Point6 Hiking Tech Light Mini Crew

A pretty good but not a great light hiking sock that just doesn't feel secure enough to instill much confidence on the trail.

Well, I am less impressed with this sock after another outing.

Oh, it's a pretty good sock. It would probably rank #4 in my listing of my top 4 favorites. But it's NOT as good as any of the DARN TOUGH socks and it is NOT as good as the CABELA'S IN-GENIUS light hiker either.

The reason is that it fits too loose in the toe box and allows the ball of your foot to slip a little inside your shoe. I have the same complaint about the heel cup, but to a slightly lesser degree. Bear in mind I'm testing these socks with just about 3 pounds of gear in a waist pack and am complaining. Toss on a 25# backpack and I'd probably be screaming about these socks. If they can't remain snug and firm during lightweight 5 mile treks while wearing a little fanny pack then there is no way that they will be on my feet when I do a 10 or 15 mile day wearing a 25# pack, camera gear, water bladder, etc.

At $15 to $20 a pair the POINT 6 socks cost too damn much to throw in the trash so I will continue to wear them from time to time. But honestly my sincere hope is that the lovely Mrs magic washing machine shrinks the toe box area of these socks about 15% but leaves arch and the cuff in tact, then shrinks the heel cup about 5%. Somehow I doubt that will happen.

FWIW, my shoe size is a 10.5 D. I purchased a Men's Large POINT 6 sock which, according to their 'sizing chart' is the right sock for people with a shoe size range from 9 to 11.5 and the sock package was correctly labeled as a LARGE. The fit feels good in the length so there is no complaint there.

When you buy technical hiking socks you buy them to keep them from shifting around on your feet under heavy loads on uneven terrain. Because of that they design the socks with multiple areas of different intensities of elasticity. Your toes can't be crushed, but the toe box area can't slip around, the arch area is typically snugged up pretty tight, the heel is often divided into up to 3 different areas of woven material to keep its shape and to keep it from shifting.

The key with hiking socks are they need to perform several different things very well. Prevent blisters by acting as a barrier between your foot and the boot. Wick moisture away from your foot, and wool is great at that, but so are some of the CoolMax and DryMax synthetic blend materials used by many companies. The sock should provide some cushion, but hikers will eternally argue over how much, which is why the companies offer different levels of cushioning. And to do these jobs, the sock can't bunch up, shift, etc.

I'm not saying that the POINT 6 sock bunches, but I am feeling like my foot is shifting inside the sock at the toe box and I don't feel too secure in the heel cup either, although my main complaint is the looseness in the toe area. At this point I think I should have saved my money and bought more DARN TOUGH or even CABELA'S IN-GENIUS socks, but I will give these as honest a test as my feet can tolerate.