushioning my feet.
• Felting and wear: it's going to happen with wool, but how much, how badly and where - how good is their fibre blend?
  We have walked hard and the socks have been washed each week, but I have not detected any significant felting or wear other than just a little bit of fuzzing around the toe and the heel. I was quite impressed.
• Smell: wool has a bad reputation: how bad is it with these?
  Perhaps it would be fair to say that they seem no worse than my wool-blend Thorlo socks at the end of the day - a fairly subjective judgement to be sure. That is, my feet smell with both sorts :-) .
• Washing: do the socks recover their spring when they are washed? Was a fabric conditioner useful?
  Yes (very well), and yes.

Would I buy them?

I do not know the price, even compared to other brands, but that does not matter too much to me. I rarely buy on price.
I would not buy them for summer use in lightweight footwear because of the slipperiness. I felt too unsafe a few times.
However, I would be quite willing to buy them for use with boots, especially with ski boots. They are soft and warm, and so far have survived well.
I think they are good socks for boots, but not suited for use with ultra-lightweight low-cut footwear.

Addendum 2005 - skiing

My wife and I took both pairs of Ulfrotte socks ski touring in 2005 for 8 days. We were wearing solid leather 3-pin Nordic ski touring boots: not as large as the plastic downhill 'Darth Vader' boots, but quite definitely 'boots' as opposed to lightweight footwear. I have to report that we were both very happy with the socks: they were soft, warm and comfortable. Both of us felt that they were good socks for this environment. Curiously, despite being worn for several days on end without being washed, they did not seem to get much of a smell - well, until the end maybe.

Reviewer Details

Reviewer:	Roger Caffin
Age:	59
Gender:	M
Weight:	60 kg (132 lb)
Height:	166 cm (5' 5")
Shoe size:	42 Eu, 8 UK, 9 USA
Email address:	r dot (surname) at acm dot org
Location:	Sydney, Australia

Backpacking Background

I started bushwalking (the Australian term) when I was about 14 years old and took up rock climbing and remote exploration walking at University with the girl who became my wife. Later on we took up ski touring and canyoning. These days all our trips involve just the two of us. Over the last few years we have become converted to the concept of ultra-lightweight walking, and we have been cutting our total pack weights down from 18 - 20 kg (40 - 45 lb) to about 12 kg (26 lb) for week-long trips. That's not counting climbing rope or extra water for a dry camp - both happen. Our preferred walking trips in Australia are long ones: about a week in the general Blue Mts (east coast of Australia) and Snowy Mts (alpine region), and up to two months long in Europe and the UK. Ski touring trips would also typically last up to a week. We favour fairly hard trips of some length and prefer to travel fast and light. Many of our trips are exploratory in wild country which sees few other walkers. In between these long trips we do some day walks, often exploring the start of longer trips. On average, we would spend at least two days per week walking or ski touring. In addition, I spend a lot of time designing and making ultralightweight gear for Australian conditions.

I am also the maintainer of the Australian aus.bushwalking FAQ web site www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/, and I have written gear reviews for Wild, a local walking magazine, and for BackpackingLight.

Reviews > Clothing > Socks > Ullfrotte Sport Socks > Roger Caffin > Long Term Report