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5 Tips For Picking The Best Warmest Socks For Hunting

When the weather gets cold and you still want to go outdoors, having the best warmest socks for hunting can make all the difference. Only when you don’t have cold feet, you will perform much better.

I do understand that getting snow pants, gloves and suitable boots are important, but we can safely say that one of the most important gear is the socks you are wearing.

In fact, preventing your feet from getting cold is only one of the worries. You may want to avoid getting sweaty feet to reduce the risk of getting blisters as well. By picking the best warmest hunting socks, you will be able to stay up at the tree stand for hours.  You need to ensure that the socks have several qualities including moisture-wicking quality, it has to dry really fast, repel bacteria and have ribbed support. With all these features, you will have the best warmest hunting socks for hunting you can find.

Remember to check the quality of the fabric

The fabric which the socks is made from will help determine what qualities the socks will have. For example, merino wool is the best-known material that helps keep your feet warm and dry especially with its insulating qualities.

Furthermore, the type of fabric will determine how durable the socks can be.

For hunting or hiking especially, I think that Merino wool or the Coolmax cotton are the best options available.

Understanding your personal needs

If you are opting to wear double layer of socks, I would suggest getting a thin sweat-wicking inner layer socks and match it with a pair of thick outer wool socks.

In my view, a pair of thin Smartwool socks to act as the inner-layer with a pair of thick Darn Tough socks to act as the outer-layer would be ideal. Why? Because Smartwool socks feel really comfortable and it will not cause any blisters despite wearing it for long-hours. Darn Tough socks have excellent insulative qualities and are extremely solid because of the high density knitting.

However, if you are planning to wear only one pair of socks without layering, you need to immediately get a pair of socks that will be able to keep your feet warm and comfortable.

Buy sweat-wicking socks

It’s a fact that your feet will get cold when your feet get wet, be it by vapour from the surroundings or sweat from your feet. Since it’s pretty easy for your feet to get wet, it’s important to get socks that is able to wick sweat away from your skin.

Furthermore, it’s important to avoid wearing cotton socks or wear socks with cotton padding. Since cotton absorbs sweat really easily, it prevents your sweat from wicking away.

Instead, try to get a pair of socks that is made from Merino Wool, CoolMax or polypropylene, especially if you are going to be on your feet for hours when you hunt.

Remember to check the sock’s Thermal Overall Grade (TOG)

Now, it’s pretty easy to tell whether a pair of socks are going to keep you warm by looking at the Thermal Overall Grade (TOG). Basically, a TOG is a scientific test that measures the thermal (heat retaining) capacity of a fabric.

Normally, you would want your heat holder socks to have a TOG rating of 2.34, which is much better compared to thermal socks which has a TOG rating of 1.50 and cotton socks with a TOG rating of 0.33. This means that the heat holder socks will be more than seven times warmer than the average cotton socks.

Smartwool hunting socks have a TOG rating of 1.23, which is pretty decent. While most heat holder socks have a TOG rating of 2.34.

Buy Midweight or Heavyweight socks

Socks comes in three different weights, which are lightweight, midweight and heavyweight.

The thicker the socks, the better it will be at keeping you warm. I would recommend that you try out different levels of thickness to see which one you want to go with.

Of course, getting a pair that is too thick wouldn’t be suitable as well. You will likely get blisters and it will make it harder for you to move around. Since you have to move around on the trail while hunting, getting a pair of socks that is midweight would be ideal.

Also, a heavyweight sock will take up more space in your boots. Hence, you must make sure you get a larger pair of boots if you plan to equip yourself with a pair of heavyweight socks.

For a longer hunting trip, it would be better to carry a pair of spare socks with different weight so that you have a choice.

Conclusion

If you are in a cold climate hunting and you aren’t prepared with a suitable pair of socks, you can bet that you will feel uncomfortable after standing several hours on the hunting tree stand.

If you follow the suggestions above, it’s likely that you will be able to get a pair of socks that will keep your feet toasty warm, making your painstaking hours of waiting for your prey much more bearable.

Another important aspect would be getting suitable boots – where the boots are insulated and waterproof.

Also, another good practice is to change your socks every few hours, at least before too much sweat gets accumulated on your feet. Most socks are capable of keeping you warm for hours, but not all day.

I hope that the tips are shared are useful enough to help you pick the best warmest socks for hunting.

 

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