We really don’t think that much about the comfort of our socks, mainly because plenty of us consider them to be just extra pieces of material that make it easier to wear shoes. Well, if you are someone who goes hiking, fishing, hunting or anything in between when the temperature reaches its teens, you do know how important proper padding is. Not only do proper pads allow you to walk easily, without feeling the terrain underneath, they also make it easier for warmth to stay trapped inside your socks, so you don’t experience the cold embrace of winter.

Some socks have thick cushions, some have dense cushions, and some have only a light amount of padding. All of these pads have their benefits and their drawbacks, and the number of cushions you need will depend on your individual desires. Thick cushions definitely provide us with the best amount of padding. You won’t even feel the ground underneath, and maybe even the shoes you are wearing, and the fat layer of pads won’t allow the air to escape, trapping it inside and heating it up. But, as the name suggests, they are thick, and the extra layers of pads can make your shoes feel uncomfortably tight and small, so you might even need to go a size bigger if you prefer all that padding. Dense pads, on the other hand, provide you with the same amount of cushioning, but instead of having layers upon layers piled up, they have super dense stitching and materials, ensuring you feel the same without the added bulk. Dense cushioning also warms you up, but it might not wick away moisture so well, because the extra density will not let the moisture escape so easily out there. Lightly padded socks work the best if you already have heavily padded footwear. These socks do not have pads throughout the whole length of the sock, but instead only have them around your heels and the balls of your feet, two areas that suffer the most while we walk. This will make sure you don’t feel any burning while you walk, but since the cushioning is light, you might feel the rough terrain underneath you prodding and poking your skin.

Comfort is also affected by the socks construction. Many socks have elastic collars, that are meant to keep the sock in place. These elastic collars stretch beyond belief, and tightly hug your legs. This hug can sometimes be too tight, and make your feet swell up! Besides keeping your sock in place, they also keep dirt away from your feet, so you don’t get infections or blisters. Support bands can be found around the instep and ankles. These bands provide a moderate amount of arch support and help your ankles stay in place. They also make the sock stay put, so it doesn’t bulge up inside your shoes, making blisters, irritation, and pain a reality.

The materials are what makes a sock thermal or not. Thermal socks are made out of wool, usually Merino wool, since it has the best properties. Cotton will never insulate you, no matter how many layers of it you add up! So choosing a sock made out of proper materials will make all the difference, and will ultimately save you from the cold.

Merino wool is simply made for skiing, hiking, or anything done in the cold! It’s super soft, naturally breathable and warm even it gets damp. Merino wool helps your body regulate temperature, has a great warmth-to-weight ratio, doesn’t let your feet get stinky and it stretches as you move (adding spandex only improves this). Merino comes from a sheep, renowned for their capability of making huge amounts of exceptional wool. Standard wool fibers are rough and feel bad on our skin. Merino fibers are much finer and softer and can be worn all day. As a next-to-skin layer, merino wool has no competition. Merino wool has tiny lofts in its threads, and those lofts trap tiny amounts of air. When those tiny amounts of air add up, you get a huge pocket of air that heats up pretty nicely. Arguably, it can be used in the summer and in the winter as well, because it traps some moisture too, which gets released when it heats up, cooling your skin down. Merino wool is a material of choice for hiking, running, skiing, hunting and many more, and all for good reason. When the sun starts to shine, it’ll keep you reasonably insulated, but once you start to bust a move, you will remain dry, cool and well insulated. One more benefit is merino wools capability to insulate when wet. If you step in a puddle and get your hiking socks moist, it won’t affect their ability to keep you dry!

Polyester can also be incorporated in some parts. This petroleum-based fiber is not natural, instead, it is man-made. This means that if you look at a polyester sock under a microscope, you will notice thin fabric strands tightly woven together. These plastic threads hug so closely and so tightly, increasing their life. Also, they really like it when they get colored, and won’t let go of it very easily, so you will have super colorful socks for a long time! Polyester also does a pretty good job at wicking moisture away!

Spandex, lycra or elastane all talk about the same type of material, which is made out of PU, or polyurethane. Elastane resists stretching very well, and it will change its form to make it easy for anything that comes inside of it. In fact, it can stretch up to 500% of its original length! This stretchiness is what helps them go back to their original form, so you always have the same fit. Spandex is also super light and removes all the weight that can beat you down when you trek outdoors.

You might be of the belief that thermal socks do not breathe well. You start to think about those uncomfortably warm polyester socks you wore one day, and how your feet didn’t appreciate being boiled. Well, the good part about thermal socks is that they are made out of wool. Wool has a natural breathing property. Again, you might think that wool does not breathe, yet think about this - wool protects animals from the harsh outdoors, and surely their skin needs to breathe, but how can it do that if wool doesn’t breathe? Wool, in fact, does breathe very well. This means your feet will stay dry, so you don’t need to fret about frostbites. No sweat means no bacteria or fungus, which will help you smell so much better!

Some socks have helpful mesh panels scattered around their upper. Mesh is a material well-known for its breathable properties since it has many small perforations allowing air to escape. This material will do the same thing in socks, and will allow air to cool you down if it needs to, but will not allow it to escape that easily, heating it up and keeping you warm. Breathability is an important property of thermal socks because enough air will dry at least some of the moisture, preventing sticky wet feet, which are perfect for ice burns!

Our hiking socks really do need to be durable. Imagine tearing a hole in your sock in the middle of a trek - that could spell disaster for your poor toes, frost and blister wise! The durability of socks can be improved in many ways. Many manufacturers mentioned on this list have worked their socks off to create durable pairs, and they all know the secret of long sock life. One way we can improve the life of socks is if we change the way they are knit. Dense, small knots create a tougher, ribbed construction. This construction holds well against tears and doesn’t let anything rip them apart. It also bonds all the other parts of the socks like super glue, preventing holes from showing their smug little faces.

Reinforce areas that usually get worn down fast also play a role here. These areas are our toes and heels. Toes get worn down fast because our little buddies like to wiggle and dance while we walk, creating friction between the nails and the socks. This friction weakens the threads, and in due time the threads give up and let go, and voila! Holes! Not cutting your nails prior to a journey does not help - our extra sharp claws will tear the poor socks to pieces in no time! Reinforced toes try to prevent this, effectively increasing the life of the toe area. Heels get worn down too, but only because our heels give us the most support while we walk, and we depend on them to push us forward. Constant pressure and stretching make the fibers become weaker, and the rubbing of the upper against our shoes does not help either! So, reinforced heels make all that a long-forgotten past, and shoo away pesky holes and tears.

Obviously, this is the criteria most important for our socks. Insulating socks trap heat inside and don’t let it go. This trapped heat doesn’t let out feet go cold and numb and keeps them warm and toasty. This is a very important quality when you dare to go out in the freezing temperatures, since losing your toes is not a welcome alternative. Socks can be insulated in many ways, but usually the upper does most of the job. Materials play a big role here, and wool does the best job at keeping the cold away. Wool is naturally fluffy and has tiny pockets where air can be trapped. This trapped air is in close contact with your skin, which naturally exhales heat. This released heat will warm up the little air pockets, and when all of that adds up, you will have a proper warm sock in no time. Nylon also does a pretty good job here, but it does not breathe at all, and we all know how bad we fare in warm areas that lack air!

One more important factor here is humidity. Air does not conduct warmth that well, but it moves very well. So, that means we need to look at two things before we even start to think about insulation. Those things are preventing the wind from finding its way inside our clothes and replacing the warm layer of air and creating an extra layer of air which does the insulating job. This is where moisture comes in. Water conducts heat much better, and so, if our clothes are damp, be it from sweat, rain, or surrounding water bodies, it will replace the air inside our socks and steal away all of our precious heat. And not only that, it will cool us down and make us cold and susceptible to frostbites, and no one wants that!